Coastal Planning and Management - Chapter 2 pptx

Chapter 2

Coastal management issues

Man has only recently come to realize the finite limitations of the

coastal zone as a place to live, work, and play and as a source of

valuable resources. This realization has come along with over￾crowding, overdevelopment in some areas, and destruction of

valuable resources by his mis-use of this unique environment.

(Ketchum, 1972, p. 10)

This chapter provides an overview of the major coastal management issues,

problems and opportunities in coastal management. Consistent with the

general focus of this book, particular emphasis is placed on describing and

analysing management tools and planning techniques to assist in dealing

with the issues.

The chapter does not attempt to analyse and describe every issue at length.

For a more detailed treatment of coastal issues, refer to texts specifically

devoted to this subject. The most recent and comprehensive is the 694-page

text of Clark (1996), which lists the many complex and interrelated problems

that face coastal managers, and updates his earlier work (Clark, 1977).

Ketchum (1972), Ditton et al. (1978) and Beukenkamp et al. (1993) also provide

useful treatments of the issues. In addition, there are numerous conference

and workshop proceedings which contain specific examples of coastal

problems from around the world (Appendix B). Further information on the

range and depth of coastal issues can be obtained through reference to the

sources of the many case studies listed throughout the book.

Coastal management initiatives are usually a response to a demand to

resolve problems such as conflicting uses of coastal resources, urbanization,

access, pollution and environmental degradation. Problems may also be

related to poor liaison or inefficient coordination between those responsible

for making decisions on the allocation of coastal resources; or they may

even be a perception among decision makers that a problem does not exist.

A sound understanding of such issues is integral to planning an effective

approach to coastal management.

Copyright 1999 Taylor & Francis Group

The issues described in this chapter are those common to many coastal

areas around the world. Inevitably, they are more critical in some places

than in others, and hence will be of differing levels of interest to managers

in different places. Nevertheless, they are all relevant to the development

of an understanding of coastal problems and the approaches to avoiding

or mitigating their impacts.

Issues are discussed under the broad groupings of population growth,

coastal use, the impacts of coastal use and impacts on coastal uses, and

administrative issues. The groupings are not mutually exclusive, but are

designed to give a general feel for the major challenges facing coastal

managers today.

A useful introduction to the range of typical issues for coastal nations

is provided from the United Kingdom (Figure 2.1) (Local Government

Figure 2.1 Examples of impacts on coastal systems in the United Kingdom (Local Government

Management Board, 1995).

Copyright 1999 Taylor & Francis Group