Coastal Management: Global Challenges and Innovations

Foreword.

Chapter 1

Global Coasts in the Face of Disasters

Rajib Shaw    Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

Coastal areas are known for its resources as well as vulnerabilities. If properly managed, these areas become economic, development, and recreation hubs. All the major global frameworks of development, disaster, and climate change have relevance to coastal areas. For an effective disaster management in the coastal areas, there needs to be a combination of predisaster planning and preparedness issues, as well as during and postdisaster activities. In the global era of technology, the new and emerging technologies have strong role of play in the management of coastal resources.

Keywords

Coastal resources; Vulnerabilities; SDGs; Disaster risk reduction; Climate change; Emerging technologies

1 Introduction

Being the most prominent and traditional part of the transportation system, coastal areas have several infrastructures such as ports and fishing harbors. Several areas in the coastal zones are dominated by industries. Some of them can cause significant impacts to the people and communities if they are not resilient, as seen in the case of the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima due to the East Japan earthquake and tsunami. Coastal zones also have rich biodiversity with coastal buffers such as mangroves, which reduces the impacts of hazards and enhances the livelihoods of the people and communities living nearby. It is said that more than 45% of the world's population lives in coastal areas (within 100 km of the coast area). The Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ, less than 10 m elevation) is also considered for its different threats.

Coastal areas are known for their resources as well as vulnerabilities. While people go to the coastal areas for business (as part of their livelihoods) as well as entertainment (coastal resorts), the coastal hazards (typhoon/cyclone/hurricane, storm surge, tsunami) pose significant threats to the population and infrastructure. While the above-mentioned hazards are more visible, there are also the impacts of creeping disasters such as rising sea levels, which are already affecting several small island countries and communities. Coastal erosion is also affecting a significant number of lives and habitats.

2 Global Framework and Coast

Many global frameworks have mentioned coastal areas in different ways. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mentioned the importance of coasts as follows:

Secure blue wealth by ensuring a healthy and productive marine environment with all basic provisioning, support, regulation, and cultural services. Provide equitable access to resources, and ensure that neither pollution nor the harvesting and extraction of animate and inanimate resources impairs the basic functions of the ecosystem. Facilitate the development of sustainable and resilient coastal communities. Harmonize national and regional maritime policies, and encourage cooperation in coastal and global marine spatial planning.

The Paris climate agreement also focused on the needs of the SIDS (Small Island Developing States), and highlighted the importance of mitigation and adaptation as well as damage and loss due to climate change. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) also focuses on the need for transboundary collaboration for a resilient coastline, and also to promote mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in coastal zone management.

A recent study by the G-7 countries on climate fragility suggested that the complex nature of climate impacts international relations, especially related to the coast. The study mentioned that gradual sea temperature change has caused specific fish varieties to move away from Japan's coast, thereby causing fishermen to move farther out to sea to catch fish, which is making additional resources necessary. That has increased the food price in Japan. Also, competition with neighboring countries has increased, often causing violations of the international fishing line.

Apart from these global frameworks, the international science policy framework and the global environmental research framework have also identified the importance of coastal zone management. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), in its chapter (Chapter 5) on Coastal System and Low-lying Areas, said:

The population and assets exposed to coastal risks as well as human pressures on coastal ecosystems will increase significantly in the coming decades due to population growth, economic development, and urbanization. It has also clarified that: Some low-lying developing countries (e.g., Bangladesh, Vietnam) and small islands are expected to face very high impacts and associated annual damage and adaptation costs of several percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Future Earth research program has also emphasized the importance of coastal areas in its KAN (Knowledge Action Network):

The ocean, including coastal and near-shore areas, thus provide services essential for life on earth and to the history, culture, and livelihoods of people across the globe. However, the ocean is also facing multiple challenges from climate change, overfishing, acidification, deoxygenation, and pollution. Accordingly, the United Nations referred to the importance of a healthy ocean in several of (its) Sustainable Development Goals.

3 Disaster Risk and Coasts

For effective disaster management in the coastal areas, there needs to be a combination of predisaster planning and preparedness issues as well as during and postdisaster activities. As a part of predisaster preparedness, coastal buffer and coastal zone planning and management become of utmost importance. This includes the planting and protecting of coastal green belts as well as the protection of the coastline through coastal dykes or other hard infrastructures, based on a carefully performed risk analysis. On the other hand, softer components such as coastal watching and disaster education also become important to enhance the perception and understanding of coastal hazards. The education for sustainable development (ESD) in some of the coastal schools in Kesennuma, Japan, has been extremely useful for the safer evacuation of school children and local communities, notably in the case of the East Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Similarly, regular disaster drills involving elementary and junior high school children along with the local communities have helped joint evacuation of the children to the higher ground during the tsunami, resulting in no casualty in those schools in Kamaishi city in Iwate prefecture of Japan.

