A2 GEOGRAPHY - COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS

8.4 SUSTAINABLE
MANAGEMENT OF COASTS
 Coastal management is about
resolving the conflicts between
human benefits and the well-
being of coastal ecosystem and
protecting the coast e.g. long
stretches of beaches.

WHAT IS COASTAL
MANAGEMENT?
 Every stretch of coast has a
Shoreline Management Plan.
SMP’s provide:
‘an objective large-scale assessment of
the risks to people and the developed,
historic and natural environment,
resulting from the evolution of the
coast. It goes on to present a policy
framework that does not tie future
generations to costly and unsustainable
activities. In the setting of policy it
attempts to balance all of the
sometimes conflicting interests at the
coast in a sustainable manner.’
(Defra, 2004)

SHORELINE MANAGEMENT
PLANS (SMP)
 The subsections of coast are
defined by sources and sinks of
material and cells of sediment
movement.
SMPs set out long-term
objectives that are:
• technically sustainable
• environmentally acceptable
• economically viable

LONG TERM OBJECTIVES

OF SMP’s
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT,
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
ATTITUDES

SMPs are used to help coastal

managers plan into the 22nd century,
but because many changes will
inevitably occur in this time span, the
plans have to be used flexibly and all
participants need to agree that SMPs
may have to be altered in the light of
new circumstances, such as housing
development or political or social
attitudes.
COASTAL
MANAGEMENT
Successful management of coastal areas
depends on understanding the different
uses of coastal land and the physical
processes impacting on the coast, such
as erosion and longshore drift.
Techniques for managing these physical
processes can be divided into hard
engineering options (such as building
sea walls) and soft engineering options
(such as beach nourishment and
managed retreat).
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Land uses in coastal areas include tourism,
industry, fishing, trade and transport.
There are many different groups of people
who have an interest in how coastal areas are
managed.
These include:
• local residents
• environmental groups
• developers
• local councils
• national governments
• tourist boards
• National Park Authorities
REASONS FOR CONCERNS
Each interest group may have a different view
about what should be done to protect and
manage coastal areas. A difference of opinion
can cause conflict between interest groups.
Reasons why groups of people might be
concerned about the coast are:
• Erosion may be threatening beaches or
coastal settlements.
• People may want to develop tourism in the
area or existing tourism could be declining.
• There is a danger of flooding if sea levels rise.
• There could be a problem with sewage
and/or pollution.
Physical management of the coast
attempts to control natural processes
such as erosion and longshore drift.
Hard engineering options tend to be
expensive, short-term options.
They may also have a high impact on the
landscape or environment and be
unsustainable.

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES:
HARD ENGINEERING
Sea walls are walls of concrete, supported by Iron pilings dug into the underlying rock,
that are designed to prevent coastal erosion. They are generally placed at the foot of
vulnerable cliffs or at the top of a beach. They can be up to 5m high and can be flat faced
or curved.
The curved walls are more expensive but dissipate the energy from incoming waves
better. These defences can be up to £6 million per kilometre to construct. Their good
points are that they are very effective, have a reasonably long lifespan and often have
walkways along the top for people to walk along. However, they are very expensive and
are accused of being ugly (not aesthetically pleasing!). Also, sea walls have been known
to cause down current scarring, where waves cause more damage to unprotected areas.

SEA WALLS
AND CURVED WALLS IN UK
SEA
WALLS
Groynes are basically wooded fences that run at right angles to the beach. These
fences run out into the sea, and are designed to interrupt longshore drift and catch
sediment as it moves along the coastline, thus widening a beach.
This larger beach can then act as a buffer against waves, as there is more beach to
absorb wave energy. these features can cost as much as £10,000 each, and need to
be spaced at 200m intervals. They are good because they result in a larger beach,
which not only protects the coastline but can also be good for tourism. In addition,
they are not that expensive. However, they starve down current (or drift) beaches,
which makes them more vulnerable to erosion, and again they are not that attractive.

GROYNES IN UK
Rock armours are simple strategies that involve the dumping of huge
boulders of rock at the base of a cliff. These rocks help the wave to break
and they absorb the wave energy.
They cost between £1,000 and £4,000 per metre, depending upon the
material used, and are relatively cheap and easy to maintain. They are
however unnatural and do not fit with the geology of the cliff line, and can
be expensive to transport.
Another type of rock armour are Gabions - which are cages of smaller rocks
that work in much the same way.

ROCK ARMOURS IN UK
Hard engineering schemes are effective but expensive, and recent attempts
to manage coastal processes have focussed on softer engineering
techniques.
These techniques seek to mimic natures own ways of managing coastal
processes and to use natural materials and strategies to prevent erosion. In
effect, these measures can be better for the environment, cost less money
to implement and maintain, but not totally control the erosion problem.
They are a more sustainable way of managing the coastline.

