Environmental protection motivation in coastal zone land‐use legislation

Abstract

Analysis of recent substantive coastal land use management laws shows that their main thrust is to provide for protection of the coastal environment from adverse impacts of uncontrolled development. The four purposes cited most frequently among laws of 17 states were: Protection of wildlife and fisheries, protection of ecosystems or the natural environment, control of development, and enhancement of esthetic values. Other purposes were to: Protect life and property, enhance public recreation, conserve soil, and protect water resources. Development and economic purposes were cited in relatively few laws.     

Israel's coastal program: Resource protection through management of land use

Abstract

Presently, much of Israel's 190‐kilometer‐long Mediterranean coast is either unoccupied, devoted to unsuitable uses, or is in use by activities which have no special need to be near the water's edge. This has resulted from years of lack of appreciation by policy‐makers of the coast as a valuable resource, of national development policies that directed attention to other regions, and of the relatively limited demand for coastal recreation.

In the last decade the importance of these factors has diminished. In turn, there is now mounting pressure for the development of coastal land. Increasingly, rising standards of living with a greater demand for recreational facilities, the growth of tourism as a major industry, and demands of the environmental lobby for conservation of part of the coastal land are factors bound to cause intensive change along the coast and to affect the quality of its resources. These trends have brought about public intervention in deciding the future of the coast. This paper reviews and analyzes Israel's coastal policy and its resource management programs, and also discusses the potential challenges to their full implementation.

Three types of programs were suggested as the main management tools: a coastal research and development effort, national coastal land use planning and pollution prevention, and monitoring and control programs. Major objectives of the programs were to be achieved through land use controls. Consequently, an important role is given in the development and implementation of the coastal program to agencies responsible for the management of physical land use planning and development.

Successful implementation of the management program, however, will depend on the ability of its administrators to coordinate the actions of many interests, on success in changing attitudes among decision‐makers as to the value of the coast, and on widening support for coastal resource conservation among a presently uninvolved public.     

Altruism,selfishness and coastal resources

Abstract

The basis for coastal zone management in the United States is established in legislation. In comparison, Canadian federal and provincial governments have adopted a piecemeal approach for managing a variety of concerns examined here: water quality, ecological protection, public access, aesthetics, natural hazards, and water dependency. As a result of this approach, which is characterized by a minimum of federal, provincial, and interjurisdictional coordination, the British Columbia coastal zone is showing signs of stress. For example, major shellfish harvesting areas are being lost to water pollution; ecologically sensitive habitats are being consumed by urban, commercial, and industrial expansion; recreation and tourism opportunities are being impaired by clear cutting and other inappropriate developments; and infrastructure is allowed in flood and erosion‐prone areas. Recommendations to improve the approach to coastal management in British Columbia include a variety of innovations. New federal and provincial policies, legislation, institutions, and experimentation with local and regional integrated resource planning are required to better govern the coastal zone. Increased support for existing agencies, public involvement, and access to information as well as more common use of environmental impact studies are needed to justify proposed coastal developments.     

Assessment of coastal zone issues in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

The physical characteristics of Korea have had a profound impact on the uses of the coastal zone that have, in turn, been determined by and reinforced the nation's economic development strategy. While coastal zone management in many developed economies is more heavily oriented toward environmental protection and the resolution of user conflicts, policies for coastal zone management in Korea have emphasized the role of coastal space and other resources for economic development and industrial needs. Increasing demand for land reclamation to provide ever‐increasing industrial sites and human settlements, traditional and future needs of the fishery, and concern for the environment have led to a vast array of competition and, finally, often to conflicts. The basic pattern of coastal zone use in Korea has changed from the linear expansion of coastal zone to integrated coastal uses. An increased number of critical coastal zone issues and interactions was reflected in the creation of new governance that dealt with coastal zone resources and environment.     

On Social Distress,Littering and Nature Conservation: The Case of Jisr A-Zarka

Studying perceptions of litter and littering behavior among marginalized, poor and undeveloped communities is important since these populations frequently inhabit important conservation sites. Jisr-A-Zarqa ("Jisr"), is a coastal town on the Mediterranean shores of Israel and one of Israel’s poorest, densely populated communities. Litter accumulation in the streets and beach of Jisr is a known problem, and its proximity to the nearby stream and beach makes the study of littering important for the conservation of the coastal and marine habitats. I studied residents’ perceptions of litter and littering practices and found that littering and waste accumulation are surface indicators of profound underlying social, economic and political constraints, problems and distresses. These must be considered as an integrated context and addressed when designing litter-reducing interventions.     