In the time of disaster, three issues become important, especially in the coastal areas: (i) an early warning system (EWS), (ii) evacuation shelters, and (iii) the human network. For an effective evacuation for coastal hazards, the first and foremost necessity is the timely warning system, including sounding that warning to the people and communities in the coastal towns and villages. The last mile communication of the EWS is always a challenge, and it needs possibly a balanced mix of technology and local knowledge. The second important issue is safer places for evacuation, which are often schools as cyclone shelters, built in many coastal areas in different countries. However, in spite of having an EWS and existing shelters, timely evacuation is a human behavior that depends on one's judgment and risk perception. Therefore, a human network of volunteers plays an important role. This means identifying people who can facilitate an early evacuation of specific vulnerable groups such as the aged population, the physically challenged, pregnant mothers, and small children. A combination of these three elements is found to be useful for effective evacuation, not only for developing countries but for developed countries as well.

4 Way Forward

The 21st century is considered to be the century of information age and technologies, where new emerging technologies such as the IoT (Internet of Things), robotics, drones, three-dimensional printing, block chains, and artificial intelligence have a strong role to play in our daily lives. These emerging technologies, along with information technology, can make significant changes in society.

However, this technological development needs a balanced approach of a mechanism of governance, technological development, and education/awareness. For effective coastal zone management in terms of disaster risk reduction, we need an appropriate governance mechanism, which is the demarcation of coastal zones; the planning and development of regulation on the maintenance and utilization of coastal resources; sticking to the national, regional, and global policies and practices, etc. Community governance also becomes crucial when it comes to the management of local resources. Different types of technologies become important to support the implementation of a governance system. Traditional GIS (geographic information systems) and remote sensing have been used for several years to monitor coastal changes over time. Added to these are the emerging technologies and mobile applications. For example, drones can be used for monitoring coastal resources more closely. Mobile phone applications can be used to promote citizen science in engaging communities in a community governance system. This will also be linked to the education and awareness of people and communities, including school students. An educative mobile application for coastal schools can make a large difference in engaging school students, teachers, and their parents to be more interested in coastal risks and resources.

The key target is to make ourselves responsible citizens so that the current resource use does not compromise the future need for those resources. That is the key principle of sustainable development goals, and it would take the collective efforts of governance, education, and technology to make a difference.

Chapter 2

☆Special Coastal Management Area Concept Experience in Sri Lanka

W.A. Nimal Sri Rajarathna*; K.W.G. Rekha Nianthi†    ⁎ Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department, Colombo, Sri Lanka

† Department of Geography, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Special Coastal Management Area (SCMA) concept based on comanagement principles is considered to be an effective and viable approach for integrated coastal resources management in Sri Lanka. The strategy for integrated coastal resources management addresses the control of environmental degradation due to rapid development and restoration as well as the sustainable use of coastal resources to achieve specific development goals. In this manner, the SCMA concept is implemented as an effective management tool for the management of coastal resources by the Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department (CC&CRMP) with active public participation in collaboration with relevant stakeholder agencies. This chapter is mainly focused on the lessons learned as well as the challenges and innovations for currently implemented SCMAs in Sri Lanka with fast experiences under three main areas: legal and institutional, effectiveness and impact, and sustainability and challenges. It has highlighted the importance of a new legal provision under the Coast Conservation (Amendment) Act No. 49 of 2011 and the specific guidelines for SCMA sites.

Keywords

Sri Lanka; Management; Effectiveness; Conservation; Sustainability; Participation; Challenges

Abbreviations

ADB 

Asian Development Bank

CC&CRMP 

Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department Plan

CRMP 

Coastal Resource Management Project

CBO 

Community Base Organization

CCC 

Community Coordinating Community

FAO 

Food and Agriculture Organization

GTZ 

German Technical Cooperation Agency

GEF-RUK 

Global Environment Facility-Rakawa, Ussangoda, Kalamatiya

HICZMP 

Hambanthota Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project

IUCN 

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

MFAR 

Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

NECDEP 

North East Coastal Community Development Project

NGO 

Nongovernmental Organization

SCMA 

Special Coastal Management Area

UNDP 

United Nation Development Program

Acknowledgments

We are extremely grateful to Mr. B.K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Director General of the CC&CRMD; Dr. Anil Pramaratne, former director general of the CC&CRMD; Indra Ranasingha, former director general of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Sri Lanka; and Kapila Gunarathna, Director of Green Planet and Ecoconsultant. We are also grateful for the assistance of the staff of the CC&CRMD. The contribution of research partners and officers of the government and nongovernment organizations are also gratefully acknowledged.

