Coastal defences versus coastal ecosystems: A regional appraisal

Abstract

Societal concern (both real and imagined) over coastal erosion and flooding, often results in construction of sea defences to protect property. Sea defences are, however, damaging to the natural ecosystems that provide quantifiable ecosystem services to the human population. Protection of property is, however, the most common driving force behind construction of sea defences and the basis of any associated economic appraisals. Protection of the coastal ecosystem (sedimentary, biological and chemical) while commonly implied in strategic documents (e.g. Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC, Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, OSPAR Convention), remain largely aspirational notions that currently have a much lower priority, or none at all, in sea defence decisionmaking. Under this anthropic view of coastal protection it is not surprising that defence structures proliferate. In many instances, shoreline armouring is considered on a case by case basis with little regard to the cumulative effects. This is true whether or not there is a strategic approach to coastal protection. In this paper the Northern Ireland coast is used as a case study to document the nature and extent of shoreline protection structures associated with sandy beaches. The nature and extent of sea defence structures were documented from a low-level oblique helicopter-based photographic survey and mapped in a GIS. The implications for the coastal ecosystem are considered. A sustainable approach to shoreline management demands a balance between protection of property and preservation of coastal ecosystem services.

Contemporary shoreline changes and consequences at a tropical coastal domain

“…Although this fear may be justified, it is a pointer to the fact that many of these infrastructures are in hazardous locations and thereby have detrimental effects on coastal landscape, coastal ecosystems, and coastal habitat (Cooper et al, 2016). With real estate agents considering how close a property is to the water edge before making efforts for the sales and the worth of a property, and the buyers now concerned on how far…”

Editorial: Reflections on coastal climate change adaptation in North West Europe

“…The papers by Ballinger and Dodds [20] and Cooper et al [21] demonstrate some of the issues associated with current approaches to coastal defence management, which are central to shaping future coastal adaptation along vulnerable shorelines of the region. The latter [21] stresses the continued preponderance of case-by-case evaluation of coastal defence structures and the associated dominance of property protection as a driver for human interventions.…”

“…The papers by Ballinger and Dodds [20] and Cooper et al [21] demonstrate some of the issues associated with current approaches to coastal defence management, which are central to shaping future coastal adaptation along vulnerable shorelines of the region. The latter [21] stresses the continued preponderance of case-by-case evaluation of coastal defence structures and the associated dominance of property protection as a driver for human interventions. Ballinger and Dodds [20] note issues associated with downscaling of regionally based data and information for local coastal decision-making, along with inconsistencies associated with the transparency of the scientific evidence base for shoreline management plans; plans which attempt to provide a regional, strategic and long-term approach to managing coastal risk in England and Wales.…”

Oceanography and Marine Biology

“…The construction of artificial structures such as seawalls, groynes and breakwaters has historically been the default approach to coastal protection (Cooper et al 2016). Artificial structures are economically and environmentally costly (Jones 1994, Airoldi et al 2005a, Kittinger & Ayers 2010, Hinkel et al 2014, however, contributing to the growing interest in alternatives that compensate for the negative impacts of traditional coastal infrastructure and provide multiple functions (Chapman & Underwood 2011, Francis & Lorimer 2011, Mitsch 2012, Evans et al 2017.…”

“…Despite growing evidence suggesting that soft and hybrid approaches are often cost effective and sufficient for protection from flooding and erosion (Spalding et al 2014, Gittman & Scyphers 2017, Sutton-Grier et al 2018, considerable uncertainties (both perceived and realised) remain surrounding their efficacy as coastal defences (Gedan et al 2011, Perkins et al 2015, Sutton-Grier et al 2015, Arkema et al 2017. Thus, at least some degree of hard ecoengineering is often required (Cooper et al 2016). The value and/or importance of the property, infrastructure or ecosystem to be protected will have some bearing on the choice of approach (soft, hard or hybrid).…”