Managing the conflict alone

Sometimes it is a late attempt to paper over past bureaucratic blunders or corruption. These have often resulted in the destruction of coastal habitats, the callous allocation of public beaches to private urban and industrial development, and the relinquishing of inshore waters to industrial, municipal and agricultural effluents which pollute. At times is springs from people lobbies putting pressure on the authorities to save what is left of the coastal strip and its natural resources on both sides of the shoreline. ICZM frequently has to deal with marine protected areas (MPAs), safeguarding biodiversity of marine and seashore-associated species and the regulation and reduction of fishing effort.

Genuine ICZM should be a product of inter-disciplinary thinking: analysis, synthesis and conclusions. Official ICZM planning is usually done by teams of experts and/or representatives of the various stakeholders, appointed or approved by the authorities. The terms of references may vary from country to country and depends very much on the nature of the stakeholders and varying issues. They would include the condition and status of coastal, mineral and living resources, the density of the coastal population, existing land ownership and land allocation along the waterfront, the degree and sources of pollution, etc.. The conclusions of the assessment are often considered non-binding recommendations.

The Israeli case

For example, Israel's ICZM-planning team, (I represented the fishing industry for this), consisted of a variety of representatives. There were the departments for ports and merchant marine traffic, environmental health, national parks and nature reserves, an expert in sea law, a coastal architect, a coastal and marine archaeologist, an experienced city-engineer, a naval officer, a marine biologist, a geologist and a geographer-expert in computerised mapping systems (GIS).

By definition, an ICZM has to get involved, at least partly, in fisheries management. The level of its involvement depends on the local conditions. A frequently-asked question among fishermen is: is this whole concept good or bad for the industry?

As it happens, depending on national policies and politics, it may become a trap or a blessing for the fishing industry. One plus is that the analysis of the situation, during ICZM planning, practically precludes pointing at the industry as the only villain to be blamed for deterioration of coastal ecosystems, because, at the first investigation, all the devils show up.

An interesting review of the issue can be seen in Challenging Coasts, edited by L.E. Visser. The alleged remit was to show how case studies in anthropology, human geography, economics, law, biology and ecology have contributed to the identification of problems and development potential in some coastal zones in Europe, Southeast Asia, Pacific islands, African and Latin America. Leontine Visser, wants the book to reach policy-makers not just academe. While she advocates integration of all the relevant areas into a trans-disciplinary approach to ICZM, her definition of ICZM and its objectives remains rather vague. Including social objectives as part of the picture she also prefers to replace the M (Management) in ICZM by D (Development), giving us the sub-theme Trans-disciplinary Excursion into Integrated Coastal Zone Development.

Only one chapter deals with a Third World context, the others reflecting the locations of the contributors from countries such as Canada, Germany, England and the Netherlands. Their focus is largely local and mainly on conservation of coastal resources, biodiversity, local fishery management and sustainability of coastal communities and local social problems. One could argue therefore that they are transdisciplinary, if at all, only within their local contexts.

The chapter by David Owen touches problems related to ICZM in the industrialised world and focuses on the legal aspects of shipping and oil exploration with respect to habitat conservation and on the respective legislation of the European Union. The paper relates the duties and prerogatives of the EU member nations, yet has little to say on how the rules are to be implemented and enforced. The role of stakeholders is hardly mentioned. The author's approach and language seem to me rather legalistic, which can be illustrated by the following quotation: "It is reasonable to suppose that living Lophelia [soft corals] reefs, and species inhabiting such reefs, are part of 'marine life'." This is the most prudent choice of words to describe an obvious fact which I have ever came across.

Missed opportunity

In my opinion this book is a missed opportunity. While propagation of a transdisciplinary approach to ICZM or ICZD is no doubt a worthy endeavour, this book, apart from local overfishing, doesn't sufficiently tackle the most important and difficult aspects of coastal zones worldwide. These are the major problems such as: maintaining a certain width of coastal strip accessible to the public and free of obstructions such as housing development, hotels, etc.; the expansion of aquaculture; the prevention of destruction or deterioration of inshore habitats. These latter are essential for littoral species, as well as for breeding and propagation of others, including commercial fish. They are also vital for marine life biodiversity; prevention of pollution of beaches and inshore waters. Other lacunae include the coordination of merchant, recreational and fishing traffic with military activities and what methods we use to allocate space, time and modes of operation among the various stakeholders.

The main problem while tackling ICZM, is bridging different economic and operational interests and finding out how to temper other differences among the respective stakeholders. There's certainly a need for a major intellectual effort to investigate and assess past experience and then to produce a set of guidelines for ICZM planning, negotiation, legislation and implementation. Hopefully, further attempts in this field will be more comprehensive and functional.

Challenging Coasts. L.E.Visser (Ed.). 2004. Amsterdam University Press (www.aup.nl, magdalena.hernas@aup.nl),