1 Introduction

The coastal environment in Sri Lanka is greatly influenced by the island location in the northern part of the Indian Ocean between 5°54′ and 9°52′ north latitude and 79°39′ and 81°53′ east longitude. Sri Lanka has a coastline of approximately 1620 km, including the shorelines of bays and outlets but excluding lagoons. The country has 103 rivers (Atlas of Sri Lanka, 1997), most of which radiate from the middle of the hill country and flow down to the sea. These then form estuaries that are important features of the coastal landscape, providing vital habitats for species of commercial and subsistence use. Table 1 shows that the coastal area contains a variety of terrestrial habitats, including sandy beaches, barrier beaches, sand spits, sand dunes, rocky shores, mangrove stands, and salt marshes. The coral reefs, lagoons, estuaries, and seagrass beds in the coastal waters off Sri Lanka are also equally important (CC&CRMP, 2018).

Table 1

2 The Evolution of the Special Coastal Management Area in Sri Lanka

The Special Coastal Management Area concept was first introduced to Sri Lanka in the late 1980s with the pilot testing projects carried out at Rekawa Lagoon and the Hikkaduwa coastal and marine area. It was hoped that this concept would address the issues emerging due to rapid economic development coupled with anthropogenic activities. The experiences and outcomes gained from the pilot testing in the local scenarios encouraged officials to promote and incorporate 23 coastal sites for SCMA planning into the 1997 National Coastal Zone Management Plan to identify and address site-specific issues pertaining to environmental, social, and economic aspects. During the implementation phase of the Coastal Resource Management Project (CRMP) funded by ADB, the CC&CRMD was able to initiate and extend the SCMA process in several sites: Bar Reef in Kalpitiya, Negombo Estuary and Muturajawela Marsh, Lunawa Lagoon, Madu Ganga, Koggala-Habaraduwa, and the Kalametiya and Mawella coastal areas (Fig. 1). In addition to the above SCMA sites, the Revised Coastal Zone Management Plan of 2004 has identified 27 candidate sites for the SCMA process.

Fig. 1 Distribution of SCMAs in Sri Lanka implemented between 1992 and 2017 (CC&CRMD).

The CC&CRMD has already prepared the new revision of its 2018 plan and has listed the SCMA sites in the coastal belt around the island after organizing public consultation meetings in each coastal district. Although the SCMA concept has been implemented by the CC&CRMD since 1992 as a major ICZM management policy, there were no proper legal provisions or institutional mechanisms for the implementation of the SCMA concept. In that absence of proper legal and institutional mechanisms for implementation of SCMAP, the CC&CRMD is mainly reliant on administrative arrangements with the relevant agencies. However, the required legal provisions have been introduced for SCMA planning and implementation with the enactment of the Coast Conservation (Amendment) Act No. 49 of 2011. The previous attempts to identify SCMA sites in the Northern and Eastern coastal segments were carried out mainly through secondary information. The experience and exposure of the CC&CRMD officials due to the country's civil war prevailed in those regions until 2009. However, since the end of the war and the resumption of peace in 2009, opportunities have now been opened to obtain primary information for the purpose of proper identification of SCMAs in the Northern and Eastern coastal regions.

The population density is weighted heavily toward the coastal region, particularly along the southern, western, and northwestern coastal areas. The coastal regions accommodate about 4.6 million people, which comprises about 25% of the island's total population. The municipal and urban councils in the coastal areas cover 285 km² and comprise nearly half of such land on the island. This has resulted in the concentration of a large share of urban growth and development activities within the coastal region (CZM Plan, 2004). The coastal region is the hub of industrial production and contains 61.6% of all industrial units. The tourism industry is the fifth-largest revenue source for the island while hotels in the coastal region continue to have around 70% of all hotels registered with the country's Tourist Board. The fishing industry in the marine and brackish waters of Sri Lanka is also one of the most important economic activities, providing more than 80% of the nation's protein. The Asian tsunami in 2004 gave a good lesson for the people about the protection and conservation of the island's coastal resources. That was the worst natural disaster in the history of Sri Lanka, leaving more than 38,000 people dead, 7100 missing, and around 1 million feeling some effect from the disaster.

