Table Of ContentCoastal Zone
Management
HANDBOOK
Coastal one
Management
H NDBO K
JOHN R. CLARK
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clark. John R .. 1927-
Coastal zone management handbook I John R. Clark.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56670-092-2
I. Coastal zone management. 2. Coastal zone management--Case
studies. L Title.
HT391.C494 1995
333.78'4--dc20 95-10219
C!P
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International Standard Book Number 1-56670-092-2
Library of Congress Card Number 95-10219
567890
Preface
This volume is intended as a practitio11er's guidebook. Although its viewpoint is clearly environmen
taL this is not an advocacy book. Nor is it a textbook. lt is a manual and a reference source for
those who practice the arts of coastal resources planning and management. It describes a strategy for
comprehensive management and provides a set of working tools along with a detailed information base
for the practitioner. This basic material is followed by 47 case histories on coastal management, ranging
around the globe from Australia to the West lndies. How the book should be used is described in some
detail in the "Reader's Guide" which follows this preface.
The guidebook is about environmental conservation from a practical point of view. It does not deal
with nature abstractly but rather pragmatically. lt was written from a human perspective and is highly
influenced by the author's international consulting activities in developing countries over many years.
Accordingly, it responds to an immediate global need for resource planning and management technology.
ln a world of rapid population growth and diminishing natural resources, each country must plan
for economic growth in balance with resource conservation and environmental management if it is to
make progress in health. food, housing. energy. and other critical national needs. Such basic resources
as fueL water. fertile land. and fish stocks are already in short supply in many countries. and their
future prospects are in grave doubt.
ln the coastal areas of the world, high population densities, linked with urban growth. expanding
tourism. and industrialization, pose major threats to natural resources and biological diversity. The
effects of uncontrolled development are destabilizing ecosystems. changing land use patterns. making
communities vulnerable to seastorms. and creating demands on the ecological resources of the world
that are not sustainable.
This situation is expected to worsen. The current coastal population is likely to more than double
in a few decades while resource uses accelerate-for example. international tourism is expected to
reach 637 million travelers by the year 2000. Urbanization and tourism expansion will unavoidably
lead to further pressure on water supplies and to irreversible changes in coastal environments. Growing
amounts of gaseous. liquid, and solid waste also jeopardize the future of marine, coastaL and wetland
ecosystems, as well as threaten species survival.
The major resource systems of the coast have no equal on land. Coastal ecosystems and key
coastal habitats-such as coral reefs and mangrove forests-are not only distinctive. but also extremely
productive of renewable resources-protein food, tourist income. mangrove forest products, and other
economic goods and services. These resource systems must be conserved to continue. Sustainable use
is the alternative to resource depletion that accompanies excessive exploitation for short-term profit.
Unfortunately. the water's edge is also a place where competition and conflict among users is great
and where governments have tailed to develop special policies and programs. The water inJluence not
only establishes special conditions. but also dictates unusual and complex institutional arrangements.
ln most countries a great variety of agencies have interests in coastal waters, interests that sometimes
are complementary but more often are competitive. An integrated coastal zone management OCZM)
progran1 is needed to coordinate all the varied interests in coastal resource uses.
Where use of coastal resources is concerned. governments have the mandate to manage public
commons wisely. ln most countries coastal waters are considered "commons": that is. they are not
owned by any person or agency but are common property available equally to all citizens, with the
government as "trustee." This is an age-old public right going back to the Institutes of Justinian: "Et
quidem narurali jure communia sum omnium haec: aer, aqua profluens. et mare per hoc litora maris"
"By the law of nature these things arc common to mankind: the air. running water, the sea and
consequently the shores ol' the sea" ( 158). Further, this influential doctrine states that "no one. therefore.
is forbidden to approach the seashore. provided that he respects habitations. monuments. and buildings,
which are not. like the sea, subject only to the law of nations."
To cope with the complexity of managing the coastal commons. many countries are now working
out special ICZM strategies for compatible development and resource conservation management that
are for the good of the nation as a whole. ICZM is committed to advancing sustainable multiple use
of coastal resources and maintenance of biodivcrsity through an integrative. multiple sector approach.
It may be initiated in response to a planning mandate but more often because of a crisis-a use conflict,
a severe decline in a resource. or a devastating experience with natural hazards.
Environmentally planned development adds to the economic and social prosperity of a coastal
community. Fisheries productivity. increased tourism revenues. sustained mangrove forestry. and security
from natural hazard devastation are among the practical benefits of coastal zone planning and manage
ment. This holistic approval is supported by ··Agenda 21". the report of the Earth Summit conference
of June. 1992. sponsored by the United Nations.
A major purpose of coastal zone management is to coordinate the initiatives of the various coastal
economic sectors toward long-term optimal socio-economic outcomes. including resolution of use
conflicts and beneficial tradeoffs. My colleague. Chua Thia-Eng. urged me to remind coastal planners
that existing poverty and increasing populations in many developing countries contribute strongly to
resource depletion and environmental degradation. Therefore. alleviation of poverty and population
increase should be addressed in coastal zone plans.
Because it operates at the water/land interface. every aspect of ICZM relates to water in one
way or another. whether making provisions for marine commerce. the ravages of scastorms. resource
conservation. or pollution abatement. The water influence not only establishes special conditions. it
also dictates unusual and complex institutional arrangements.
Because the special conditions of the coast have not always been understood and given due regard
by development organizations. program designers. economic planners. and project engineers. there have
been losses of revenue. jobs. food. and foreign exchange earnings potential in many coastal countries
that could have been avoided. The key is unitary management. The necessity is to comprehend and
manage the shoreland.s and coastal waters together as a single interacting unit.