Institutional and Conceptual Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation for Coastal Cultural Heritage

Climate change is increasing the speed at which tangible coastal cultural heritage is changing in character or being lost through weathering, erosion, and inundation. Damages to coastal archeological sites, loss of access to historical sites, and the alteration of cultural landscapes will force changes in the way researchers can study sites, tourists can enjoy places, and descendant communities who have lived in particular areas for time immemorial, and local community members can utilize and relate to landscapes. In the USA, the National Park Service is a primary coastal cultural resource management organization. The National Park Service has been working on climate change adaptation for cultural resources for over a decade; however, there are few examples of parks in which long range climate change adaptation plans for cultural resources have been implemented. Building from 20 semi-structured interviews with cultural resource managers in three parks, we found that institutional structures within the National Park Service, as well as historical conceptual framings specific to the research, recreational, and interpretive values of cultural resources act as barriers to managers’ ability to design and implement climate change adaptation plans. Institutional barriers managers discussed include the dependence of climate change adaptation decisions partnership projects and the leveraging of budgetary and staff resources within NPS that may affect climate change adaptation capacity. We found that park managers often saw impacts in parks that may be associated with climate change, but found it difficult to separate normal maintenance from climate change affected deterioration, which may lead to status quo management actions rather than revised planning for a changing future regime. Conceptual barriers managers discussed revealed a conflict between preservation needs of research versus interpretive uses and while NPS guidance recommends prioritization of cultural resources for preservation at the park level, regional managers were more focused on this topic than park managers. As NPS moves forward with climate change adaptation planning, opportunities to develop and improve cultural resource preservation with new technologies, improved prioritization schemes, and include public input in resource preservation may help coastal managers overcome these barriers.     

Institutional arrangements for coastal conservation in New Zealand

Abstract

The focus of this paper is institutional arrangements for initiative coastal conservation in New Zealand. “Initiative”; conservation refers to positive measures for the protection of the natural environment for reasons related to its inherent worth. Case studies were undertaken in five areas with different biophysical and societal characteristics, where various approaches to coastal conservation are being attempted. In each area, an issue was analyzed to identify conservation policies and their relationship to ecological and human needs, and to administrative and legal frameworks. Analysis demonstrated that initiative conservation policy can encompass user and community needs while maintaining ecological priorities. Institutional arrangements do not appear to restrict the development of this type of policy in New Zealand, but they do limit its formal expression and implementation. Arrangements for cohesive conservation areas spanning the land‐sea interface are particularly lacking.     

Seasonal phytoplankton responses to environmental factors in a shallow Mediterranean lagoon

Phytoplankton community structure was investigated in a 1-year study period from January to December 2006 in the Tunis North Lagoon (South Mediterranean). Twice a month, sampling was carried out from the whole water column. Phytoplankton species composition showed seasonal dynamics following the general environmental variable trends in the study area, with variation in species abundance levels within each season characterised by the presence of different phytoplankton communities. Analysis of environmental variables indicated that phytoplankton-dominant communities were associated with various water physicochemical characteristics, especially water temperature and salinity. Accordingly, significant correlation was recorded between water temperature and dinoflagellates (r = 0.35; p < 0.05) in summer and diatoms (r = 0.69; p < 0.05) in autumn, whereas euglenophytes, cyanophytes and chlorophytes were slightly correlated with temperature in autumn. Salinity was positively correlated with dichtyophytes (r = 0.41; p < 0.05) in winter and with diatoms (r = 0.65; p < 0.05) and euglenophytes (r = 0.57; p < 0.05) in autumn. On the other hand, relationships between high nitrogen nutrient concentration and phytoplankton concentration were recorded for diatoms (r = 0.43; p < 0.05 with NO₂; r = 0.49; p < 0.05 with NO₃) in winter. Silicate concentration supported proliferation of diatoms (r = 0.58; p < 0.05) in autumn in our study period. In contrast, increase of dinoflagellate concentration was associated with the decrease of these parameters in spring and summer.     

