Coastal resource management

Who is involved?

The sea goes from the beach in one village past the next village, around the country, and connects to the rest of the world. "Everyone" should be involved in managing the resources of the Sea or coastal resource management.

International agreements regulate some activities in the open sea. National agencies are often involved in Coastal Zone Management (CZM).

In recent years, a number of integrated approaches to CZM have been adopted. These include consideration of jointly managing all the activities of commerce, housing, fisheries, recreation, government, etc. which take place in the coastal zone. This process includes all the "stakeholders" in CZM in variations such as: Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM), and Integrated Management of Coastal Zone Environment (IMCZE).

Although details of these variations differ, they are almost universally initiated by governments and include different levels of government. Because the USERS are involved, these "integrated" approaches to management may generally be described as CO-MANAGEMENT. More and more. the user groups include "community groups".

However, the degree and effectiveness of "involvement", "sitting at the table " or being a "stakeholder" depends on the social and cultural context, the ability of local people to negotiate with the political and economic interests, and the political will of the government to ACT.

As in many natural resource areas, the management of coastal resources through central authorities has failed to curtail overexploitation and destructive impacts. However, many countries are turning to local control of many natural resources because those who directly depend on resources are often the most committed, conscious and capable guardians.

There are some problems that are difficult to control locally such as global market pressures and pollution. However, there are many issues that can be addressed locally.