It’s becoming increasingly crucial for governments and individual councils to manage coastlines to protect them from coastal erosion and flooding due to changing sea levels. The reason for coastal management is to protect homes and businesses from the devastating effects of coastal flooding and erosion. Failure to do so can have a severe economic and social impact, especially along coastlines used for tourism and industry.
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenIt’s becoming increasingly crucial for governments and individual councils to manage coastlines to protect them from coastal erosion and flooding due to changing sea levels. The reason for coastal management is to protect homes and businesses from the devastating effects of coastal flooding and erosion. Failure to do so can have a severe economic and social impact, especially along coastlines used for tourism and industry.
Coastal management aims to protect homes, businesses and the environment from erosion and flooding. Strategies have to take into account the following:
To achieve this, the following options are available.
Hard engineering involves building artificial structures that aim to prevent erosion. The structures are usually at the base of a cliff or on the beach. They effectively prevent erosion in the desired area, but they are expensive and have a significant environmental impact due to the use of concrete and other artificial materials. In addition, reducing erosion in one area of the coastline may exacerbate erosion elsewhere. Therefore, their only impact is to change where erosion is occurring.
Soft engineering aims to work with and complement the physical environment by using natural coastal defence methods. They manage but do not necessarily prevent erosion. Soft engineering uses ecological principles and practices, which have less of a negative impact on the natural environment. As a result, it is less expensive to implement and maintain and creates more long-term and sustainable solutions than hard engineering projects.
The table below shows the common types of hard engineering.
Hard engineering options | |||
---|---|---|---|
Type | Definition | Advantages | Disadvantages |
Sea wall | Large walls constructed from concrete, steel, or stone are located along the shoreline of a beach. | Protects cliffs from upland erosion and is a barrier to flooding. | Waves can erode the wall defeating its purpose and is expensive to implement and maintain. |
Groyne | Wooden fence-like barriers are built at right angles at the beach. | Prevents longshore drift, flooding, and erosion. Allows beaches to build up. | Can create erosion further down the coast. Unattractive and expensive. |
Gabion | Bundles or rocks in metal mesh located at cliff bases. | Reduces the impact of waves. | Inexpensive hard engineering structure, but not very effective or attractive. |
Revetment | Slanted structures made from concrete, wood or rocks along a cliff. | Prevents cliff erosion as it absorbs wave energy. | Expensive to implement. Can create a strong backwash. |
Coastal/Tidal barrage | Partly submerged dam-like structures that control the tidal flow. | Create a more consistent water level that can be used for hydroelectricity. | Has a substantial impact on the environment. Expensive to implement and maintain. |
Rock armour (rip rap) | Large boulders or rocks piled up on a beach in front of a cliff or sea wall. | It absorbs the energy of waves and helps build up beaches. | Expensive to implement and maintain. |
Cliff stabilisation | Metal bars are inserted in cliffs to reinforce them. | Improves the strength of the cliff and prevents rocks from falling | Can create a metal mess |
Table 1 |
And here are some common types of soft engineering.
Type | Definition | Advantages | Disadvantages |
Beach nourishment | The beach is made wider by using sand and shingle. | Increases the distance a wave has to travel, thus slowing it down and preventing erosion. | Sand and shingle must be sourced from somewhere else, usually by dredging. Requires maintenance and can be expensive. |
Managed retreat | Certain areas of the coast are allowed to erode and flood naturally. | Natural eroded material encourages the development of beaches and salt marshes. Low cost. | Required to compensate people who lose buildings and farmland. |
Dune stabilisation | Planting dead trees in the sand to stabilise dunes. | Widens the beach/dune, therefore, slowing down waves and preventing erosion. | Trees need to be sourced and require maintenance. |
Dune regeneration | Creating new sand dunes or restoring existing ones. | Dunes act as a barrier and absorb wave energy reducing erosion and protecting against flooding. | Dunes are a barrier to beach access and creating new dunes results in a land loss. |
Afforestation | Stabilising dunes by planting trees. | This minimises sand drift and erosion. | Planting non-native species can affect the nutrients in the soil. |
Mangrove planting | Planting mangroves along the shore. | Mangrove roots keep soil in place, which dissipates wave energy and prevents erosion. | Mangroves are non-native to some areas and can become invasive. |
Coral reef preservation and enhancement | Protecting existing reefs. | Coral reefs reduce wave energy. | Man-made reefs can cause contamination. |
In general
Hard engineering can be expensive, and it disrupts the natural process.