It's a Wonderful Coast or,Every Time a Bell Rings,Long Island Sound is Protected

In Frank Capra's classic film It's a Wonderful Life, a despondent man takes a journey to see what life would have been like without him: the journey paints a bleak picture. In true Hollywood form, he is ultimately reassured of his impact even though his accomplishments were immeasurable. The film's protagonist, George Bailey, is the perfect metaphor for Connecticut's Coastal Management Program. The Program can measure quantifiable elements: the number of site plans reviewed, number of permits issued, acres of tidal wetlands restored. But coastal managers often lose sight of the accomplishments and ripple effects of management, possibly because accomplishments are taken for granted. Perhaps the true value of coastal management programs lies in that intangible, immeasurable idea of what coasts would be like without them.

This article takes readers on a George Bailey–esque journey by identifying the Connecticut Coastal Management Program's accomplishments since its adoption in 1980, reviewed in the context of several questions: What if the Program had never been adopted? What would public access look like? How many acres of tidal wetlands would be lost to development or Phragmites invasion? Hopefully, the results of the exercise will put coastal management into better context and highlight the successes.     

Managing Shoreline Change Under Increasing Sea-Level Rise in Ghana

Relative sea-level rise will affect vulnerable coastal communities globally. Quantifying this effect on the coastal environment and infrastructure provides critical information that enables coastal managers to develop sustainable mitigation and adaptation measures. Modeling applications have enabled the past, present, and future trends in shoreline morphology to be investigated in detail. Predictive numerical models depend largely on the reliability of the input data. This article reports on using the Soft Cliff and Platform Erosion (SCAPE) numerical model to simulate future shoreline evolution trend in the central Accra coast in Ghana. The model input parameters include historic shoreline recession rates, wave data, tidal data, bathymetry, beach volume, beach topography, historic relative sea-level rise rates, and the shoreline orientation. The data fed the SCAPE numerical model which simulated the emergence of soft rock shore profiles over timescale of decades to centuries, to project future positions of the central Accra shoreline for the next 100 years under different scenarios of climate change. Simulated future shoreline positions overlaid on a 2005 orthophoto map of Accra enabled vulnerable areas and infrastructure at risk to be identified. It emerged that a highly populated community in central Accra will be inundated by 2065, while the Rivera beach resort will be eroded from 2035. A natural fish landing site in Osu (suburb in Accra) will be lost from 2045. The study has demonstrated that considerable ecological, economic, social, and national losses should be expected within the next century. Shoreline change management options should be explored to help mitigate the expected impact of the sea-level rise.     

Vertical evacuation in hurricanes: An urgent policy problem for coastal managers

Abstract

Evacuation inland ("horizontal evacuation") is the traditional method of saving life in areas forecast as the site of hurricane landfall. But “high confidence”; warning time is only 12 hours, while some coastal areas are now so densely populated that twice that time is required for evacuation. Coastal managers must therefore risk the ire of local citizens “unnecessarily”; evacuated early, and the associated risk that several false alarms will reduce citizen compliance, or the risk that evacuation will be too long delayed.

The alternative of vertical evacuation (going upstairs in hurricane‐proof buildings) is resisted by planners who are concerned that its risks are too high and that partial acceptance of the concept would vitiate compliance with the horizontal component. But in some areas there may no longer be a choice: prudent coastal managers must determine the potential need and capability for vertical evacuation in their areas. Effective integration of both vertical and horizontal evacuation will require development of new plans and policies.     

Recreation Conflict Along New York's Great Lakes Coast

This study used goal interference theory to examine the recreation conflict among motorboat users, personal watercraft users, and riparian landowners. Data were collected from three types of owners in the New York Great Lake coastal area. Results indicated each of the four recreation conflict dimensions proposed in goal interference theory contained multiple factors. Logistic regression models indicated that one or more dimensions were significant in predicting perceived conflict and the models correctly predicted conflict in over 70% to 100% of the cases. Goal interference theory can be seen as a general model, but significance of the four dimensions depends on types of recreation activities and users.     

