Lesson 1 - Integrated Management at the coast

Learning objectives:

- to be able to define integrated coastal zone management (ICZM)

- to be able to give examples of the pressures on the Mediterranean cosstal area

- to know how the Mediterranean coastal area is being managed (the Blue Plan)

- to practice drawing and interpreting line graphs

You need to learn two key definitons for this part of the course:

Integrated management: management of the whole of an area or a system rather than just its individual parts

Sustainable management: management that meets the needs of the present generation while preserving an area for future generations

The idea of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) was first introduced by the European Union in 1996, following dicussions at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) recognises that the coastal environment is more than just the thin strip where the land meets the sea. ICZM is about manging the whole of the coastal area over a long period of time. The key principles behind ICZM are:

- it is a long-term approach involving the sustainable and equitable use of resources (natural, cultural and economic)

- it brings together all the various organisations who have responsiblity for managing the coastal area

- it recognises not only the need to protect the coast but also the importance of recreation and business to coastal settlements

Mediterranean Sea - managing a coast using ICZM

Our case study for this part of the course is the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea covers about 2.5 million square kilometres. It is connected to the Altantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus on the east. The man-made Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. The Mediterranean coastal area includes 21 countries from 3 continents (see below) and has a population of over 300 million people.

Europe: Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Turkey*

Asia: Turkey*, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt*

Africa: Egypt*, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco

*Egypt and Turkey are transcontinental countries

Pressures on the Mediterranean coastal area

The main pressures on the Mediterranean coastal area are:

- sea pollution from industrial waste and untreated sewage and air pollution from industry and transport

- population increases leading to bigger, sprawling cities, and illegal development

- damage to environments by the development of tourism - hotels and holiday resorts

- the threat of desertification as increasing amounts of underground water are used

- water shortages because of increases in demand and climate change

- overfishing - the European Environment Agency says that over 65% of all fish stocks in the region are outside safe biological limits

You can read more about these pressures on the Greenpeace website.

This first video tells the story of the Prestige oil tanker disaster in November 2002. The tanker sank off the coast of Spain. The oil was washed ashore, causing extensive damage to the environment, tourist industry and fishing industry. A major oil spill could occur in the Mediterranean at any time. The EU has two regulations in place to prevent old oil tankers from being used in the Mediterranean. Click on the image of the sinking tanker to watch the video and find out about what the EU is doing to prevent further disasters like this.

The second video is about Greenpeace's work towards stopping the release of toxic chemicals from industry into the environment. Greenpeace claim that companies have a lot of money and political influence and often lie about the pollution that they cause. The companies insist that they are working within environmental guidelines. Again, click on the image to be taken to the BBC website to watch the video.

The Blue Plan (Plan Bleu) for managing the Mediterranean in a sustainable manner

The Blue Plan - a sustainable future for the Mediterranean - was produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2006. The report recognised the pressures faced by the Mediterranean coastal area and highlighted levels of pollution and population growth as being key concerns. It made recommendations about how the area should be managed so that it could be cleaned up by 2020. It is an example of ICZM being used to manage an area. The Plan considered the economy, envieonment and people of thr whole area rather than just concentrating on the shoreline.

The key recommendations were:

- to make 10% of all the coastal areas into nature reserves to protect them

- to reduce building development along the coast and have green areas between areas of development to prevent sprawl

- develop tourism inland to relieve pressure on the coast and spread the benefits of tourism to a wider area

- issue guidelines for the development of new tourist facilities to ensure they fit in with the environment

- treat all waste water before it is pumped into the sea

- encourage people to use water sparingly and introduce water conservation measures

- have stricter rules to prevent pollution

- develop renewable energy sources

This fits with the principles of ICZM as it considers a wide range of activities. Greenpeace have supported the plan, saying that 'We cannot preserve the overall health of the Mediterranean Sea by simply protecting one habitat within it, prohibiting one threat or minimising one activity. The Mediterranean Sea functions as a whole ecosystem so the measures to protect it must reflect and support that.'.

Greenpeace have gone a step further and have proposed a  network of marine reserves which would protect 40% of the Mediterranean Sea. You can see this network of reserves on the map below.

View Save the Mediterranean in a larger map 

Useful weblinks

The UK's policy statement about ICZM in England (a very lengthy document - a link for teachers rather than students to follow!) 

Greenpeace article about the pressures on the Mediterranean

Greenpeace online petition to protect the Mediterranean Sea by 40% coverage of marine reserves

Lesson 2 - Planning for rising sea levels

Learning objectives:

- to know how climate change will affect coastal areas

- to recognise that we need to plan for rising sea levels

- to develop a case study of the Response Project around Ancona in Italy

Useful weblinks