Soft engineering is a more sustainable management strategy than hard engineering because it has a lower environmental impact and economic cost.
Approximately two-thirds of the world’s population live within a few kilometres of the coast. However, they increasingly face a threat from rising global sea levels, although there is uncertainty about the scale and timing of the rise. There is an increased frequency of storms and the possibility of increased erosion and flooding. Given its importance, careful consideration needs to be given to managing the coastline to ensure that its resources are utilised wisely while preserving its natural beauty and processes.
Therefore, coastal management must be sustainable. In other words, the strategies should not cause too much damage to the environment, people’s homes and livelihood and shouldn’t cost too much.
To achieve this, the following are taken into consideration:
This takes place before any coastal management takes place. The anticipated cost of the coastal management plan is compared to the expected benefits of a scheme. These may include the value of land, homes and businesses that will be protected. Cost and benefits may be tangible (monetary value) or intangible (other effects such as visual impact). For a CBA, the expected benefits must outweigh the costs for a project to go ahead.
An SMP has been created for each sediment cell in the UK to help with coastline management.
There are 11 sediment cells in England and Wales. These do not exist in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the devolved governments and local authorities are jointly responsible for coastal protection.
Each SMP identifies all the natural and human activities that occur within the coastline area of each sediment cell. The sediment cells are closed for the purposes of management, although there will be some exchanges between the different sediment cells.
Four ways of managing coastlines are:
As the negative impacts of many shoreline management plans (SMP) have become evident, sustainable integrated approaches are becoming more widely used. These are holistic strategies; it is recognised that all the different sections of the coastline are interlinked and function together as a whole. Smaller areas are not considered separately, unlike traditional methods.
Managing the coast sustainably includes:
This is another method of sustainable coastline management. This is where all coastline elements (land, water, people, and the economy) are managed with one integrated strategy. Its aims are:
Coastal management involves decisions that will affect peoples lives. These effects can be positive or negative. However, it inevitably means that it will divide stakeholders into two groups.
Fortunately, the UK has frameworks in place for dealing with coastal management. Sadly, the most vulnerable people and coastlines are the losers in less developed countries as they have no way of claiming compensation or there is no coastal management approach in place.
In Phuket in Thailand, erosion has caused the loss of beaches. Local villages use ad hoc methods to try and stop the power of the waves, and hoteliers have resorted to sandbagging their resort area.
Coastal management is effective in that whichever method is chosen as a management approach protects homes and businesses from being damaged and even destroyed by coastal erosion or flooding. However, they may inhibit longshore drift and speed up the erosion process elsewhere.
The coastline needs to be managed to protect against increasing coastal erosion, flooding and sea-level changes
There are two types of coastal management, hard engineering, which involves building structures to protect the coast. Or soft engineering, which works with nature, using natural materials, or allowing nature to take back areas.
A coastline could be managed by hard engineering approaches such as a sea wall made of concrete with steel reinforcement and deep pile foundations. It can have a stepped or “bullnose” profile. It acts as a physical barrier against erosion and flooding. Modern sea walls are designed to dissipate wave energy.
Beach nourishment – artificially replacing the sediment on the beach.
Dune regeneration – creating new sand dunes or restoring existing ones. Beach stabilisation – planting dead trees in the sand to stabilise it.
Groyne – Building wooden fence-like barriers at right angles to the beach.
Coastal barrage – partly submerging dam-like structures that control the tidal flow.
Riprap – Large rock boulders piled on the beach in front of the cliff or sea wall.
What is Sustainable Coastal Management?
Managing the wider coastal zone in terms of people and their economic livelihoods, social and cultural well being, safety from coastal hazards and minimising environmental and ecological impacts.
What is conflict in the context of coastal management?
This means disagreement over how the coast should be protected from threats and which areas should be protected. Conflict often exists between different stakeholders, such as residents and the local council.
What does ICZM stand for?
Integrated Coastal Management Zones
What was the relevance of the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992?
It was when the concept of the ICZM was born.
What are the three critical factors of an ICZM?
An ICZM recognises that
What does Participatory Planning mean in relation to a coastal zone?
This is where all stakeholders have a say in any policy decisions.
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