Vulnerability of Caribbean Island Cemeteries to Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that rising seas by the end of this century will increase the severity of coastal flooding and erosion. The Caribbean region is home to many small islands that are vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge. Much of the literature examining impacts of sea level rise in the Caribbean focuses on ecosystems, infrastructure, and recreation. Few studies have examined how sea level rise will impact historic and culturally important places. In an effort to address this research gap, geographic information systems and crowd-sourced, georeferenced photographs were used to build a first-of-its-kind database of 542 Caribbean small island cemeteries. Vulnerable cemeteries were then identified based upon elevation, proximity to the ocean, and the coastal profile. Over one-fifth of the cemeteries surveyed are within 100 m of the coast. The highest concentrations of vulnerable cemeteries are on flat islands such as the Cayman Islands. Yet, some mountainous islands such as Saint Martin also have potentially vulnerable cemeteries. These findings suggest that the bereaved, cemetery managers, and managers of coastal areas that have cemeteries may have additional considerations when making long-term decisions about where and how to bury the deceased.     

How Are Our MPAs Doing? Challenges in Assessing Global Patterns in Marine Protected Area Performance

Without effective management, protected areas are unlikely to achieve the high expectations the conservation and development sectors have for them: conserving biodiversity and alleviating poverty. Numerous marine protected area (MPA) assessment initiatives have been developed at various spatial and temporal scales, including the guidebook How is your MPA doing? These management assessments have been useful to sites to clarify and evaluate their objectives, yet efforts to examine broader regional or global patterns in MPA performance are only beginning. The authors conducted exploratory trend analyses on How is your MPA doing? indicator data collected by 24 MPAs worldwide to identify challenges and areas for future work. Wide variability across sites with regard to the indicators examined and the constructs used to measure them prevented a true meta-analysis. Managers assessed biophysical indicators more often than socioeconomic and governance constructs. Investment by the conservation community to support collecting and reporting high-quality data at the site level would enable a better understanding of the variation in MPA performance, clarify the contribution of MPAs to both biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation, and help drive better MPA performance. The absence of rigorous and consistent monitoring protocols and instruments and a platform to turn raw MPA monitoring data into actionable information is a critical but under-recognized obstacle to cross-project learning, comparative analyses, and adaptive resource management.     

Designing a Network of Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas in Hainan Island,South China

Overexploitation of reef resources and increasing coastal tourism have severely damaged the health of coral reef ecosystems around Hainan Island, South China. Only some reef sites are protected, and the effectiveness of the marine protected areas (MPA) appears inadequate. Networks of MPAs have been widely proposed as a more effective tool for reef conservation. However, little is known about the overall state of the island's coral reefs, and no guidelines exist for MPA network building in China. In this study, the information currently available on the distribution and condition of Hainan's coral reefs is comprehensively used to assess reef status, and to identify other reef areas prior to protection. An MPA network around the island is proposed in terms of monitoring, legal, and management aspects to improve the conservation effectiveness. This could also serve as a model for developing MPA networks for other coastal areas with respect to coral reef conservation.     

Coastal communities—partners or puppets in outer continental shelf development

This article reviews the history of esthetics and its role in the development of outdoor recreation policy. Current research is also reviewed, demonstrating the broad scope and complexity of esthetics as a focus for research. Finally, in the absence of sufficient research for formulating coastal recreation planning and management decisions, the ethics of coastal recreation “development”; is considered.     

Perceptions of the performance of state coastal zone management programs in the United States. II. Regional and state comparisons

