Crowded Coasts

Development and Use of the Coast

Development is about exploiting resources By sharing out land among competing users, the competition

for land is usually resolved Those who can pay most end up occupying the sites that suit

them best Competition for the coastal space mainly comes from

activities such as tourism, heavy industry, agriculture and fishing

The growth of these activities is likely to have a negative impact on the wildlife and the scenery that makes the area appealing

Competition for the land often results in conflict This conflict and competition also occurs in the offshore zone For example, trawling, diving/angling, crab and lobster potting

and scallop dredging

Pressure on Coastal Environments

The intensity of the demand for space along the coast puts pressure on the natural environment

There are at least 3 habitats or ecosystems that are becoming seriously degraded: coral reefs, mangroves and salt marshes

Coral Reefs – Case Study

Structures produced by living organisms Found in shallow, tropical marine waters Support a great variety of animal and plant life The value of coral reefs lies in:

Their biodiversity The protection they afford to low-lying

coasts Their rich fish stocks Their recreation and tourism appeal

Coral is a living thing and is highly sensitive to changes in temperature and water quality

Reefs are easily stressed by a variety of human actions; if the stress persists, decline leading to death soon sets in

Reefs are under threat from pollution, over fishing and ocean acidification

In some areas of the world they are quarried for building material

Mangroves – Case Study

Trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics

Vital nurseries for fish and crustaceans, and are rich in wildlife Mangrove roots that are exposed and low tide, trap silt and

help to create new land Mangrove timber provides fuel and building materials The greatest value of mangroves is the protection from storm

surges they give to low-lying areas The World Conservation Union (IUCN) compared the death toll

from two villages in Sri Lanka that were hit by the Asian Tsunami:

2 people died in the settlement with dense mangrove and shrub forest

6,000 people died in the village without this vegetation

A popular view of mangrove swamps is that they are disease-ridden

They are being cleared very quickly to provide timber, sites for tourist resorts and shrimp aquaculture

Salt Marshes – Case Study

Found along low coasts where boggy ground is flooded by sea water either every day or less often

Many UK salt marshes have been reclaimed for farm land, but those that do remain provide valuable habitats where salt-tolerant plants grow and birds nest

Salt marshes play a vital role in coastal protection: The tidal energy is reduced by the meandering

creeks, which allow the sea water to flow in and out

Marsh plants reduce wave energy Salt marshes are among the most threatened ecosystems Specific threats include:

Reclamation – due to the perception that marshes are wasted space and can be drained for develop

Industrial pollution – particularly of water, as many marshes occur in estuaries which are human activity hotspots

Agricultural pollution – leading to eutrophication Shipping and pleasure boating, which cause

‘wash’ that leads to die-back of marsh vegetation Pressure from developments such as marinas and

recreational facilities Salt marshes are also threatened by changes associated with

global warming: The increasing frequency of high-impact storms Changing temperature and rainfall regimes that

can affect the tolerance of marsh plants Sea-level rises that are occurring too quickly for

the marsh ecosystems to adjust

Land Reclamation around Tokyo Bay

Around 75% of Japan’s land surface is mountainous and unsuitable for settlement

Usable land is fragmented, occurring in small, detached coastal lowlands

Until the 20th century, wetland reclamation was undertaken mainly to provide land for agriculture

During the 20th century, the prime motivators were urbanisation and industrial development

Between 1950 and the oil crisis of 1973, an estimated 110,000 hectares of new land were created around Tokyo Bay

This was to provide space for Tokyo and the other cities which make up the large metropolitan area that now accommodates over 25 million people

The land was used for new port installations, heavy industrial developments, such as oil refineries and steelwork, housing and an airport expansion

Since the mid-1970s, the scale of the reclamation of the land has declined. This is because of:

A slowdown in the rate of economic growth Pollution of water caused by landfill used in some

of the reclamation work The discovery that during strong earthquakes,

reclaimed land loses its load-bearing capacity The vulnerability of low-lying ground to tsunamis

as a result of sea level rise due to global warming Environmental concern that the lost mudflat

habitat and its wildlife should be restored Making the waterfront a place of leisure and

recreation rather than development