ICM Basics
ICM Basics
What Is Integrated Coastal Management?
What Triggers the Need for ICM?
What Are Its Guiding Principles?
What Are the Functions of ICM?
What Capacity Is Needed for ICM?
What Kinds of Institutions Carry Out ICM?
Integrated coastal management involves (1) a set of both substantive and procedural principles; (2) a management strategy that emphasizes adaptation and feedback; and (3) the use of particular approaches, methods, and techniques.
An ICM process must consider all relevant practices in a given locality -typically including fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing industry, waste disposal and tourism--in the context of the needs and aspirations of the communities affected.
"Integrated coastal management can be defined as a continuous and dynamic process by which decisions are taken for the sustainable use, development, and protection of coastal and marine areas and resources. ICM acknowledges the interrelationships that exist among coastal and ocean uses and the environments they potentially affect, and is designed to overcome the fragmentation inherent in the sectoral management approach. ICM is multi-purpose oriented, it analyzes and addresses implications of development, conflicting uses, and interrelationships between physical processes and human activities, and it promotes linkages and harmonization among sectoral coastal and ocean activities"
(Cicin-Sain and Knecht, 1998).
Integrated coastal management involves (1) a set of both substantive and procedural principles; (2) a management strategy that emphasizes adaptation and feedback; and (3) the use of particular approaches, methods, and techniques. A key part of ICM is the design of institutional processes to accomplish this harmonization in a politically acceptable manner (Cicin-Sain and Knecht, 1998). Ideally, an ICM program should operate within a closely integrated, coherent management framework within a defined geographical limit (Chua, 1993: 91).
What resources and activities should come under the aegis of ICM? The many resources and activities that take place in coastal lands and waters-fisheries, nonrenewable resource extraction, tourism, agriculture and aquaculture, residential and commercial real estate development, marine transportation, recreation, and so forth-all represent specialized activities that are generally already within the purview of specialized agencies. in most cases, ICM would not supplant such specialized sectoral management but would instead supplement, harmonize, and oversee it. Thus, for example, fishery managers would continue to concern themselves with fishery allocations and the like, but an integrated coastal management entity would take primary responsibility for the effects of land-based sources of pollution on fishery nursing areas as well as with the links (both positive and negative) between fisheries and other uses (Cicin-Sain and Knecht, 1998).
Table I. The Scope and Focus of ICM Programs
Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 describes the scope and process of ICM programs. The text calls for programs that:
* identify existing and
projected uses of coastal areas with a focus upon
their interactions and interdependencies;
* concentrate on well-defined
issues;
* apply preventive and
precautionary approaches in project planning and
implementation, including prior assessment and
systematic observation of the impacts of major
projects;
* promote the development and
application of methods such as natural resource and
environmental accounting that reflect changes in
value resulting from uses of coastal and marine
areas;
* provide access for
concerned individuals, groups and organizations to
relevant information and opportunities for
consultation and participation in planning and
decision-making.
Source: GESAMP
(1996)
According to GESAMP [IMO/FAO/UNESCO-IOC/WMO/WHO/ IAEA/UN/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects Of Marine Environmental Protection], the emphasis on integrated management means that ICM programs should:
* encourage an interdisciplinary analysis of the major social, institutional and environmental issues and options affecting a selected coastal area followed by a decision on the issues that should be addressed within a given period. The analysis should take into account the interactions and interdependencies among natural resources and different economic sectors. An ICM process must consider all relevant practices in a given locality -typically including fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing industry, waste disposal and tourism--in the context of the needs and aspirations of the communities affected. It should distinguish between issues that are likely to be important over long time-scales (e.g., climate change, population growth and the consumption habits of society) and more immediate concerns such as those associated with the governance process, conflicts among user groups and current social, economic and environmental conditions.* initiate a dynamic policy process that is explicitly designed to evolve through experience, rather than an inflexible plan that provides for a limited set of responses to immediate problems. This requires continuous improvement of the information base, ongoing assessment of policies, administrative arrangements and options for problem resolution, and a robust administrative system. Such learning and adaptation requires the sustained monitoring and evaluation of trends in the condition and use of the ecosystems in question as well as the effectiveness of governance responses in order to periodically refine the design and operation of the program.
* provide a formalized governance structure and set of procedures to provide continuity and to maintain confidence in the management process. ICM programs are most likely to build and maintain active constituencies within the societies affected when the planning and decision making process is transparent and participatory. The program must be accountable for its actions and must demonstrate that it has the capacity to resolve conflicts and implement its policies and plans. Without strong constituencies both within central government and at the local level, no ICM program can be both effective and sustainable.
* promote concern for the equity issues posed by existing methods of resource allocation. The maintenance of critical stocks of natural resources, ecosystem processes and environmental qualities are goals that transcend the present and require consideration of the benefits and opportunities that should be available to future generations.
* commit to making progress towards the goal of sustainable development and therefore achieving a balance between both development and conservation. ICM must aim to combine and harmonize investment in development with conservation of environmental qualities and functions. This is because human populations share a common suite of needs and demands that include employment, housing, education, health care and basic utilities as well as a healthy natural resource base that can maintain the goods and services that sustain communities. In most cases an ICM program cannot define or achieve sustainable levels of development in a single step. Progress will be made only by maintaining a program through a series of generations, each of which is marked by the completion of the five stages in the ICM process.
Once formally adopted, ICM programs have institutional identity typically granted by legislation or an executive mandate. Formalized ICM programs therefore have continuity as independent organizations or as a program administered through a network of organizations. In both cases, roles and responsibilities for planning and implementation are clearly delineated. The institutional structure typically contains distinct but clearly linked mechanisms for achieving interagency coordination at the national or regional level (e.g., through an interministerial commission, authority or executive council) and (ii) providing for conflict reduction, planning and decision-making at the local level (GESAMP, 1996).