A mail survey of coastal user groups, academics, and state coastal zone management program managers was conducted to determine the perceptions of the performance of state coastal zone management programs relative to the protection of coastal resources, the management of coastal development, the improvement of public access, and the management of coastal hazards. Information on the perceived importance of the selected issues to each of the 24 states being studied was also solicited. Findings on the perceptions of various categories of interest groups, academics, and program managers with respect to the overall performance of state coastal zone management programs in the four issue areas were presented in an earlier article, “Perceptions of the Performance of State Coastal Zone Management Programs in the United States”; (Knecht et al., 1996). The present article draws on a subset of these data—the responses from the coastal user groups and the academics—and presents the findings at the regional and individual state level. In terms of perceived performance of state coastal zone management programs on a regional basis relative to the selected issue areas, the highest rating went to the Great Lakes region for its management of public access. However, the North Atlantic region received the highest performance rating for the three other issue areas: protection of coastal resources, management of coastal development, and management of coastal hazards. Looking at state performance with regard to the coastal issues judged to be of most importance to the states—the protection of coastal resources and the management of coastal development—respondents indicated that states should improve their performance in both areas, with the greatest need related to the management of coastal development. Overall, the states of the North Atlantic, Great Lakes, and South Atlantic regions were perceived to be performing somewhat better relative to the four issue areas than the states in the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico regions. While the data do not shed light on the reasons for these regional differences, we suggest that, in the case of the Pacific region at least, the differences could be associated with higher expectations among the resident population with regard to environmental quality in general and coastal management in particular.     

Heterogeneous archaeal communities in the particle-rich environment of an arctic shelf ecosystem

We evaluated the phylogenetic diversity of particle-associated and free-living archaeal assemblages from the Mackenzie River and Beaufort Sea in the western Canadian Arctic. The physico-chemical characteristics of the water separated the sampling sites into three groups: riverine, coastal and marine water, which had strikingly different archaeal communities. The riverine water was characterised by the presence of Euryarchaeota mainly belonging to the LDS and RC-V clusters. The coastal water was also dominated by Euryarchaeota but they were mostly affiliated to Group II.a. The marine waters contained most exclusively Crenarchaeota belonging to the Marine Group I.1a. The results suggest that Euryarchaeota in the coastal surface layer are associated with particle-rich waters, while Crenarchaeota are more characteristic of Arctic Ocean waters that have been less influenced by riverine inputs. The particle-associated communities were similar to the free-living ones at the riverine and marine sites but differed from each other at the coastal site in terms of the presence or absence of some taxonomic groups in one of the fractions, or differences in the proportion of the phylogenetic groups. However, there was no specific archaeal group that was exclusively restricted to the free-living or particle fraction, and the diversity of the particle-associated archaeal assemblages did not significantly differ from the diversity of the free-living communities.     

A Review of Beach Bye-Law Usage in Supporting Coastal Management in Ireland

Coastal areas are commonly the focus of a range of human activities and uses. Beaches are one example of multi-use coastal environments, accommodating activities linked to leisure and recreation, amenity, conservation and business, often simultaneously. Ireland is no different in this regard, as its beach resources provide a range of goods and services of societal value. Ireland has 16 coastal counties and their associated local authorities have a beach management remit, a role that can present a number of challenges. The use of beach bye-laws is one option to support management of beach environments by local authorities. Local authority personnel tasked with beach management from each coastal local authority were surveyed to assess the actual and potential role of beach bye-laws in contributing to more effective management of beach environments and to broader coastal management. Usage of beach bye-laws varied across local authority areas and evidence suggested that the efficacy, use, and implementation of beach bye-laws differed from county to county. Beach bye-laws offer potential but interaction with other initiatives as part of a wider program for coastal management may yield improved results.     

The Role of Indigenous Resurgence in Marine Conservation

Abstract

Indigenous peoples’ efforts toward environmental conservation are indivisible from their cultural identity and their social and political organizations. Indigenous resurgence, including the reinvigoration and reestablishment of Indigenous ways of living, are linked to the management, restoration, and conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems around the world. However, there remains a significant gap in the recognition and support of Indigenous governance systems in international policy discussions regarding conservation work. As a way to address this gap, we offer an analysis of marine Indigenous community-led conservation initiatives from around the world that were recipients of the UNDP Equator Prize, framed by initial research on Indigenous-led conservation in British Columbia, Canada. We highlight specific Indigenous governance strategies undertaken by such communities that foster both marine resource conservation and stewardship. The strategies we identified included practicing Indigenous traditional resource management, protection of traditional territories, Indigenous-led actions of environmental conservation, and data collection and monitoring. We also identified networking and collaboration with non-Indigenous supporters, as was reinvestment into education and capacity-building within the community. We conclude with concrete policy suggestions drawn from these cases that can help strengthen the leadership and self-determination of Indigenous peoples on local resource and environmental issues, and aid in much broader conservation efforts globally.