EFFECTIVE BUT EXPENSIVE

MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES:
SOFT ENGINEERING
Soft engineering options
are often less expensive
than hard engineering
options.
They are usually more
long-term and sustainable,
with less impact on the
environment.
There are two main types
of soft engineering.
This replaces beach or cliff material that has
been removed by erosion or longshore drift.
The main advantage is that beaches are a
natural defence against erosion and coastal
flooding. Beaches also attract tourists.
It is a relatively inexpensive option but
requires constant maintenance to replace the
beach material as it is washed away.

BEACH MANAGEMENT
Areas of the coast are allowed to erode and flood naturally. Usually this
will be areas considered to be of low value – eg. places not being used for
housing or farmland.
The advantages are that it encourages the development of beaches (a
natural defence) and salt marshes (important for the environment) and
cost is low.
Managed retreat is a cheap option, but people will need to be
compensated for loss of buildings and farmland.

MANAGED RETREAT
Beach nourishment is a measure whereby additional sand and shingle is
added to a beach to make it higher and wider.
This material is brought onshore by barge, and moved about by large
trucks and diggers. It costs around £3000 per km and is a cheap method.
It will blend in with the beach if the sediment is locally sourced and will
have benefits for tourists.
However, this method needs constant maintenance or else this new
sediment will also eventually be eroded by the sea.

BEACH NOURISHMENT
Dune regeneration basically involves artificially creating new sand dunes along
the coastline to act as a buffer between the land and the sea. Sand dunes occur
naturally but are under threat because they are fragile and people walk all over
them, ride horses and motorbikes on them and destroy the dune ecosystem.
Using fencing to help trap sand, planting Marram grass into coconut matting and
encouraging dune formation helps to protect these systems which protect our
coastline and absorb storm and wave energy. This can cost £2,000 per 100m and
helps to maintain the ecosystem of the area whilst offering protection. However,
it is time consuming to plant the Marram grass and fence off areas, and is less
effective than hard engineering schemes.

DUNE REGENERATION
Managed retreat is a method whereby we humans concede defeat to the
power of the sea and allow it to erode and create salt marshes for example.
We can also allow cliff erosion to occur in areas of low value farmland and
just compensate farmers for their losses, rather than construct more
expensive coastal defences. This can only work where the coasts of
compensation are significantly less than the coasts of building coastal
defences, and can be a cheap option.
It can also be beneficial to plants and animals by providing new habitat. This
method is highly controversial however, as land is lost and the human cost
can be greater than just financial. Imagine a farmer told to quit land and a
family home that could have been in the family for generations because the
council do not want to build a sea defence - the trauma of this is huge.

MANAGED RETREAT
The Holderness coast is in the north east of England. This is one of the
most vulnerable coastlines in the world and it retreats at a rate of one
to two metres every year.
The problem is caused by:
• Strong prevailing winds creating longshore drift that moves material
south along the coastline.
• The cliffs are made of a soft boulder clay. It will
therefore erode quickly, especially when saturated.

COASTAL MANAGEMENT
IN HOLDERNESS
The village of Mappleton, perched on a cliff top on the Holderness coast, has
approximately 50 properties. Due to the erosion of the cliffs, the village is
under threat. In 1991, the decision was taken to protect Mappleton.
A coastal management scheme costing £2 million was introduced involving
two types of hard engineering - placing rock armour along the base of the cliff
and building two rock groynes. Mappleton and the cliffs are no longer at great
risk from erosion.
The rock groynes have stopped beach material being moved south from
Mappleton along the coast. This has increased erosion south of Mappleton.
Benefits in one area might have a negative effect on another.

COASTAL MANAGEMENT
IN HOLDERNESS cont.
VIDEO
Holderness
Coast GCSE

Geography
Case Study
The increased threat of sea level rise due to climate change, means that
other places will need to consider the sustainability of coastal defence
strategies for the future.

COASTAL MANAGEMENT
IN HOLDERNESS cont.
VIDEO
The Village
That’s
Falling
into the Sea
Studland Bay is located in the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset and is popular
with tourists.
It can be accessed by ferry from the desirable area of Sandbanks in Poole
during the summer. It is only a few minutes drive from the resort of Swanage
and most visitors arrive by car.
Studland Bay is a good example of a place where conflict can occur between
interest groups.