3 Main Objectives of the Study

The main objectives of the study are:

i.To highlight the challenges and constraints for the sustainability of the SCMA process for the management of coastal resources in Sri Lanka.

ii.To provide best practices for the implementation of the SCMA process.

The CC&CRMP is the main national government agency in Sri Lanka for the conservation and management of coastal resources within the legally defined¹ coastal zone. The department has to implement the National Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Plan within the coastal zone during 5 years. The management plan has been mandated by the Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Act 57 of 1981, which was amended by Act 64 of 1988 and Act 49 of 2011. The CC&CRM plan was adopted by the department and is designed to ensure the sustainable use of the coastal environment and its resources in the long term while satisfying current national development goals. The management objectives, policies, strategies, and actions have been introduced in the management plan for the required effective and sustainable management of coastal zones in Sri Lanka for 5 years.

4 What Is a Special Coastal Management Area (SCMA)?

In respect of any area of land within the coastal zone or adjacent to the coastal zone or comprising both areas from the coastal zone and the adjacent area of land declare such area by order published in the Gazette to be a Special Coastal Management Area needed to adopt a collaborative approach to planning resource management within the defined geographic area.

Coast Conservation (Amendment) Act 49 of 2011, Sri Lanka

A Special Coastal Management Area (SCMA) is a locally based, geographically specific planning process that, in theory, is a highly participatory practice that allows for the comprehensive management of natural resources with the active involvement of the local community as the main stakeholder group. It involves comanagement of resources through which decision-making, responsibility, and authority in respect to natural resource use and management are shared between the government and the local resource users or community. Government institutions and other planning agencies assume the role of facilitator by providing technical and financial assistance to the local community management effort. The local community groups are considered the custodians of the resources being managed under the SCMA process, through which sustainable livelihood practices allow for sustainable natural resource use and management within the designated site.

One of the major objectives of an SCMA is to resolve competing demands on natural resource use within a specific geographical boundary by planning the optimal sustainable use of resources. In a broad sense, the SCMA approach seeks to ensure both the economic well-being of the local communities as well as the ecological well-being of the natural ecosystems by the practice of sound natural resource management. The SCMA concept is now considered a key component of coastal zone management policy in Sri Lanka.

5 Criteria Used for Ranking Potential SCMA Sites for Implementation

i.The severity of social, economic, and environmental issues prevailing in the sites.

ii.The relative richness and abundance of coastal ecosystems.

iii.The feasibility of management based on size, location, and legal and institutional factors.

iv.The existing or potential value of economic development in the area.

v.The level of exposure/vulnerability to the impact of climate change.

vi.Vulnerability to coastal disasters, both episodic and chronic.

vii.Significance of archaeological and historic values of the site.

6 SCMA Process

The following steps are adopted for the SCMA process:

i.Identify the SCMA site with the guidelines given by the National CC&CRM plan and agreement.

ii.Compile an environmental profile for the particular SCMA site.

iii.Enter the community with full-time professional facilitators and community organizers.

iv.Conduct planning/training workshops in the SCMA site.

v.Organize resource management core groups.

vi.Draft a management plan for the special management area through community involvement and the determination of indicators for monitoring.

vii.Implement pilot projects as whole planning continues.

viii.Refine the management plan for the SCMA.

ix.Implement the SCMA plan for the relevant site.

x.Monitoring.

The planning and implementation process for the 11 SCMA sites will be relisted and action will be initiated to declare the SCMA sites through a government gazette notification in compliance with the legal provisions of the Coast Conservation (Amendment) Act 49.

7 Why Should SCMA Be Strengthened?

In Sri Lanka, the Coastal 2000 policies highlighted the need for a more integrated approach to coastal zone management. It was specifically suggested to use the SCMA process to develop plans and implement actions simultaneously in selected sites. The SCMA process is based on comanagement principles, and is considered an effective and viable approach for integrated coastal resources management. This concept properly acknowledges the complex relationship between coastal and marine uses and the coastal ecosystems. The SCMA process also promotes linkage and harmonization among varied types of coastal activities and the physical processes of nature. The flexibility of policies management system pays proper attention to both coastal resource systems as well as human systems. The main influencing factors behind the requirement of SCMA as a complementary tool for integrated coastal resources management are summarized as follows:

i.The principles adopted in SCMA planning are the concept that has been followed since ancient times in Sri Lanka as well as internationally accepted principles relating to sustainable development.

