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?
"Because most marine resources are public property and there is an important public, or societal, interest in the management of the land-side of the coastal zone, the rights and interests of such indirect users must also be taken into account"
The major reasons why an integrated approach is needed for managing oceans and coasts are twofold: (1) the effects ocean and coastal uses, as well as activities farther upland, can have on ocean and coastal environments and (2) the effects ocean and coastal users can have on one another.
Coastal and ocean development activities (building of structures, mining, dredging, etc.) can significantly affect the ecology of the coastal zone and the functioning of coastal and ocean processes and resources. For example, development activities in beach and dune areas can change patterns of sediment transport or alter inshore current systems, and diking for agriculture can affect the functioning of wetlands through reduced freshwater inflows and through changes in water circulation. Similarly, industrial development in the coastal zone can decrease the productivity of wetlands by introducing pollutants, including heavy metals, and by changing water circulation and temperature patterns. Marine aquacultural activities in tropical areas often involve removal of mangrove forests to create aquaculture ponds, interfering significantly with the many functions mangrove systems perform, such as serving as buffers for coastal storms and nursery habitats for juvenile fishes. Activities such as port development and the dredging that inevitably accompanies it can significantly degrade coral reefs through the buildup of sediment. Activities farther inland, such as logging, agriculture-related practices (e.g., burning of cane sugar), and animal husbandry practices (e.g., pollution of streams by animal waste), represent important sources of damage to estuarine and ocean areas through increased flow of sediment, pesticides, and other pollutants into riverine and estuarine systems. (Cicin-Sain and Knecht, 1990)
Different coastal and ocean uses such as fishing and offshore oil development, also often conflict with or adversely affect one another. Two major types of conflicts related to coastal and ocean resources can be noted: (1) conflicts among users over the use or non-use of particular coastal and ocean areas and (2) conflicts among government agencies that administer programs related to the coast and ocean. By users we mean both direct, actual users of the coast and ocean (e.g., oil operators and fishermen), and indirect or potential users (e.g., environmental groups that promote the non-utilitarian values of the coast and ocean, members of the public who live in other areas, and future generations). Because most marine resources are public property and there is an important public, or societal, interest in the management of the land-side of the coastal zone, the rights and interests of such indirect users must also be taken into account (Cicin-Sain 1992).
Some typical manifestations of conflicts among users suggested by E. L. Miles involve: (1) competition for ocean or coastal space; (2) adverse effects of one use, such as oil development, on another use, such as fisheries; (3) adverse effects on ecosystems; and (4) effects on onshore systems, such as competition for harbor space (Miles 1991). Conflicts also occur among government agencies that administer programs related to the coast and ocean, including both interagency conflicts (among agencies at the same level of government, whether national, provincial, or local) and intergovernmental conflicts (or among different levels of government). Agency conflicts occur for a variety of reasons, including divergent legal mandates and different missions; differences in agency outlook and type and training of personnel; differences in external constituency groups; and lack of information or communication (Cicin-Sain 1992).
For individual nations the need to establish a program of integrated coastal management may arise for a number of reasons. Severe depletion of coastal and ocean resources (e.g., through over-fishing or exploitation of corals for building materials) typically is a powerful trigger. Another important catalyst may be an increase in pollution that endangers public health, or poses threats to water-based industries such as aquaculture, fishing, and tourism. A desire to increase the economic benefits obtained from use of the coast and ocean (as through fostering marine tourism) may also trigger ICM planning and management. A related catalyst may be the desire to develop uses of the coastal and marine area previously not exploited in a particular country, such as extraction of offshore oil or other minerals, marine aquaculture, or new forms of fishing for under-exploited stocks or in different areas. (Cicin-Sain and Knecht,
As documented by Cicin-Sain and Knecht (1998) in their 1996 cros-national survey, the reasons and the catalysts for the ICM origin are usually linked to the level of economic development and the severity of environmental problems. Regarding the reasons for initiating ICM, the majority of respondents to that survey (56 percent) reported some kind of environmental problem, such as depletion of resources, pollution, or ecosystem damage. Respondents from developing countries were most likely to designate an environmental issue as the reason for ICM initiation (75 percent), followed by respondents from middle developing countries (53 percent).
In contrast, respondents from developed countries were much more likely to cite some type of economic development as the reason for initiating ICM (43 percent) than were those from middle developed countries (26 percent) and developing countries (20 percent). This is somewhat counter-intuitive, since prevailing assumptions would suggest that the main interest of developing nations lies in seeking economic development opportunities. What the data might suggest is a growing realization in developing countries, especially the middle developing countries, of the environmental costs of rapid or inappropriate economic development.
With respect to the catalysts for initiating ICM, the majority of the respondents (73 percent of all responses) to the survey conducted by Cicin-Sain and Knecht cited "national-level government initiative."