CASE STUDY:
TOURISM IN STUDLAND BAY
NATURE RESERVE
Vulnerable areas and areas recently planted with marram grass (which is
used to stabilise the dunes) are fenced off to limit access and damage.
Boardwalks have been laid through the dunes to focus tourists onto specific
paths. Car parks have been provided and people are not permitted to drive
onto the beach.
Fire beaters are positioned within the dune area in case of a fire. Facilities
including a shop, café, toilets and litter bins are provided near the car parks
to focus tourists into one area. Information boards educate visitors about the
environment and how they can help to protect it.

HOW IS THE AREA MANAGED?

VIDEO
Bournemouth
Coast

A bird’s
eye view
The purpose of New Zealand's Resource Management Act
(1991) is to promote the sustainable management of natural
and physical resources.
Coastal sand mining may be consistent with this purpose where:
(1) extractions occur from sediment systems open to inputs of
sediment, and the volumes extracted do not limit the natural
development, physical characteristics, and ecological diversity of
the coastal environments affected; or (2) extractions from
palimpsest or relict sedimentary deposits occur at a rate where
the rate of extraction is insignificant compared with the volume
of the resource.

SEA SAND MINING AT MANGAWHAI,

PAKIRI, NEW ZEALAND
 VIDEO

MANGAWHAI HEADS DRONE OVERFLIGHT 1

Sand mining at Pakiri Beach has been extended for a further 14 years by
the Environment Court.
In a reserved decision, the court has dismissed objections to continued
mining from the Auckland Regional Council and Friends of Pakiri made
on the grounds of serious environmental effects.
McCallum Bros and Sea Tow appealed to the court after the council
turned down their application to take 76,000cu m of sand a year for 20
years near the shore at Pakiri.

SEA SAND MINING AT PAKIRI

The companies sought to renew consents to take the sand from where
the water was 5m to 10m deep in the Mangawhai-Pakiri bay area. In
court, the firms disputed the claim of the council and experts that the
bays formed a closed system and no new sand was coming in.
The ARC said continued extraction would eventually lead to beach and
dune erosion and would spoil the significant natural character of the
coastline. But the companies said that despite huge volumes of sand
having been extracted from the Pakiri inshore area over the past 85
years, no significant erosion or change to the coastline could be blamed
on the extraction.

EROSION OR NOT?
The firms sought 20-year terms because of the quality and value of the
Pakiri sand, which is needed for Auckland construction projects. It has
also been used to replenish the beaches at Mission Bay, Kohimarama
and St Heliers. Judge David Sheppard said no link between sand
extraction and environmental damage had been shown. He authorised
coastal permits for the mining for 14 years. ARC environment chairman
Dianne Glenn said last night she was disappointed by the decision. In
December, the council paid $20 million to create a regional park at
Pakiri and the dunes there have two threatened bird species - the NZ
fairy tern and the NZ dotterel.

SAND FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

 VIDEO

MANGAWHAI HEADS DRONE OVERFLIGHT 2

The ARC hearing drew 678 submissions about the proposal - 658 were
against and 20 for. Friends of Pakiri chairman Nick Williams said the group
would consider its option of appealing against the decision to the High Court
on points of law. "We opposed mining because Pakiri is a great place for lots
of people to go to and enjoy its unspoiled white sand." The decision created
an absurd situation, he said, because mining was banned in the Mangawhai
part of the bay system, which was under the Northland Regional Council. The
Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society chairman, Graham Mackenzie, said
near-shore mining was disgraceful and posed a serious risk to the rebuilding
of the town's sandspit.

OPPOSING MINING
SEA SAND MINING IN THE WORLD
The world’s beaches are being mined for
sand for a variety of uses (aggregate in
concrete, fill, beach nourishment).
The practice is often very destructive and
poorly managed (or unmanaged).
This is a global phenomenon (Morocco,
Caribbean Islands, India, South Africa, NZ).
This theft of beach and dune sand is a
direct cause of erosion along many
shorelines.
It is very damaging to the beach fauna and
flora, ruinous to beach aesthetics, and
frequently causes environmental damage
to other coastal ecosystems such as
wetlands.
HISTORIC ACCOUNTS
Another major impact of beach sand mining is the
loss of protection from storms surges associated
with tropical cyclones and tsunamis.
Some communities affected by the 2004 tsunami
in the Indian Ocean had higher storm surges
probably due to beach sand mining resulting in
fatalities. Sometimes it is difficult to tell that a
beach has been mined. Sand extraction becomes
difficult to recognize as the beach readjusts to a
new profile after a few storms.
But historic accounts of beaches in the Caribbean
often reveal that beaches have been narrowed
considerably. Mining is particularly senseless in a
time of rising sea level when sand is sorely
needed as a storm energy buffer.