Definition of Homogeneous Environmental Management Units for the Catalan Coast

Geographical areas constitute the basic implementation locus for integrated coastal zone management strategies and activities. Because the definition of territorial planning objectives may be affected by socioeconomic and environmental characteristics, one of the main steps in the process involves dividing the coast into homogeneous environmental management units (HEMUs). This article presents a general and simple method for regionalizing the landside of a coastal zone into HEMUs and illustrates it through application to the Catalan coast. Socioeconomic and natural (biophysical) subsystems were selected as the most appropriate dimensions of the regionalization process. Dimensions were described using 11 spatial themes, which were managed in a geographic information system environment that proved to be an adequate tool for the purpose. A final coastal zone map of four classes of HEMUs connected to local administrative units was obtained, and because it reflects the current natural and socioeconomic dynamics, it can be considered as an initial step in the planning process for the Catalan coast. Although the proposed method was developed based on the characteristics of the Catalan coast, it is general enough to be adapted and applied to most developed or developing coastal areas.     

Managing mangroves in Bangladesh: A strategy analysis

Bangladesh, favoured by a tropical climate, houses the world’s largest stretch of mangroves forests (Sundarbans Reserved Forest) and plantations. Around half of the forests of the country occur in the coastal zone. People extract various goods and services from the mangroves. Nevertheless the mangrove forests are depleting. Although the extent of the Sundarbans forest has not changed much, its decline is of a qualitative nature. Mangrove plantations are increasing in area but they are losing growing stock. To arrest this, Bangladesh has adopted several strategies. The ‘Sustainable Ecosystem Management’ strategy has now been adopted instead of the ‘Sustained Yield Principle’. Biodiversity conservation and enhancement has been taken as a key management goal. A zoning system is being developed for both production and protection purposes. The government facilitates alternative income for the local people by generating activities for the communities which are dependent on the forest. Different non-governmental organizations collaborate with the government in reducing the local people’s dependence on the forest. Coastal plantations are erected to protect people from cyclones and to make the land more suitable for habitation. Through this greening of the coastal belt tree plantation is encouraged in coastal villages. Coastal embankments are being planted and leased to poor settlers in exchange for routine maintenance of the embankments. Plantations on newly accreted mud flats help in stabilizing the land, which can later on be settled by victims of erosion elsewhere. These adopted management measures do not only contribute to forestry resource management but also to the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of the coastal communities. These efforts are at present being integrated into an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project.     

Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Egypt: The Fuka-Matrouh project

Egyptian coastlines comprise more than 3000 km along the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The coastal area of Egypt is under severe and increasing pressure. After passing the law on the Environment (Law 4) in 1994, the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) was designated as the responsible agency to implement this law. In this respect, the EEAA formulates the general policy and prepares the necessary plans for the protection and promotion of the environment. Also, it follows up the implementation of such plans in coordination with competent administrative authorities. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is one of the items regulated and addressed by Law 4/94. A framework programme for ICZM in Egypt was issued in 1996. This paper presents the results of a pilot project financed by the Mediterranean Action Programme Coastal Area Management (CAMP), namely ‘Fuka-Matrouh-Egypt’ project, and implemented by the Priority Action Plan/Regional Activity Centre. It also presents the methodology followed in the study and the experience gained nationally that would lead to the sustainable development of the northwest Egyptian Coast.     

Conservation and management of the Bangladesh coastal ecosystem: Overview of an integrated approach

Although the coastal ecosystem of Bangladesh contains a highly functional and structurally diverse ecology, this ecology is gradually being degraded. As a consequence, the quality of life of a large section of the coastal community is in economic decline. This poses a daunting challenge to the sectoral coastal management programmes, active since the 1960s, aiming at simultaneously ameliorating people's livelihood and supporting the ecosystem. These programmes have been reasonably successful in managing the ecosystem, but in many cases, the situation has become worse. The limitations of these programmes include the tendency to adopt an exclusionist approach, a narrowly departmentalized administration and weak management. Currently, the integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) approach is espoused as the main strategy. With the adoption of Bangladesh's Coastal Zone Policy of 2005, the foundation for integrated management was laid. The next realistic target will be to bring about changes in culture and mandate among coastal institutions in favour of integrated management.     

Methodological approach of coastal areas concerning typology and spatial indicators, in the context of integrated management and environmental assessment

The general objective of this paper is to trigger off the development of a more comprehensive approach to Hellenic coastal areas (in the perspective of territorial cohesion), at local level and especially along the non-urban areas close to the sea. Methodological issues linked to the building of an appropriate coastal database constitute the key goal of this paper (the space and time scale, the relationship to the already proposed set of indicators, the impact of driving forces and policies, the possible sources of data and their feasibility etc.). Furthermore, specific emphasis should be given to the choice of new indicators, particularly for the coastal abiotic environment and the land cover/uses along coastal areas, especially near the seafront. Those indicators should be able to aid the formation (in the near future) of an algorithm linked to the total man-made activities in coastal areas. In conclusion, this paper will be considered successful if the just above illustrated objectives could enrich the argument about the typology of coastal areas and the development of a spatial (coastal) observatory. Actually, this paper is part of a broader research of the author regarding the monitoring of coastal spatial changes in different scales (AMICA, “Appraisal of man-made interventions along the Hellenic coastal areas”). This research aims to broaden the coastal knowledge (not only by means of coastal data) on behalf of all stakeholders been implicated into sustainable spatial planning, integrated coastal management and the strategic environmental assessment along coastal areas.

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.     

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.     

Green reconstruction of the tsunami-affected areas in India using the integrated coastal zone management concept

A tsunami, triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off Sumatra in Indonesia, greatly devastated the lives, property and infrastructure of coastal communities in the coastal states of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand. This event attracted the attention of environmental managers at all levels, local, national, regional and global. It also shifted the focus from the impact of human activities on the environment to the impacts of natural hazards. Recovery/reconstruction of these areas is highly challenging. A clear understanding of the complex dynamics of the coast and the types of challenges faced by the several stakeholders of the coast is required. Issues such as sustainability, equity and community participation assume importance. The concept of ICZM (integrated coastal zone management) has been effectively used in most parts of the world. This concept emphasizes the holistic assessment of the coast and a multidisciplinary analysis using participatory processes. It integrates anthropocentric and eco-centric approaches. This paper documents several issues involved in the recovery of tsunami-affected areas and recommends the application of the ICZM concept to the reconstruction efforts.     

Environmental indicators GIS of the Catalan coast

This paper describes the environmental indicators GIS of the Catalan coast, Spain. The spatial data model is based on vector and raster layers with three main modules: the biodiversity, the general biophysical and the socioeconomic. Presently, the database has a number of pressure and impact indicators that have been used to model the components and structure of the system and are suggested to build ecological resilience. Special interest has been given to the analysis of functional groups of species that are relevant to the dynamics of the coastal system, and preliminary results are presented. This system constitutes a user-oriented analytical and monitoring tool for coastal zone managers and researchers. Although, the system is under development it is expected that resulting spatial indicators of environmental condition can be used to promote more sustainable coastal strategies and actions in the Catalan coast.