Chapter 6
The Role of Ecology in Coastal Zone Mangement:
Perspectives from South-East Australia
A.J. Underwood . M.G. Chapman
6.1
Introduction
There l>hould be growing concern in southern Australia about the nature of management of coastal habitats because of the increasing gulf between the clear scientific needs
of managers and the sorts of contributions relevant environmental scientists are allowed to make. The problems for Australia's coastal zones are expanding. We are one
of the most urbanized societies on earth (Yapp 1986), so problems for coastal planning around our major cities - which are all on estuaries at the coastal margins - are
large. Increased leisure and the "greying" of our population has meant greatly increased
demand for coastal life-styles. Approximately 90% of all applications for new residential buildings are on the coast.
Yet management of coastal environments, at least in the most populous state, New South
Wales, is under control of six or seven State Government agencies and increasingly fragmented by forcing responsibilities onto local councils. In fact, the latest planning instrument - the NSW Coastal Policy (NSW Government 1997) requires increasing decision -making by local councils, of which more than 20 have responsibility for coastal
urban areas in the Sydney metropolitan region. Fragmentation of responses is inevitable and councils have limited resources (and little capacity to increase resources) for
sound, ecologically sensible, environmental planning and protection. Our system of
hierarchies of government is not well-designed for solving large-scale problems. For a
simple example, a local council with responsibilities for part of the urban coast -line in
Sydney has no control ov;er activities of inshore and estuarine fishermen (a state governmental fisheries agency is responsible) nor control of planning in catchments that partially determine quality of water around that part of the coast (that being the responsibility o{upstream, non-coastal councils and Catchment Management Committees). Nor
can a local coastal council be responsible for long-term community education on coastal
issues (where that is needed), when the majority of the users of their coastal resources
and recreational areas are residents of other municipalities, shires and councils.
This problem of fragmentation is a familiar one; for example, in some metropolitan parts of the United States, environmental problems were managed by >100 bodies
(Kneese and Bower 1979). It has, however, been added to by three other issues - some
a direct result of changes in official and public attitudes following the Rio Convention
(World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). In turn, these issues are,
first, that one of the agencies involved, New South Wales Fisheries, is responsible for
(and accountable to sectors of the community via political processes for) the effective
and efficient management of fisheries resources. This is, of course, the antithesis of a
conservationist role. Conservation by hunter-gatherers has only occasionally been a
The Role of Ecology in Coastal Zone Mangement:
Perspectives from South-East Australia
A.J. Underwood . M.G. Chapman
6.1
Introduction
There l>hould be growing concern in southern Australia about the nature of management of coastal habitats because of the increasing gulf between the clear scientific needs
of managers and the sorts of contributions relevant environmental scientists are allowed to make. The problems for Australia's coastal zones are expanding. We are one
of the most urbanized societies on earth (Yapp 1986), so problems for coastal planning around our major cities - which are all on estuaries at the coastal margins - are
large. Increased leisure and the "greying" of our population has meant greatly increased
demand for coastal life-styles. Approximately 90% of all applications for new residential buildings are on the coast.
Yet management of coastal environments, at least in the most populous state, New South
Wales, is under control of six or seven State Government agencies and increasingly fragmented by forcing responsibilities onto local councils. In fact, the latest planning instrument - the NSW Coastal Policy (NSW Government 1997) requires increasing decision -making by local councils, of which more than 20 have responsibility for coastal
urban areas in the Sydney metropolitan region. Fragmentation of responses is inevitable and councils have limited resources (and little capacity to increase resources) for
sound, ecologically sensible, environmental planning and protection. Our system of
hierarchies of government is not well-designed for solving large-scale problems. For a
simple example, a local council with responsibilities for part of the urban coast -line in
Sydney has no control ov;er activities of inshore and estuarine fishermen (a state governmental fisheries agency is responsible) nor control of planning in catchments that partially determine quality of water around that part of the coast (that being the responsibility o{upstream, non-coastal councils and Catchment Management Committees). Nor
can a local coastal council be responsible for long-term community education on coastal
issues (where that is needed), when the majority of the users of their coastal resources
and recreational areas are residents of other municipalities, shires and councils.
This problem of fragmentation is a familiar one; for example, in some metropolitan parts of the United States, environmental problems were managed by >100 bodies
(Kneese and Bower 1979). It has, however, been added to by three other issues - some
a direct result of changes in official and public attitudes following the Rio Convention
(World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). In turn, these issues are,
first, that one of the agencies involved, New South Wales Fisheries, is responsible for
(and accountable to sectors of the community via political processes for) the effective
and efficient management of fisheries resources. This is, of course, the antithesis of a
conservationist role. Conservation by hunter-gatherers has only occasionally been a