I. The Coastal Zone
11
If a touristic use is to be assigned to a coastal area, so that industrial and service
jobs be created, the plamfing process should include site reconnaissance, in-depth
environmental study, exploitation, and management. As far as developing
countries are concerned, coastal zone use decisions should be based on
multidisciplinary scientific studies by a team made up of specialists from
academe and industry. Only at a later stage should exploitation be considered.
The expansion of coastal tourism, the use of the littoral fringe for recreation and
parcelling of the dunal belt have all helped to accelerate erosion by destroying
dunes and by slowing down beach restoration after its Winter regression.
3.2 Management and the Multidisciplinary Approach
Any attempt at economic development that is based on adaptation to, and
conservation, of the littoral fringe can only be effectively carried out if a policy of
fundamental and pluridisciplinary research is concurrently pursued. Such a
global approach will allow an understanding of the especially complex and varied
processes which operate in the coastal zone, and will also provide the basic
information needed for a scientific and technical foundation for coherent
management of the littoral fringe.
Management and use of the coastal zone require pluridisciplinary investigations
which, although the disciplines involved all belong to the domain of oceanology
"sensu largo", necessitate expansion of the field of study generally considered as
"marine science" (Charlier and Vigneaux 1973).
The coastal fringe is the scene of many diverse and interactive processes, and it
has to be borne in mind that any coastal project will produce perturbations in the
environment.
In view of its complexity, the coastal environment obviously constitutes a unique
milieu, wherein the various scientific disciplines able to help in improving the
knowledge base cannot be separated. Any problem pertaining to a coastal zone
must necessarily be studied through the efforts of teams made up of physicists,
biologists, geologists, chemists, marine science specialists, geographers,
economists and engineers.
Such collaboration often involves the pooling of techniques and data, depending
on the magnitude of the actions to be deployed, and may call for cooperation on
an international scale.
11
If a touristic use is to be assigned to a coastal area, so that industrial and service
jobs be created, the plamfing process should include site reconnaissance, in-depth
environmental study, exploitation, and management. As far as developing
countries are concerned, coastal zone use decisions should be based on
multidisciplinary scientific studies by a team made up of specialists from
academe and industry. Only at a later stage should exploitation be considered.
The expansion of coastal tourism, the use of the littoral fringe for recreation and
parcelling of the dunal belt have all helped to accelerate erosion by destroying
dunes and by slowing down beach restoration after its Winter regression.
3.2 Management and the Multidisciplinary Approach
Any attempt at economic development that is based on adaptation to, and
conservation, of the littoral fringe can only be effectively carried out if a policy of
fundamental and pluridisciplinary research is concurrently pursued. Such a
global approach will allow an understanding of the especially complex and varied
processes which operate in the coastal zone, and will also provide the basic
information needed for a scientific and technical foundation for coherent
management of the littoral fringe.
Management and use of the coastal zone require pluridisciplinary investigations
which, although the disciplines involved all belong to the domain of oceanology
"sensu largo", necessitate expansion of the field of study generally considered as
"marine science" (Charlier and Vigneaux 1973).
The coastal fringe is the scene of many diverse and interactive processes, and it
has to be borne in mind that any coastal project will produce perturbations in the
environment.
In view of its complexity, the coastal environment obviously constitutes a unique
milieu, wherein the various scientific disciplines able to help in improving the
knowledge base cannot be separated. Any problem pertaining to a coastal zone
must necessarily be studied through the efforts of teams made up of physicists,
biologists, geologists, chemists, marine science specialists, geographers,
economists and engineers.
Such collaboration often involves the pooling of techniques and data, depending
on the magnitude of the actions to be deployed, and may call for cooperation on
an international scale.