Ecosystem integration of marine conservation and coastal development in Taiwan

To assess the systematic integration of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) into Taiwan’s coastal and marine governance frameworks to balance marine conservation and coastal development. The study adopts a comparative mixed-methods design that combines quantitative statistical analysis of spatial and ecological-economic data with qualitative policy analysis of the two selected governance frameworks. The comparative aspect of the research design explores the performance of multiple hub cases across temporal, spatial and multimodal aspects, across 13 years (2010-2023) between Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. The dependent variable is the Biodiversity Index (BI), while the independent variables are Policy Effectiveness Index (PEI) and Shipping Traffic Density (STD) and the conservation variable (Marine Protected Areas/ Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures coverage) is included as a control. A one-way ANOVA test was performed to compare mean BI values across countries and between periods of high against low PEI. A total of 42 observations were analyzed. PEI ranged from −1.09 to 3.08 (M = 0.08, SD = 1.10). STD (standardized proxy) ranged from −1.94 to 1.52 (M = −0.17, SD = 1.11). The BI (scaled 0–100) ranged from 9.40 to 100.00 (M = 47.33, SD = 38.90). Taiwan (n = 14) exhibited the highest PEI (M = 1.16, SD = 1.13), the lowest STD (M = −1.49, SD = 0.31), and the maximum BI score (M = 100.00, SD = 0.00). Taiwan (n = 14) exhibited the highest PEI (M = 1.16, SD = 1.13), the lowest STD (M = −1.49, SD = 0.31), and the maximum BI score (M = 100.00, SD = 0.00). In Hong Kong (n = 14), PEI was relatively low (M = −0.73, SD = 0.41), Shipping Traffic Density was slightly below the mean (M = −0.15, SD = 0.12), and the BI was minimal (M = 9.40, SD = 0.00). Singapore (n = 14) showed moderate PEI (M = −0.20, SD = 0.54), substantially higher shipping density (M = 1.12, SD = 0.27), and an intermediate BI score (M = 32.58, SD = 0.00). STD had a significant negative effect on BI (β = −0.22, p = .015), indicating that increased shipping intensity reduced biodiversity. MSP and OECMs can transform conservation into a competitive operational tool that enables shipping hubs to protect marine ecosystems, comply with global sustainability standards, and reduce ecological conflicts in global supply chains.