Development along shore ME-3

Marine Environment & Coastal Zones Pressure

1 Indicator definition and unit of measurement

The indicator is to track increase in structural development in the coastal zone. The unit proposed is real (hectare), or percentage increase in structural hard surface in the coastal zone .

2 Placement in the framework

In chapter 5: The themes and targets of the programme, section 5.6: Coastal zones, urbanisation is seen as a main threat to the coastal zone and targets include "development of criteria for a better balance of land-use and conservation and use of natural resources".

Chapter 17: Protection of the oceans, all kinds of seas, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas and the protection, rational use and development of their living resources.

International conventions and agreements:

None to control change from natural or semi natural to hard surface, but nature protection conventions have a bearing on the high wildlife/habitat value subset of all coastal land.

Core ranking: 3 (39%)

Policy Relevance: 6 (3.0)

Analytical Soundness: 4 (3.0)

Responsiveness: 3 (2.8)

Most appropriate related state indicator:

Land under hard cover in the coastal zone.

Give a picture of continuing encroachment of cement, tar and rock armour on our coast and consequent loss of flexibility and natural value in the coastal zone.

This is a neutral base indicator. It does not try to weigh importance of land covered (e.g. Natura 2000 site, or urban fringe) but simply points to any natural coast being converted to hard surface being inherently a pressure, a threat to the integrity of the marine and coastal zone, as well as a cost to us all, if the structure is too close to shore in view of climate change predictions.

Structural development has increased so drastically in recent years, that on the one hand the public is very aware and keen to see it checked. On the other hand, we have the people's dream to avail of a house, boat or golfclub at the sea, providing a counter current as well as a powerful commercial opportunity.

Linkages to other pressure indicators:

In M arine Environment, it is linked with ME-8: W etland loss , ME-7: P riority habitat loss and ME-9: T ourism intensity . As the type of structure is so diverse, usually brings with it some sort of transport and changes in both hinterland and shore, it may be seen linked to most other fields from as obvious as biodiversity to as indirect as air pollution.

None specific, but several related, see 5EAP above.

4 Methodological description and underlying definitions

Underlying definitions and concepts:

Two fundamental attributes of the coastal zone are its ability to change and its organic connection of areas appearing to be far apart. Land erodes and with riverine inputs new areas of accretion are seen perhaps miles down current. If a part is tied down by hard structure the coastal zone may be seen to adjust over a large area. A dune slack converted into carpark can cause the whole system to reduce drastically in wildlife value and may result in high upkeep cost to prevent natural dune movements which would cover the carpark or access road. A harbour wall extended by fifty meters can cause kilometres of erosion as currents adjust and scour out the coast above the harbour. At present this loss of land tends to be borne by the land owners, not the builder or harbour authority. But there are several test cases being considered. The more infrastructure investment there is along the shore, the greater the lobby for hard erosion control measures to protect this infrastructure. Thus development leads to further structures, which in turn can cause erosion further down the coast, with a call for hard engineering there.

Measurement methods:

Annual aerial photographs, satellite images and other neutral overview methods.

If augmented by a record of rezoning applications for change from agricultural or nature to building land and/or planning applications in the coastal zone and numbers granted, one could predict future impact rather than just give the picture of events which have happened.

Limitations of the indicator:

* As with all indicators data collection involves cost and expertise but not in excessive amounts. The area of the coastal zone - must be carefully defined, as this could become major comparison hinderness.

* If we calculate hectares covered in hard surface, the use of the surface

- airport, road, building, erosion control measure - and height are not taken into account. While this is a significant weakness, the simplicity of the indicator as suggested and the ease with which it could be implemented are very appealing.

Alternative definitions:

A more elaborate definition and possibly even check list is needed to clearly state what was covered by “development” but the base definition is sound.