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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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Coastal region and small island papers 12
WISE
PRACTICES FOR COASTAL CONFLICT RESOLUION: NORTH KURZEME – BALTIC SEA
COASTAL REGION, LATVIA
by Alanda Pulina and Raimonds Ernsteins
Introduction
Latvia is the central country of the Baltic States, it lies in north-eastern Europe on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. Forests cover 44% of the country. Many plant and animal species that are rare and protected in Europe because of intensive farming and environmental pollution are still commonly found in Latvia. Thus it is possible to hear a frogs’ choir on summer nights, spot a hedgehog in the garden, hear the call of the corncrake, or find the nest of a white stork atop a tall chimney – all of these attest to the good quality of the environment in Latvia, which is better than in most other states of the European Union.
During the 50-year Soviet occupation, most of the coast was a restricted area because it was considered a frontier zone. Commercial and recreational activity was restricted. Today this area is still home to picturesque fishing villages that appear to have stepped out of a page in history. These villages were originally settled by the Livs, an ancient Finno-Ugric tribe that lived along the Baltic coast.
The coastal region of Livi nation settlements is situated along the coast of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga in the north-western part of Latvia. The population density is low with only 10,000 inhabitants. The main occupations are forestry, woodwork, fishing and fish processing. There are several medium scale factories on the coast. While there are many original style buildings, many of them are in poor condition, and repair and restoration is not possible because of the strained economic situation. New buildings are appearing on the coast, which change the identity of the village landscape.
Description of the conflict situation
There are several institutions in the region – local municipalities, Slitere National Park, Livonian Coast, Regional Environmental Protection Board, Building Control Board, and others, which are responsible for control and implementation of laws for individual sectors of the coastal zone. Each institution works in its own sphere with its own methods and there is no joint coastal planning. Thus many decisions implemented in different sectors have a negative impact on the environment. Local governments do not have effective laws or compensation mechanisms for environmental management and sustainable development, and environmental interests have low priority in the development planning of coastal municipalities.
In today’s Latvia local governments have many responsibilities but inadequate financing. As a result they ‘try to put out the fires’ but have little resources for planning future development. The structure of local government institutions is inadequate for today’s needs, and there are no institutions working on local Agenda 21 activities. A lack of education, information and understanding in the environmental field leads to diminished motivation among local people, entrepreneurs and institutions for implementing environmentally-friendly projects. In addition the process of people moving from the country to the towns, as a result of a lack of opportunities in the coastal regions, is influencing children’s mental development and relationships with nature.
There is a responsibility to European society to preserve the coastal regions in a natural state, yet the thrust is towards higher living standards, not natural preservation.
The main conflict centres around a weakly regulated land market which results in prosperous land owners consolidating land and properties in the coastal zone while local administrative bodies are incapable of planning and managing the development process.
Conflict resolution
Several actions need to be implemented:
A special building control commission, including independent experts should be formed, and construction regulation rules prepared.
An Advisory Council for the coastal zone should be established.
Demonstration projects need to be implemented to show the restoration of the old wooden buildings and the use of eco-technologies.
Local landowners should be subsidised to preserve traditional style buildings.
Tourism facilities need to be established.
Local people need to be motivated to stay in the countryside.
Widespread information, communication and public relations needs to be created.
Young generations and local schools need to be involved in the local development process.
Wise practices for conflict resolution
Long-term benefit: the UNESCO Chair at the University of Latvia has started projects encouraging cooperation among coastal municipalities and other regional institutions to create a sustainable development system for the north-west coastal zone of Latvia, which will include future planning and effective use of coastal resources.
Capacity building and institutional strengthening: due to the activities of the Chair, education and training for the different stakeholder groups has been carried out in the North Kurzeme region since 1998. As a result of the European Commission LIFE project, a new institution will be founded involving all relevant bodies in the region and will serve as the Regional Environmental Policy Centre or Agenda 21 Centre.
Sustainability: the training activities for the staff of the municipalities are resulting in environment and development issues being included in development plans. Sustainable demonstration projects are the real goal of the LIFE project, and it is expected that the Agenda 21 Centre will be sustainable and continue after the life of the project, as well as other activities such as the round-table forum.
Transferability: project approaches and methods designed for the local situation in North Kurzeme have the potential for transferability to other parts of Latvia with different environmental problems requiring participatory methods and involving multi-stakeholder interests.
Interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral: the establishment of the Agenda 21 Centre for the sustainable development of the north-west coastal area will include all activities and sectors in an integrated approach.
Participatory process: this will be assured through the successful cooperation between local authorities, state institutions, private sector and other actors, as well as the broad involvement of civil society in the planning and decision-making of local Agenda 21 activities.
Consensus building: the demonstration projects, partnerships and the round table forum will provide a mechanism for resolving conflicts between nature/culture protection and development, and will provide for bottom-up decision making through the Council for Regional Sustainable Development and elaboration of coastal Agenda 21 programme guidelines.
Cultural respect: this is one of the strongholds of the region’s image. The future market value of the region is dependent on the ability to keep local traditions and strengthen local identities, beginning with the individual way of thinking and ending with infrastructure projects.
Strengthening local identities: it is necessary to raise the level of self-reliance and self-confidence of the local inhabitants. Attention must be paid to the region’s image and to motivate young people to stay and work in the countryside.
Legal national policy: the transition process following the regaining of independence has influenced the decentralization of decision making and public governance. Territorial and administrative reform is underway.
Evaluation: specific criteria and indicators will be worked out during the Agenda 21 planning process.
