40
P.R. Burbridge
2.3
The Challenge of Optimising the Economic and Social Benefits
Derived from Maintaining the Flow of Goods and Services Supplied
by Coastal Ecosystems
2.3.1
The Need to Move Away From Current Sectoral Management Approaches
By paying increased attention to both the ecology and the actual use of coastal environments we have gained a clearer perception of the wide range of economic activities they support and the critically important environmental services they provide.
Where the economic and environmental goods and services have been documented,
tht\ information serveS as a means of illustrating their value to people responsible for
allocation and use of different coastal systems. It also serves to illustrate the common
dependence of different economic sectors on the same coastal ecosystems. This common dependence and the mounting competition amongst different economic sectors
for access to and often exclusive use of coastal resources raises concerns over protecting socioeconomic equity in the absence of improved integration of sectoral policies
and management plans. Socioeconomic equity is a key element in the concept of sustainable development, for example see Dailyet al. (1995).
Although improved evaluations of the ecology and the actual use of coastal environments help illustrate the significance of the environmental systems, a basic problem
which remains is that the multiple functions they provide and many of the corresponding goods and services are often not understood by central government officials responsible for the formulation of development policies, investment and the allocation of coastal
resources systems. These policy and decision makers do, however, recognize the economic activities which seek to maximize the returns from specific resources through
single purpose activities. Unfortunately, the establishment of strong government agencies to promote sectoral development activities reinforces single purpose approaches
to the allocation and use of coastal areas. Single purpose, areas-based planning is the
most common approach to coastal zone management in most developing countries.
A fundamental problem this creates is that agencies formed to provide leadership
in one economic sector are put in charge of resource systems which may be equally
important to other sectors of the economy. The classic example is the allocation of the
responsibility for mangroves to departments of forestry. In comparison to upland forests, the sustainable extraction of timber and secondary forest products from mangrove is difficult and provides relatively modest revenues to forestry departments. The
limited revenues earned provide little incentive or cash to manage mangrove forests
well and virtually no incentive to manage them in a manner which will sustain other
mangrove dependent uses such as fisheries.
Reliance on sectoral approaches creates a series of problems which make it difficult to make full use of coastal resources systems, namely:
1. A narrow range of economic activities dominate assessments of the potential use of
coastal land and water resources by the sectoral agencies concerned;
2. Ddevelopment and investment plans are generally based upon exclusive, single purpose development;
P.R. Burbridge
2.3
The Challenge of Optimising the Economic and Social Benefits
Derived from Maintaining the Flow of Goods and Services Supplied
by Coastal Ecosystems
2.3.1
The Need to Move Away From Current Sectoral Management Approaches
By paying increased attention to both the ecology and the actual use of coastal environments we have gained a clearer perception of the wide range of economic activities they support and the critically important environmental services they provide.
Where the economic and environmental goods and services have been documented,
tht\ information serveS as a means of illustrating their value to people responsible for
allocation and use of different coastal systems. It also serves to illustrate the common
dependence of different economic sectors on the same coastal ecosystems. This common dependence and the mounting competition amongst different economic sectors
for access to and often exclusive use of coastal resources raises concerns over protecting socioeconomic equity in the absence of improved integration of sectoral policies
and management plans. Socioeconomic equity is a key element in the concept of sustainable development, for example see Dailyet al. (1995).
Although improved evaluations of the ecology and the actual use of coastal environments help illustrate the significance of the environmental systems, a basic problem
which remains is that the multiple functions they provide and many of the corresponding goods and services are often not understood by central government officials responsible for the formulation of development policies, investment and the allocation of coastal
resources systems. These policy and decision makers do, however, recognize the economic activities which seek to maximize the returns from specific resources through
single purpose activities. Unfortunately, the establishment of strong government agencies to promote sectoral development activities reinforces single purpose approaches
to the allocation and use of coastal areas. Single purpose, areas-based planning is the
most common approach to coastal zone management in most developing countries.
A fundamental problem this creates is that agencies formed to provide leadership
in one economic sector are put in charge of resource systems which may be equally
important to other sectors of the economy. The classic example is the allocation of the
responsibility for mangroves to departments of forestry. In comparison to upland forests, the sustainable extraction of timber and secondary forest products from mangrove is difficult and provides relatively modest revenues to forestry departments. The
limited revenues earned provide little incentive or cash to manage mangrove forests
well and virtually no incentive to manage them in a manner which will sustain other
mangrove dependent uses such as fisheries.
Reliance on sectoral approaches creates a series of problems which make it difficult to make full use of coastal resources systems, namely:
1. A narrow range of economic activities dominate assessments of the potential use of
coastal land and water resources by the sectoral agencies concerned;
2. Ddevelopment and investment plans are generally based upon exclusive, single purpose development;