An integrated coastal zone observatory at municipal level: the case of Kavala Municipality, NE Greece

Abstract

The Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Observatory of Kavala Municipality has been developed during the Mare Nostrum Project following the well-known DPSIR concept (Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses). The Observatory aims to aid the day-to-day operations of the Municipality, collecting, analyzing and processing historic, present and forecasted environmental, socio-economic and legal-institutional ICZM datasets collected from a variety of sources. Data are presented in a series of well-structured layers imported in a Geographic Information System (GIS) web-environment, to aid decision-makers at Municipal, Regional and National level to formulate policies on ICZM matters; to provide reliable datasets to scientists and engineers; to engage active citizens and the broader public into coastal zone issues; to promote the distribution of information among coastal managers, stakeholders and the general public. Static datasets as topographic, bathymetric, geologic and other base maps, urban and rural planning maps, local municipal acts, public networks and locations of public interest were digitized and embedded in the system. Historic environmental data together with dynamic data produced daily by a series of coupled operational models (meteorological, hydrologic, hydrodynamic, wave and eutrophication) and climate change datasets were also included. The legal-institutional framework of the coastline and the interactive tools to enhance public participation represent novel elements of the herein presented ICZM Observatory. The Kavala Gulf mussel farmers, the local Port Authority and the decision-makers on siting hydroplane landing-zones are the main user groups of the ICZM Observatory.