Coastal zone management
Throughout the world, coastal zones and adjacent seas are under
escalating pressure from trends like rising populations and
increasing living standards. Although many of the related problems
may be beyond the direct solutions science can offer, it is
important that more knowledge base be developed in order that
changes in the coasts and seas in response to trends of society can
be predicted. The best ways to minimize adverse change must also be
found, especially in relation to industrial development. Effort
needs to be put into improving communication among scientists,
managers, policy-makers and others who deal with the consequences
of coastal change and exploitation of the coastal zone and adjacent
seas. While many coastal zone issues appear to be a localized
response to a local activity, there are clearly global
consequences. Particular attentio should be given to the global
warming and climate change.
ICS activities in coastal zone management deal with management of
marine resources and industrial site planning as well as
(bio)-remediation in coastal areas including small islands. This
programme makes use of GIS and RS, and in particular "image
engineering" techniques.
General approach
- Establishment of co-operative training network for the exchange of standardized course materials, training staff and information
- Training package on CZM to be created, tested and utilized as the basis for a continuous programme on CZM, and tailored to the needs of the countries concerned
- Development of informatics tools and databases for those involved in CZM
- Acquisition, use and application of advanced methodologies in integrated CZM
- Build up the capabilities of qualified training/educational institutions and national expertise with responsibilities in CZM, with emphasis on industrial development
Multimedia
MEditerranean, COasts and ECOsystems
The multimedia package has been prepared by ICS-UNIDO as an end-of-project publication entitled Baseline research for the integrated sustainable management of Mediterranean sensitive coastal ecosystems, edited by Professor Felicita Scapini and her collaborating partners within the EU-funded MECO Project. The project was concerned with aspects of geology, geomorphology, ecology, animal behaviour, socio-economy and environmental management in selected coastal sites in Malta, Morocco and Tunisia. It was administered and managed by an inter-university/agency consortium made up of scientists and coastal managers from Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Tunisia and the United Kingdom, and funded by the European Commission through the INCO-DC Programme.
The manual aims at offering opportunities to those responsible for managing coastal resources in the Mediterranean to compare and extrapolate to other similar scenarios. Thus, the efforts of and experiences gained by all those involved in the MECO Project will be passed on to others endeavouring to understand and conserve the biological and cultural diversity of the Mediterranean. Its contents are presented in 4 languages: Arabic, English, French and Italian.