CHAPTER 2 • The Challenge of Demonstrating the Socio-economic Benefits of ICM
51
different forms and levels of exploitation of those resources will affect the health and
productivity of the entire ecosystem. It will also require good information on social
preferences for different resources, including the sustained availability of environmental
goods and services which may not be extracted or consumed. This is a very complex
challenge indeed and reinforces the idea that we need to find better ways of integrating environmental, social and economic information to help us develop the skills required to manage complex coastal systems in a sophisticated manner.
2.5
Multiple-use Management of Coastal Areas and Associated Ecosystems
Utilising the Concept of Integrated Coastal Management
The achievement of even modest levels of sustainable and integrated development of
coastal resource systems requires intersectoral cooperation, coordination of plans and
the integration of development activities. This is not easy, however the concept of
multiple~use has been used world-wide to successfully coordinate and integrate activities in watershed management programmes because significant benefits can be derived
from interactions among, rather than the segregation of, resource users.
The concept of multiple use of land and water resources is not new. Many coastal
societies in Asia have been utilising coastal resource systems, such as mangrove, for a
variety of purposes for centuries. Unfortunately the sophistication and risk reducing
character of these traditional, multiple-use systems are being destroyed before we have
properly studied them. Their destruction is brought about by concentrated economic
pressures, such as the conversion of mangrove to produce highly valued shrimp for
export, and by sectoral approaches to economic development which displace them.
These can result in the foreclosure of development options, increased risk of adverse
environmental effects, loss of employment, and accelerated rural to urban migration.
The sustainable, and wherever possible optimal, use of complex coastal systems
therefore requires a management approach equally sophisticated as traditional multiple use approaches and which is capable of maintaining the multiple functions of the
environmental systems, guiding public and private sector investment and avoiding the
foreclosure of future deyelopment options. Slavishly mimicking traditional systems
which may not be the solution to coping with the scale and rate of change evident in
most developing nations. However, careful observation of traditional management
systems ·can provide a wealth of information on the ecology of coastal environments,
utility of resources, limits to exploitation, and economic, social and cultural values
which need to be taken into consideration in formulating management plans. In essence there is information available which can be used to fill in the large gaps in our
knowledge of coastal ecosystems.
2.6
Conclusions
For the foreseeable future, most coastal nations will remain heavily dependent upon
coastal resources to meet the needs of expanding populations and the need to expand
and diversify their economies. The degradation of coastal areas, declining availability
of coastal resources and the loss of future developq1ent options are avoidable. Most of
51
different forms and levels of exploitation of those resources will affect the health and
productivity of the entire ecosystem. It will also require good information on social
preferences for different resources, including the sustained availability of environmental
goods and services which may not be extracted or consumed. This is a very complex
challenge indeed and reinforces the idea that we need to find better ways of integrating environmental, social and economic information to help us develop the skills required to manage complex coastal systems in a sophisticated manner.
2.5
Multiple-use Management of Coastal Areas and Associated Ecosystems
Utilising the Concept of Integrated Coastal Management
The achievement of even modest levels of sustainable and integrated development of
coastal resource systems requires intersectoral cooperation, coordination of plans and
the integration of development activities. This is not easy, however the concept of
multiple~use has been used world-wide to successfully coordinate and integrate activities in watershed management programmes because significant benefits can be derived
from interactions among, rather than the segregation of, resource users.
The concept of multiple use of land and water resources is not new. Many coastal
societies in Asia have been utilising coastal resource systems, such as mangrove, for a
variety of purposes for centuries. Unfortunately the sophistication and risk reducing
character of these traditional, multiple-use systems are being destroyed before we have
properly studied them. Their destruction is brought about by concentrated economic
pressures, such as the conversion of mangrove to produce highly valued shrimp for
export, and by sectoral approaches to economic development which displace them.
These can result in the foreclosure of development options, increased risk of adverse
environmental effects, loss of employment, and accelerated rural to urban migration.
The sustainable, and wherever possible optimal, use of complex coastal systems
therefore requires a management approach equally sophisticated as traditional multiple use approaches and which is capable of maintaining the multiple functions of the
environmental systems, guiding public and private sector investment and avoiding the
foreclosure of future deyelopment options. Slavishly mimicking traditional systems
which may not be the solution to coping with the scale and rate of change evident in
most developing nations. However, careful observation of traditional management
systems ·can provide a wealth of information on the ecology of coastal environments,
utility of resources, limits to exploitation, and economic, social and cultural values
which need to be taken into consideration in formulating management plans. In essence there is information available which can be used to fill in the large gaps in our
knowledge of coastal ecosystems.
2.6
Conclusions
For the foreseeable future, most coastal nations will remain heavily dependent upon
coastal resources to meet the needs of expanding populations and the need to expand
and diversify their economies. The degradation of coastal areas, declining availability
of coastal resources and the loss of future developq1ent options are avoidable. Most of