ii.SCMA is viewed as an effective means of promoting sustainable management of coastal resources within a defined geographic setting and possibly to deal more comprehensively and effectively with complex management issues.

iii.Neither the government nor the market is uniformly successful in enabling individuals to sustain long-term productive use of coastal resources.

iv.The decentralization policies that have been implemented since the late 1980s positively contributed to adopting collaborative management.

v.The recognition of the need to formalize indigenous or traditional sustainable resources management practices within a legalistic and wider governance framework to minimize coastal resource depletion, overexploitation, and user conflicts.

vi.The characteristics of public or state-owned coastal resources and the prevailing status of open access present formidable challenges to manage coastal resources.

vii.Coastal habitats are being rapidly degraded due to both man-induced causes and natural phenomena. Thus, a user-centered management approach is vital.

viii.The effective approaches should be introduced to minimize the poverty and overexploitation of marine and coastal resources.

ix.To facilitate local management interventions to maintain consistency and compliance with national level coastal resource management policies and regulations.

x.A community demand for greater legitimacy and transparency in resource management decision-making.

xi.Increasing user conflicts are parallel to new development activities taking place in coastal regions.

xii.Empowering and building a sense of ownership among civil society, communities, and community-based organizations to enable them to manage coastal resources in a sustainable manner.

xiii.To address gender issues related to coastal resource uses.

xiv.To incorporate a sustainable livelihood perspective to address site-specific coastal environmental issues.

xv.To build resilience and reduce vulnerability among coastal communities against natural coastal hazards.

xvi.Attitudes and perceptions of community on decentralization policies are being persuaded in the recent past in administrative and political fields provide enabling environment for effective and sustainable coastal resources management through SCMA process.

8 Why Should an SCMA Be Implemented?

The need for integrated management to conserve, develop, and sustain the use of dynamic and resource-rich coastal zones has long been recognized in Sri Lanka. The Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Plan (CC&CRMP) is the plan adopted by the CC&CRMD for the management of the coastal zone during a five-year period. It is designed to ensure the sustainable use of the coastal environment and its resources in the long term while satisfying current national development goals. It outlines the management objectives of the CC&CRMD for the period under consideration, the policies to be adopted, and the strategies and actions required for effective management of the coastal zone in the face of competition for resource use.

So far, coastal resource management planning has been based on the recognition that the CC&CRMD is only one of many institutions that has jurisdiction over management and conservation of coastal resources within the legally defined coastal zone. The necessary policies, strategies, and actions have to be based on a realistic assessment of the department's capacity to directly manage the development activities affecting coastal resources within the legally defined coastal zone.

Because the department does not have the ability to control development activities out of the coastal zone under the Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Act, the SCMA is a very important mechanism used to manage and conserve ecosystems in an adjacent area of the legally defined coastal zone. The following areas have been identified for the successful implementation of this concept in the coastal region.

•Empowering and building a sense of ownership among civil society, communities, and community-based organizations to enable the management of coastal resources in a sustainable manner.

•Community demand for greater legitimacy and transparency in resource management decision-making.

•Incorporating a sustainable livelihood perspective to address site-specific coastal environmental issues.

•Enabling positive community perception of decentralization policies pursued in the recent past in the administrative and political fields, and to provide an enabling environment for effective and sustainable coastal resource management through SCMA.

•Recognition of a need to formalize indigenous or traditional sustainable resources management practices within the legal and wider governance framework to minimize coastal resource depletion, overexploitation, and user conflicts.

•The SCMA process is viewed as an effective means of promoting sustainable management of coastal resources within a defined geographic setting, making it possible to deal more comprehensively and effectively with the complex management issues.

•The principles adopted in SCMA planning are the same that have been followed from ancient times in Sri Lanka as well as the internationally accepted principles relating to sustainable development.

9 SCMA Coordinating Committee (SCMACC)

The SCMA Coordinating Committee (Fig. 2) is the main important management body for implementing the SCMA process. The divisional secretary of respective division chairs the SCMACC if the project area falls into one Divisional Secretariat Division (DSD). However, if the SCMA belongs to many DSDs, the chairmanship of the committee is eventually given to the district secretary. In this process, the chairman has been identified and no other committee positions have been recognized. This needs to be reviewed and the CC&CRMD needs to hold the secretary position of the SMACC. Then, CC&CRMD has the authority to coordinate SCMA activities. It is the responsibility of SCMACC to continue the SCMA process once initiated with the funding sources along with community awareness (Fig.