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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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PROGRAMME PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE BEACH MANAGEMENT
Information needs
Institutional
strengthening
Awareness
building
Education
needs
Planning
and legislation
Enforcement
needs
Following the panel discussion on 'Regional initiatives relating to beach management and coastal zone management', three working groups were established during the afternoon session of 23rd October, 1996, to consider the goal 'Sustainable beach management by the year 2001 - What needs to be done'. Group 1 consisted of participants from island archipelagos (British Virgin Islands, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Turks & Caicos Islands). Group 2 was made up of participants from islands heavily dependent on tourism (Anguilla, Antigua-Barbuda, Nevis, St. Lucia). Group 3 included participants from those islands relatively less dependent on tourism, (Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts). Representatives from the agencies and other countries present at the workshop were assigned to the three groups.
A set of deliberation guidelines was given to each group, see Annex III.
The groups produced written reports which were presented to a plenary session on the afternoon of 25 October 1996.
Within the overall framework goal of 'Sustainable beach management by the year 2001 - What needs to be done' six main subject areas were considered at the national level (this includes the community level) and at the regional level (this includes the sub-regional level). The six areas were: additional information, institutional strengthening, awareness, education, planning and legislation, and enforcement. The following represents a summary of the reports from the three groups.
Information needs
The groups universally endorsed the concept that the beach
monitoring programmes established by the COSALC programme should
be continued. Ale present methodology could be improved by
including the positions of high water marks and offshore sand
bars. The monitoring programme should be expanded to include
other parameters: waves, tides, currents, sea level fluctuations,
storm surges, marine debris including tarballs, size and
condition of primary and secondary sand dunes, and water quality.
Increased involvement of NG0s could assist with the collection of
these additional data sets. In order to provide a historical
perspective on recent coastal changes, aerial photographs, old
maps and charts should be accessed and analyzed. One group
pointed out the need to provide safety at sea information to the
populace in order to reduce drowning incidents at the beaches.
All groups agreed that existing information on beaches and their
changes is not being fully used. Geographical Information System
(GIS) technology is being developed in the islands, but most
islands are at an early stage regarding this technology and it
does not yet exist in some islands. Additional equipment and
training in GIS and its applications is needed. Furthermore the
beach change databases need to be integrated into the GIS
technology; however, first the reference points for the beach
profiles need to be tied into existing data in each island. At
the regional level, it was recommended that regional depositories
of information should be established. It was also pointed out
that there was a need for more collaboration between the
different agencies and projects regarding beach management
initiatives.
Institutional strengthening
Improved information flow between government departments was
identified as a primary prerequisite in order to achieve the goal
of sustainable beach management. It was generally felt that this
could be achieved through the establishment, at country level, of
inter-agency committees, although one agency would need to take
the lead/coordinating role. There should be increased
environmental input to economic planning since economic planning
was a key agency in most countries with its direct links to
national budgets and overseas assistance projects. The
establishment of environmental desks in this agency was
recommended. One group proposed that the environmental impact
assessment (EIA) process needs to be strengthened in terms of
scientific thoroughness and administrative significance.
Ecological risk assessment and decision support systems might
help achieve this goal. At the regional level it was proposed
that further strengthening should be provided to the COSALC
programme.
Awareness building
All the groups agreed that people in the islands are not
sufficiently aware of the problems associated with beaches nor
indeed of the need for beach management. In some islands there
had been public resistance in the past to concepts such as
coastal development setbacks. The groups recommended that all
coastal stakeholders be included in the management process while
at certain times targeting special interest groups such as
fishermen, insurance companies, etc. It was recommended that
inter-agency committees, set up to facilitate information flow,
could provide the mechanisms for networking as well as education
and awareness activities. Their membership should be widened to
include coastal stakeholders and NG0s. These committees could
develop a directory of human resources in each island who could
be called on for specific activities. All forms of media -
electronic and otherwise - should be utilized. Slide sets and
videos were especially identified and these could also be used in
the schools. One of the major problems experienced in all islands
was how to make senior administrators and politicians more aware
of beach management problems. Solutions must be sought using
existing means such as field trips, seminars, community
intermediaries, newspapers and other forms of media, and
development guidelines. At the local and country levels it was
felt that there was a need to provide certain specific types of
information:
These types of information are best supplied at the local or national levels. Small grants are needed for local NG0s, who working together with the inter-agency committees, could prepare and distribute this type of information through newsletters and fact sheets.
Education needs
While some consideration is given to beaches and coastal
resources at the primary and secondary school levels, this needed
to be increased and more time and emphasis should be given to
local resource management problems in the classroom. The use of
field trips, lectures, competitions, high school internships were
the suggested mechanisms for this re-focused emphasis in the
schools. Short-term training courses are needed for persons
already involved in the project. This could be in various forms
such as attachments, short courses, internships, and mentor
programmes. National and regional tertiary educational
institutions could provide this training, as well as advanced
national coastal management units.
Planning and legislation
All the groups recommended that existing coastal development
setbacks should be reviewed with the overall goal of establishing
variable setbacks for beaches in each island. Ibis information
would then be available to all coastal stakeholders and planning
boards. Such a project might be expanded into an overall coastal
zoning plan which would include water quality, coastal
structures, and sand mining policy. There was consensus that
legislative revision of the beach protection laws in each island
was necessary. In particular, beaches, dunes, and public and
private property need clear definition for property owners,
planners and courts. Manuals explaining the rationale behind
beach management were also needed. The need for more NGO and
community input to planning and the legislative process was
identified. At the regional level it was recommended that funding
be sought for a regional legal audit with a view to upgrading
environmental laws. In this context the OECS harmonized
legislation should be analyzed for relevance and application to
local situations.
Enforcement needs
There was a consensus that enforcement is one of the weakest
areas of beach management and that education and awareness are
vital components of enforcement. Successful enforcement requires
that the socio-cultural aspects of beach management are addressed
at the community and national levels; only in this way can local
residents help 'police' their natural resources. Besides public
involvement, inter-agency cooperation is required. In each
country there are usually several different enforcement agencies
(police, coastguard, immigration, customs, fisheries, national
parks and others). One starting point is to coordinate the
activities of these different agencies so that they do indeed
help each other. One group raised the point that court officials
such as magistrates and judges are not generally well informed
about the need to protect coastal resources. As a result heavy
fines and penalties are rarely imposed. As with so many issues
this relates directly back to education and awareness. In
conclusion, the participants identified needs in all six areas.
Some of the needs can be fulfilled at the national level with no
outside assistance, others have already been included in the
programme planning for regional projects, and still others have
not yet been addressed at any level. Without doubt, improved
collaboration and cooperation at national and regional levels is
needed in order to achieve the goal of 'Sustainable beach
management by the year 2001'. Mr. Keith Nichols made a statement
on behalf of the OECS countries, in which he informed the
workshop participants on various initiatives and approaches by
OECS/NRMU and invited COSALC to enlarge its scope to meet
specific OECS Member-State needs. From the floor it was commented
that not all of the countries participating in COSALC are members
of OECS, but that COSALC, as a component of UNESCO's CSI, has
been approved by the UNESCO Member States, of which OECS
countries are a part. The need for an inter-agency collaboration
was further confirmed.
