Sand Fences in the Coastal Zone: Intended and Unintended Effects

Sand-trapping fences modify the character of the coastal landscape and change its spatial structure, image, and meaning. This paper examines the relationship between these changes and fence usage at the municipal level, where most decisions about fence deployment are made. Use of fences in 29 municipalities on the developed coast of New Jersey is examined over a 6-year period. Interviews with municipal officers indicate that wooden slat sand-trapping fences are used primarily to build dunes to provide protection against wave uprush and flooding, but they are also used to control pedestrian traffic and demarcate territory. These uses result in changes in landforms and habitats. An aerial video inventory of fences taken in 2002 indicates that 82% of the shoreline had fences and 72% had dunes. Single and double straight fence rows are the most commonly used. Fences are often built to accomplish a specific primary purpose, but they can cause many different and often unanticipated changes to the landscape. The effects of a sand fence change through time as the initial structure traps sand, creates a dune that is colonized by vegetation, and becomes integrated into the environment by increasing topographic variability and aesthetic and habitat value. Sand fences can be made more compatible with natural processes by not placing them in locations where sources of wind blown sand are restricted or in unnatural shore perpendicular orientations. Symbolic fences are less expensive, are easy to replace when damaged, are less visually intrusive, and can be used for controlling pedestrian access.     

Towards a common Mediterranean framework for beach nourishment projects

Integrated Coastal Zone Management as a strategy for achieving conservation and sustainable multiple use of the coastal zone includes various types of management initiatives. Due to natural phenomena such as tides and winds and to social and economic activities, coastal areas undergo transformation. Coastal erosion and the disappearance of beaches as a result of wrong planning decisions and lack of effective legislation are among the most damaging effects and to reverse them requires application of a series of engineering techniques. Beach nourishment projects as a way towards shore protection and utilization through recreational purposes in the Spanish and Italian coasts are noteworthy in this respect. In beach nourishment projects, the roles of various entities, both public and private, should be clearly indicated and in the evaluation and execution stage a series of questions should be answered for the successful completion of any nourishment project. Past projects in the Mediterranean and experiences from recent Italian projects in Anzio and Nettuno confirm this. For example, dredging of the entrance channel of the port of Anzio enabled middle-sized ferryboats once again to enter the port (which had not been possible before). This will in turn increase the tourism potential of the town. Nourishment of two beaches at these sites prevented further erosion and provided more area for recreational purposes. Expected economic contribution of beach nourishments to the regional authority was estimated for Nettuno and Anzio; the resulting theoretical payback period was found to be 3 yr for the former and 15 yr for the latter.     

The Journal of Coastal Conservation, 1995–2004

This paper concludes the publication of theJournal of Coastal Conservation from 1995–2004 after the European Coastal Union and the Publishers decided to terminate the production of the journal. We look back at the 206 research papers published in this period while concentrating on Geographical and ecological variation, Focuses and trends, and Progress in European coastal conservation and management. Three indices are added: (1) a list of the 206 papers; (2) an Author Index; and (3) a Subject Index based on the titles, keywords and some additional important subjects found in the tables and figures.     

The status of beaches and shoreline development options on the French Riviera: a perspective and a prognosis

Beach conservation and management on the high-value French Riviera in southeastern France have had mixed fortunes in shoreline economic development strategies over the past half century. Prior to 1965, socio-economic growth related to immigration and tourism resulted in considerable pressure on the coastal zone, leading in particular to beach erosion and degradation of beach environmental quality. Between 1965 and 1980, over 20% of the 132 km-long French Riviera was permanently altered through the implantation of yachting harbours and reclamation fill structures, while beach-based recreation had a rather low ranking as a development choice, except in the two major resorts of Cannes and Nice which exhibit a densely urbanized seafront. On this preponderantly boldrocky coast, the mediocre recreational value inherited by many of the beaches from the regional geologic setting, and from development pressures and earlier errors in coastal management, left them vulnerable to appropriation and so-called ‘valorization’ by yachting harbour and estate developers. Over the last decade, artificial shoreline development has virtually ceased, in response to several more or less interrelated factors. These include relative stagnation of socio-economic growth, increasing development and maintenance costs of yachting harbours, saturation of the yachting harbour market as a result of the burgeoning of new, often cheaper, resorts and of reconversion of commercial and shipbuilding ports to leisure ports in the Mediterranean, more stringent legislation, since 1986, on the implantation of residential and major engineering structures on the coastline, pressure for conservation of the cultural and environmental heritage, and greater demand for beach recreational space. This situation has forced a diversification of shore-based activities, as it has been realised that better managed beaches may balance economic aspirations while contributing to enhanced environmental quality and sensible shoreline conservation. This change in strategy has entailed considerable efforts and money on the improvement of coastal water quality, the provision of amenities for beach-goers, and especially the nourishment of eroding beaches and the creation of several artificial beaches. The extent to which beaches will continue to play a role in the sustainable development of French Riviera resorts will depend largely on the capacity of local authorities to maintain environmental quality in the face of inherited and persistent handicaps such as beach erosion.     

