Experiences of coastal management in the Pacific Islands

Abstract

Integrated coastal management (ICM) is accepted world-wide as a comprehensive, multi-sectoral integrated approach to the planning and management of coastal areas. ICM is particularly suited to the island member countries of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) because of their size, the interconnectedness of the coast and terrestrial areas and the high degree of association and community involvement with the management of coastal systems. With the exception of the highly migratory pelagic fish stocks, the narrow natural resource base of many Pacific islands make them particularly vulnerable to inappropriate development and mismanagement. Fortunately, the governments of many Pacific Island countries (PIC) have become aware of the benefits of integrated coastal management and are looking at ways of making it an established practice. This paper uses the framework of ICM to illustrate some of the author's experience of coastal management within the South Pacific region. Within the ICM framework, a range of tools and techniques are available to manage coastal problems. The success of any approach depends on the scale and magnitude of the problems to be addressed and the availability of information, institutional support and commitment from all stakeholders. The way in which programmes are conducted and implemented is particularly important. Top down initiatives may work at the regional level but tend to fail at the national and community level unless there are other incentives to support them. On the other hand, bottom up, process driven initiatives have enjoyed more success at the community level. Demand-based approaches have tended to be very successful at all levels, whether they be at the community, country or regional levels, particularly where all of the interested parties can collaborate and contribute to finding solutions to their problems.