Fortunately. there is now a shift in political t·easoning away from exploitive. non-sustainable uses.
which may produce a fast dollar but which are costly in the long run because of resource depletion.
rehabilitation. and management costs. The current trend is toward more comprebcnsi ve and broadly
integrated coastal programs of the ICZM type. An effective comprehensive program can be the major
force in any country for maintaining coastal biodiversity. for resolving conrlicting demands over the
use of coastal resources. and for guaranteeing the long-term economic sustainability of the coastal
resource base.
Traditional land-based or marine-based forms of management and planning must be modified to
be effective for the coast. at the transition between land and sea. But the place where the land ends is
also the place where the knowledge and experience of most administrators ends. For example. seafood
is recognized as a critically important resource (30): it provides more protein worldwide per capita
( 16.1 Ib ) than do beef and mutton combined ( 12.2 lb ). Yet economic planners take slight notice. perhaps
because seafood production is a mysterious pursuit carried out far from cities and incomprehensible to
most persons. Also. fisheries are variable and. in large measure. unpredictable and unprogrammable.
From the natural sciences point of view. the coastal area is an extremely complex. highly diverse.
and complicated system: a complexity that ensures a continuing high need for help from scientists in
tbc coastal planning sphere. As Joseph Conrad said (Typhoon, 1902 ): "The sea never changes and its
works. for all the talk of men. are wrapped in mystery".
From a planner's viewpoint. the coast is a place with an inherently incomplete database. where
major influences-e.g .. storms. erosion. fish migrations-are usually unpredictable and where land
based planning principles are irrelevant. Nor are managers. engineers. or politicians usually well informed
about the sea and the seacoast. Moreover. persons who do have knowledge of the coast may possess
quite narrow expertise-for example. in navigation. fisheries science. pollution. biodivcrsity. or hydrody
namics-and know the sea and seacoast from a specialist's point of view rather than from a systems
perspective.
Those few practitioners who have prepared themselves broadly to know the sea and seacoast as a
natural system and who understand the interactions of sea and coastal land are exceptionally valuable
in coastal management programs. Only recently has formal graduate level training been available to
those who would choose to make this interdisciplinary pursuit a career. I pray that this book will help
them by presenting the basics on biodiversity. resource conservation. and social needs in a single volume.
Without apology. I wish to explain that this book is written by a generalist who has several decades
of experience in coastal management but not of a doctrinal type. While this book is built on the
knowledge of a multitude of experts. it is not intended to help any of them within their own particular
area of expertise. The hundreds of topics addressed are presented Cor the benefit of planners or other
generalists or for cross-disciplinary use.
Although I have tried to compile and present information of the most interest to the widest audience
of practitioners. personal selection has admittedly influenced the inclusion of materials. Yet tllis book
should provide the reader with a more comprehensive introduction to the practice of coastal management
than any source available thus far.
John R. Clark
Ramrod Key, Florida
Reader's Guide
This is a reference book and is not intended as a reader. As a central information source for the
practice of coastal zone resources management, the book is a compilation of information gleaned from
numerous disciplines. The information is structured by four major categories. which together make up
the substance of the guidebook.: strategies. methods. information base. and case histories. A description
of each of these four parts follows.
Part l is a description of the strategic approach to coastal zone management (lCZM). including
concepts. problems. and solutions. Potential administrative/legal approaches are described along with
the management framework.. Strategy planning, including issues analysis. is held to be the key to the
process. The material is presented in progressive order. beginning with goals and ending with program
development. ln this way. Part I becomes the "blueprint" for an integrated, multiple sector. coastal
management program. The "tools" for building the program are given in Part 2.
Part 2 is a presentation of specific management approaches. This is the what-to-do and how-to-do
it part of the book.. lt describes primary techniques. gives planning instructions, and proposes specific
management outcomes. Whereas Part I provides the blueprint for regional or national ICZM programs,
Part 2 contains the tools for conducting the program. Subjects are listed alphabetically. With the ideas
and instructions here. you can address most management jobs. And while extent of coverage is limited
to what will fit within the covers of a single book.. the references cited will lead you to a much wider
range of technologies. Further information also appears in Part 3.
Part 3 is a general compilation of information about coastal resources and management. arranged
alphabetically. It consists mostly of material intended to support the coastal management processes
explained in Part 2. but some of it describes additional management techniques (at the second level of
need). This is because the separation of subject matter-techniques in Part 2 and supporting information
in Part 3-was only partly successful. Each subject is an abstract of a much larger literature and, in so
small a space of words. it can only be exemplary. not prescriptive. lf a desired subject is not listed
under the title you would use for it, please refer to the index.
Part 4 is a collection of mini-case histories of coastal zone situations along with management
techniques and their trials. Subjects include conservation. land use controls, pollution abatement. resource
management, public reaction. and environmental restoration. Subjects are arranged by country. alphabeti
cally. Most are contributed by experts whose authorship is noted at the end of each case.
Part 5 contains the references cited in Parts I to 3. This book uses a numeric citation system; that
is. each reference is identified by a number within parentheses. For example. the citation ( /8) indicates
the 18th item in the alphabeticized reference list. When the reference appears past the last sentence of
a paragraph it refers to the whole paragraph. Institutional authorship is used when personal authorship
is not given in the publication referenced.
The reader will find that the same subject is addressed in different parts of the guidebook.. This
occurs first in Part I where the book follows the process of generating an integrated coastal program-here
the same items are considered in various stages of program planning and development. Also. a particular
subject may be treated in both Parts 2 and 3 because it has specific management application for Part
2 but also additional information content for Part 3. However. care has been taken to minimize direct
duplication. except where important material is intentionally repeated either for emphasis or to make
sure the selective reader will encounter it in one part or the other. ICZM is used throughout this book
to mean Integrated Coastal Zone Management.
