Agenda 21, Chapter 17, Section AIntegrated Management and Sustainable Development of Coastal and Marine Areas, Including Exclusive Economic ZonesThe key challenges for this section are mainly associated with capacity building, education, and integration in order to achieve improved management for sustainability and conservation. The principals set out have been largely incorporated within many governmental strategies, by way of Local Agenda 21 for example, and international programmes of action that have been formed. Although difficult to state specific programmes as a direct result, the following examples have certainly been strongly influenced by Agenda 21 and the implications made in its objectives.
Integration of management effort, as required in Agenda 21, has proven difficult to achieve. To meet this objective various intergovernmental agencies have been established to ensure that all sectors, from residents to governments, have access to training and information about the management of the coastal zone.
IOC-TEMA (Training, Education and Mutual Assistance in Marine Sciences). A capacity building programme that is linked to existing and planned national and regional programmes. It acts as a link with potential donor agencies, aiming at '...regional pooling of resources and joint capacity building, and draw[ing] upon the global programmes of the IOC, for expertise, results and advice...' Involves activities such as job training, courses and workshop groups; scientific, technical and engineering fellowships etc.
For the use of the coastal area to be effectively assessed and projected it is necessary for improvement and integration of our information systems, both in terms of science and technology. To meet this challenge programs have been instigated to further our knowledge of marine ecosystem function and the role of humans in its use and alteration.
CORDIS Marine Science and Technology Programme (MAST). To develop the scientific and technological bases for the sustainability of marine systems, with four main outlines of research programmes(5):
i) Marine Science � the understanding of fundamental ocean processes Databases such as the Coastal Resource Inventory have been more widely introduced. This enables greater understanding of coastal and ocean processes and giving a more holistic interpretation of the environment and man�s exploitation of it. Subsequent plans achieved from this work allow for improved management of all interconnecting social, physical and biological areas. Although regarded as separate from the Agenda, it can be clearly identified as being influenced by its guidelines, and is also an important factor in the implementation of an area�s Local Agenda 21. (Case study 1: Turning the Tide: regeneration of the County Durham coastline as part of their Local Agenda 21 initiative).
Of all the objectives raised in this section, objective C is the most difficult to achieve. The statement its self does not really mean anything. However, organisations such as the ACC-SOCA exist to concentrate on the major implementation issues that arise from coastal management schemes.
Creation of the Subcommittee on Oceans and Coastal Areas of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination (ACC-SOCA). It is a subsidiary body that reviews and monitors the implementation of Agenda 21, Chapter 17. Dealing with international interagency co-operation (especially in terms of land based sources of pollution - see next section), the body meets once a year for appraisal of current achievements and failures, whilst also serving in an advisory role to governments and stakeholders. The committee also deals with financial implementation and is an important body formed as a direct result of the Agenda. The principal of �better safe than sorry� has been widely integrated into all aspects of coastal management. All stages of the planning and implementation process are becoming increasing subject to a system of prior assessments and evaluation of successes and failures. As already mentioned, new initiatives such as the EU Water Frameworks Directive, are founded in the precautionary principle and adopt the idea that the prevention of a problem is better than its remediation. The evaluation process is aided by a set of criteria, formulated by governments or funding bodies to ensure that the precautionary approach meets its objectives.
National resource and environmental accounting can be seen as a successful application of Agenda 21�s economic objective. Pollution, development, industry and habitat destruction are all subject to environmental accounting and most nations with coastal management plans have an economic evaluation process.
A good example of the environmental accounting process can be seen in the formulation of the SEEA (System of integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting) handbook. This is a joint venture by the London Group on Environmental Accounting, the World Bank, the OECD and Eurostat. It has the function of preparing and reviewing the guidelines for economic environmental assessment and provides a solid backing of this particular objective. On the whole it would appear that the objectives of this section of Agenda 21 have been met, or are close to being met at some level. However, as we outline in the section entitled �The Future�, significant review and improvement needs to be made to certain key areas of coastal and marine management in order to meet both the original objectives of the Agenda and those that have arisen as our perceptions and priorities have changed over the last ten years. |
| Overview Previous Section |
Agenda Objectives Review Homepage |
Case Studies Agenda 21 |
Changing Perceptions Next Section |