The role of human actions in evolution and management of foredunes in The Netherlands and New Jersey, USA

The rationale and methods of construction of foredunes in The Netherlands and New Jersey, USA are identified and used to explain their genesis, locations, mobility, internal and external characteristics and temporal scales of evolution. Dunes are then ranked according to the degree they are modified by human processes. The lower level of protection required of foredunes in New Jersey and the greater amount of modification by municipal managers and shorefront residents results in smaller dunes and greater variety of sizes, shapes, methods of construction and alterations. As a result, humans are considered intrinsic agents in evolution of dune landforms and landscapes. Higher, wider, better vegetated foredunes occur in The Netherlands due to greater frequency of onshore winds and greater emphasis on sea defence at the national level. Natural processes play a greater role in the evolution of landforms. Human actions are considered extrinsic at this scale but intrinsic at the scale of landscapes. The change in foredunes from natural features to artifacts reveals the significance of humans in the modification of coastal landforms and reflects the changing perception of the role of these landforms in the coastal landscape.     

Black Sea beaches vulnerability to sea level rise

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) aims to promote sustainable management of coastal zones based on ecosystem and holistic management approaches. In this context, policies have to consider the complex interactions that influence the fragile equilibrium of coastal ecosystems. Beaches represent both valuable and vulnerable natural resources because of the various ecosystem services they provide and their sensitivity to climate change and sea level rise.We present the first comprehensive digital record of all Black Sea beaches and provide a rapid assessment of their erosion risk under different scenarios of sea level rise. Through the digitisation of freely available remote-sensed images on the web, we provide broad information on the spatial characteristics and other attributes of all Black Sea beaches (e.g. photo-based visual estimation of the sediment type, presence of coastal defences, urban development). These data have been assembled and stored in full Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) – allowing spatial queries, visualisation and data sharing – and are therefore particularly interesting to feed/supply web-GIS portals (coastal atlases) for visualisation purpose, spatial queries or spatial indicators calculations.The resulting Black Sea beaches database contains 1228 beaches, with a total coastline length of 2042 km with an area of 224 km². The majority of the Black Sea beaches have been found to have small widths (61% have maximum widths less than 50 m), whereas 47% of all beaches presented coastal defence schemes, suggesting an already serious beach erosion problem.The erosion risk of the Black Sea beaches was assessed through the comparison of their maximum widths with estimations of the sea level rise-induced retreat by an ensemble of six 1-D analytical and numerical morphodynamic models. Following more than 17,000 experiments using different combinations of wave conditions, beach sediment textures and slopes and 11 scenarios of sea level rise (up to 2 m), the means (best fits) of the lowest and highest projections by the model ensemble were estimated; these were then compared to the maximum widths of the Black Sea beaches. The analysis showed that sea level rise will have highly significant impacts on the Black Sea beaches, as for a 0.5 m sea level rise 56% of all beaches are projected to retreat by 50% of their maximum width. For a 0.82 m sea level rise (the high IPCC estimate for the period 2081–2100) about 41% are projected to retreat by their entire maximum width, whereas for 1 m sea level rise about 51% of all Black Sea beaches are projected to retreat by (drowned or shifted landward by) their entire maximum width, if the high mean of the model ensemble projections is used.Results substantiate the risk of beach erosion as a major environmental problem along the Black Sea coast, which therefore needs to be taken into account in any future coastal management plans, as a matter of urgency. As these scenarios consider only sea level rise, they are considered to be conservative. Although the present results cannot replace detailed studies, the database and projections may assist Black Sea coastal managers and policy makers to rapidly identify beaches with increased risk of erosion, valuate accordingly coastal assets and infrastructure, estimate beach capacity for touristic development purposes, and rapidly assess direct and indirect costs and benefits of beach protection options. They also provide the necessary inputs to advance discussions relevant to the Black Sea ICZM.     

