The Protection of Estuarine Margins under the Maritime–Terrestrial Public Domain, the Cases of Portugal, Angola, Brazil, and Mozambique

Marco Antunes, Teresa Fidélis and Miguel Lucas Pires
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Marco Antunes: Doctoral Program “Marine Science, Technology and Management” (DOMAR), Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Teresa Fidélis: GOVCOPP, Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Miguel Lucas Pires: GOVCOPP, Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

Laws, 2022, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: Coastal and estuarine margins are considered natural resources with various functions and are covered by different management and protection tools. In Portugal, the Maritime Public Domain (MPD) aims to regulate property in maritime and coastal areas, assuming that these are public resources of the nation. Little is known, however, about how the MPD considers estuarine margins, which are also valuable, and vulnerable, environmental areas. This article analyses how the concept of MPD applies to the estuarine margins in Portugal. Moreover, as this concept has been subsequently adopted by other countries with close roots such as Angola, Brazil, and Mozambique, this paper also explores if estuaries are further considered in their legislation. For this purpose, it undertakes an analysis of legal documents establishing the MPD, focusing on the definition, types of areas where it applies, the width of the margins, ownership, and use restriction. The findings show that estuaries are considered by the MPD in Portugal and in the similar instruments of the other three countries. Nevertheless, their approaches differ, especially on the width of margins and the flexibility of the ownership regime, suggesting that the potential to protect margins has not been globally reinforced by the countries adopting MPD after Portugal. This study offers new insights on the MPD and brings to the fore a gap in the literature that deserves to be further explored in other countries with different legal traditions and deepening the analysis on the added value for the protection of estuarine margins.

Keywords: Maritime Public Domain; estuarine margins; shoreline property; environmental protection; legal instruments; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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