2
S.D.King
desire to defend and to protect these particular aspects of the coastal environment does
not necessarily fit in with the need to maintain the human aspect of the environment,
e.g. our industrial, economic, and leisure activities. For example, local property owners
may wish to see their land and buildings protected against flooding and erosion. At the
same time, however, the conservation of natural features and habitats may depend upon
the continued operation of natural coastal processes, which themselves can be affected
by defence structures. This has currently made the issue of coastal defence and
protection a very contentious one (Lee, 1993). Maintaining a coastal environment to suit
all the possible user requirements and interests is difficult and in reality is achieved only
by compromise. And yet it is vital to strike a balance between the natural and the manmade activities that operate within a coastal environment in order to sustain them for the
benefit of everyone. They complement one another. However, to date, an integrated
approach to coastal management has not really been undertaken. The result of this has
been that more often than not the continued use of a coastal environment has resulted in
conflict, the consequences of which have been damaging to other users and aspects.
The Need for Better Coastal Management
It has been argued by Carter (1988) for example that “accelerated erosion,
disappearing beaches, increased frequency of flooding, progressive siltation,
degraded ecosystems and so on” (p. 431) are all symptomatic of the inability of people
to provide competent coastal land management, defence and protection. If this is so, the
dilemma faced by coastal zone managers is how to provide areas which are, for
example, susceptible to flooding with “technically, environmentally and economically
sound and sustainable defence [and protection] measures” (MAFF, 1993, p. 3) in the
future, while trying to maintain those of the past, and to deal with the problems they
may have caused.
The problem currently faced is one of being able to maintain the coastal
environment in such a way that it supports both the interests of the natural and the manmade environment, so that both can co-exist in such a way that our economic, social and
industrial livelihood can be maintained but set within a natural environmental context.
Sustainability is the key word here. In essence management of the coastal environment
is about sustaining the natural environment.
It is now recognised that past practices at the coast, such as the construction of
harbours, jetties and traditional defence systems may have contributed to the
deterioration of the coast. English Nature (1992), for example, have argued that if
practices and methods of coastal defence are allowed to continue, then coastlines would
be faced with worsening consequences, including:
The loss of mudflats and the birds which live on them;
Damage to geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and scenic
heritage by erosion, due to the stabilisation of the coast elsewhere;
Cutting of sediment supplies to beaches resulting in the loss of coastal wildlife;
Cessation through isolation from coastal processes, of the natural operation of
spits, with serious deterioration of rare plants, animals and geomorphological
and scenic qualities. (English Nature, 1992)
S.D.King
desire to defend and to protect these particular aspects of the coastal environment does
not necessarily fit in with the need to maintain the human aspect of the environment,
e.g. our industrial, economic, and leisure activities. For example, local property owners
may wish to see their land and buildings protected against flooding and erosion. At the
same time, however, the conservation of natural features and habitats may depend upon
the continued operation of natural coastal processes, which themselves can be affected
by defence structures. This has currently made the issue of coastal defence and
protection a very contentious one (Lee, 1993). Maintaining a coastal environment to suit
all the possible user requirements and interests is difficult and in reality is achieved only
by compromise. And yet it is vital to strike a balance between the natural and the manmade activities that operate within a coastal environment in order to sustain them for the
benefit of everyone. They complement one another. However, to date, an integrated
approach to coastal management has not really been undertaken. The result of this has
been that more often than not the continued use of a coastal environment has resulted in
conflict, the consequences of which have been damaging to other users and aspects.
The Need for Better Coastal Management
It has been argued by Carter (1988) for example that “accelerated erosion,
disappearing beaches, increased frequency of flooding, progressive siltation,
degraded ecosystems and so on” (p. 431) are all symptomatic of the inability of people
to provide competent coastal land management, defence and protection. If this is so, the
dilemma faced by coastal zone managers is how to provide areas which are, for
example, susceptible to flooding with “technically, environmentally and economically
sound and sustainable defence [and protection] measures” (MAFF, 1993, p. 3) in the
future, while trying to maintain those of the past, and to deal with the problems they
may have caused.
The problem currently faced is one of being able to maintain the coastal
environment in such a way that it supports both the interests of the natural and the manmade environment, so that both can co-exist in such a way that our economic, social and
industrial livelihood can be maintained but set within a natural environmental context.
Sustainability is the key word here. In essence management of the coastal environment
is about sustaining the natural environment.
It is now recognised that past practices at the coast, such as the construction of
harbours, jetties and traditional defence systems may have contributed to the
deterioration of the coast. English Nature (1992), for example, have argued that if
practices and methods of coastal defence are allowed to continue, then coastlines would
be faced with worsening consequences, including:
The loss of mudflats and the birds which live on them;
Damage to geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and scenic
heritage by erosion, due to the stabilisation of the coast elsewhere;
Cutting of sediment supplies to beaches resulting in the loss of coastal wildlife;
Cessation through isolation from coastal processes, of the natural operation of
spits, with serious deterioration of rare plants, animals and geomorphological
and scenic qualities. (English Nature, 1992)