 Is
the grass growing? Researchers measure progress in California’s San Diego Bay. |
The
rich biodiversity of coastal regions can be protected without chasing away tourism
and other activities. On one condition: that local people play the lead role in steering
conservation projects, says coastal expert Stephen B. Olsen*
The
first time coastal protection appeared on the international agenda was at the 1992
Rio Earth Summit. What progress has been made since then?
Quite a lot. We’ve gone from talking about general concepts to concrete achievements,
such as the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) programmes. To be effective, these
have to involve conflicting groups such as the private sector (industry and tourism),
fishermen, villagers and NGOs and make them realize that they have to work together.
In 2000, there were over 300 such programmes operating in 95 countries, including
many developing nations. We’ve also had to face the painful fact that not everything
can be saved. We have to make choices because unfortunately, in some places, population
pressure is so high that there’s nothing left to preserve. If you visit the main
Mediterranean tourist areas in Italy, Spain or Tunisia, you can see the high price
being paid for ill-conceived development.
So tourism isn’t compatible with protecting coastal areas?
Not always. That’s certainly been the case in large areas of the Mediterranean
and of the United States. But in many other countries, such as Cuba and Costa Rica,
you can see much more thoughtful tourist development going on. A few years ago, I
worked as a consultant on a project in the Sabana and Camagüey islands, off
the north coast of Cuba, where the government had begun to build huge hotels almost
on the beach. You reached them by pedriplanes, roads which crossed the lagoon and
caused major ecological and water-flow problems. Under the project, sponsored by
the Global Environment Facility,1 the Cubans completely changed the design, location
and density of the islands’ infrastructure, resulting in very elegant and environmentally
friendly tourist facilities. At great expense, the pedriplanes were removed and replaced
by structures that allowed the water to flow freely. Today, the area attracts tourists
and the lagoons are in better condition.
The second World Climate Conference will be held in South Africa in 2002. What’s
the message to it as far as coastal protection is concerned?
The big challenge is to help local people change the way they live and make authorities
more responsive. The problem isn’t a technical one, a question of know-how or even
money. You can do plenty of good things without much money, as long as you build
local capacity and commitment and not just send in outside experts like me. The problem
is that experts often want to create prosperity as quickly as possible without thinking
about the future.
But nearly half the global population lives in coastal areas and 12 of the world’s
15 biggest cities are by the sea. What problems does this create for coastal areas?
The problems are all to do with human activity, though they aren’t the same everywhere.
The most common one is the poor location of roads, docks and infrastructure along
coasts; the destruction of major habitats such as coral reefs, marine and wetland
food sources; and pollution of water by sewage dumping. The other big problem is
over-fishing or fishing with aids like dynamite that damage the ecosystem. It destroys
basic habitats that are key to the life-cycle of fish and shellfish. The biodiversity
of a coral reef is like that of a tropical forest, so it’s vital to put a stop to
such damage.
What do integrated coastal management projects involve?
They start from the firm belief that it’s much wiser to avoid damaging the environment
than trying to restore what’s already been lost, though the success of the project
isn’t always obvious. We can apply what we have learned from working in some very
extensive areas, and prevent errors and bad practices from being repeated. If we
want to move towards sustainable development and conservation, we have to improve
present forms of governance. Responsibility for conservation cannot fall on governments
alone—all interest groups have to be involved. Then you have to work out what to
develop and what to preserve (see next page). And surprisingly, I’ve found you can
nearly always reconcile different interests. But you really have to get a democratic
process going because if you just allow technicians to work in isolation, the result
is worth very little. If a project is well thought-out, the people affected by it
will understand and give it their backing, because they will have been involved from
the outset.
Can you give examples of sound coastal management?
Well, there’s Chesapeake Bay, the largest and most productive estuary in the U.S.,
the Wadden Sea (shared by Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands) and the Thames Estuary
in England. Here in Rhode Island, the Coastal Resources Center is trying to revive
an abandoned industrial port filled with poor quality water. Another example is the
Venice Lagoon in Italy, which is tremendously complicated but has enjoyed moderate
success.
It seems only rich countries can afford to rehabilitate their coastal regions.
Not really. Developing countries have many experimental schemes lasting four
to six years, but so far few long-term, large-scale projects, such as the thriving
almost 30-year coastal management programme in Sri Lanka. The key to its success
has been not tackling all problems at once, but singling out two urgent ones—coastal
erosion and poorly located infrastructure.
The two main causes of erosion were human—the mining of river sand (which eventually
builds beaches) and the destruction of coral reefs to extract lime. Sand was used
to make cement and the lime for plaster and to a lesser extent farming, because it
reduces soil acidity and increases some crop yields.
Both types of mining created a lot of jobs and were so profitable that it wasn’t
easy to regulate them in a very poor country in a state of near civil war. But there
have been some notable achievements. The two activities have been almost entirely
brought under control and, more importantly, new infrastructure such as roads and
hotels are built away from beaches and cliffs.
The challenge to poor countries today is to use this experience and learn from the
many experimental micro-projects that exist (the Tanzanian island of Mafia, the Honduran
Gulf of Fonseca, the Philippines and other places), along with bigger projects over
wider areas.
*
Head of the Coastal Resources Center at America’s Rhode Island University.
1.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was set up in 1991 to protect the environment
and promote sustainable development. Its members include 166 governments, the main
development agencies, the scientific community and a broad range of NGOs and private
sector bodies.
UNESCO’s
International Oceanographic Commission will host a conference in Paris from December
3-7, 2001 called “Oceans and Coasts at Rio +10.” (http://ioc.unesco.org/iocweb)
Coastal Resources Center: www.crc.uri.edu |