Developments in dutch coastline management: Conclusions from the second governmental coastal report

In 1990 the Dutch government decided to stop any further long-term landward retreat of the coastline. This policy choice for a ‘dynamic preservation’ is primarily aimed at safety against flooding and at sustainable preservation of the values and interests concerning the dunes and beaches. Five years later, a first overview of the benefits and bottlenecks of the new coastal defence policy could be presented, which was published in the second governmental coastal report ‘Kustbalans 1995’ (coastal balance 1995). This consists of three elements: (1) evaluation of the implementation of ‘dynamic preservation’, (2) the consequences of several natural and anthropogenic developments in the coastal zone and (3) integrated coastal zone management. The present report describes experiences of Dutch coastline management and summarizes the main conclusions of the second governmental report. The overall conclusion of the evaluation study is that the 1990 choice for ‘dynamic preservation’ was right. Sand supply is an effective method of coastline maintenance, which also serves functional uses in the beach and dune area. However, nearly a doubling of the supply volume is necessary to compensate for sand losses in the coastal zone. A more integrated management of the coastal zone is necessary to find an equilibrium between the interests of socio-economic development and the maintenance of a natural, dynamic system.     

Microbiological Monitoring of Marine Recreational Waters in Southern California

An inventory was conducted to assess the number, type, spatial distribution, and costs of microbiological monitoring programs in southern California marine waters from Point Conception to the US/Mexico International Border. The location of each sampling site was determined using global positioning system (GPS), and estimates of geographic coverage were determined using geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Twenty-one programs conducted 87,007 tests annually at 576 sites in the study area. The largest number of sites was sampled in Orange County, whereas the largest number of analyses was performed in Los Angeles County because monitoring programs in this area focused on daily monitoring. Fifteen of the 21 programs were managed by National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitted sewage effluent dischargers who sampled both offshore and shoreline waters and typically tested for three indicator bacteria (total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococcus). Their combined efforts comprised 82% of all of the microbiological indicator analyses conducted on an annual basis. Five of the remaining monitoring organizations were public health agencies, which typically focus their efforts on testing only total coliforms. Laboratory methodology also varied considerably, with NPDES permittees predominantly utilizing membrane filtration while public health agencies generally used multiple tube fermentation or premanufactured test kits. Nearly three quarters of all the effort expended in southern California occurred along the shoreline as opposed to offshore locations. Two thirds of this shoreline effort was focused on high-use sandy beaches and in proximity to perennial freshwater outlets (storm drains and creeks). Most sampling occurred at a set of fixed sites that were revisited frequently, but only represented about 7% of the total shoreline. We estimated that roughly $3 million is spent annually on monitoring bathing water quality in southern California, exceeding that spent in any other part of the country.     

Cost–benefit analysis of beach-cast harvest: Closing land-marine nutrient loops in the Baltic Sea region

Harvesting beach-cast can help mitigate marine eutrophication by closing land-marine nutrient loops and provide a blue biomass raw material for the bioeconomy. Cost–benefit analysis was applied to harvest activities during 2009–2018 on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, highlighting benefits such as nutrient removal from the marine system and improved recreational opportunities as well as costs of using inputs necessary for harvest. The results indicate that the activities entailed a net gain to society, lending substance to continued funding for harvests on Gotland and assessments of upscaling of harvest activities to other areas in Sweden and elsewhere. The lessons learnt from the considerable harvest experience on Gotland should be utilized for developing concrete guidelines for carrying out sustainable harvest practice, paying due attention to local conditions but also to what can be generalized to a wider national and international context.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01641-8.     

Function analysis as a coastal management tool: the South Wales coastline,UK

Fifteen beaches from the Swansea Bay coastal sediment cell, South Wales, UK, were analysed via function analysis, involving assessment of specific environmental and socio-economic indicators. These were allocated scores from field surveys and extensive desktop studies, which included beach awards, relevant shoreline management plans, planning and conservation designations and current legislation. Normalised scores allowed production of a conservation/development matrix, enabling beach location in conservation, development or conflict fields, which results appropriately identified. Conservation field beaches tended to have a low density residential hinterland with little or no commercialisation. Conversely, beaches that leant towards the development field had a high density residential hinterland and were highly commercialised. Evaluation showed the importance of planning legislation in conflict areas and identified locations of development potential, where significant environmental consequences would be unlikely. This representation could be used for evolution of conservation/development status within coastal areas, enabling policy adjustment as necessary. It will also enable future sustainability assessment and it is suggested that indicators could be modified to reduce environmental emphasis and provide a more uniform socio-economic consideration.