Beach Conservation Research Articles

Does spending time with nature affect people’s desire to protect it? A case study of Nigerian beachgoers

ABSTRACT This study explores the intricate relationship between beach conservation and human behaviour, focusing on beachgoers in Lagos State, Nigeria. It underlines the importance of nature connection in determining people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for the management and preservation of coastal ecosystems. As well as providing spaces for recreation, beaches provide vital ecosystem services such as flood protection and contributions to biodiversity, but they are often threatened by human-induced actions such as pollution. The research investigates pathways through which individuals connect with nature, highlighting beauty, compassion, emotion, contact and meaning. It reveals that participants primarily establish their connection through the aesthetic appeal of beaches. Additionally, the study uncovers a positive WTP for beach management, with most participants willing to contribute modest amounts. The study’s implications point to the need for holistic beach management strategies in Nigeria that balance economic development and environmental conservation. Ultimately, this research underscores the importance of strengthening connections between individuals and the natural world to foster pro-environmental behaviour and financial contributions to conservation efforts.

Variations in macrofaunal communities along sand physico-chemical gradient across the intertidal zones on island beaches

Island beaches, once mistakenly considered as 'ecological deserts', are actually unique ecosystems that support abundant macrofaunal communities. However, limited studies have examined the variations and determinants of macrofaunal communities across the intertidal zones on island beaches, which is crucial for shedding light on the underlying ecological processes and enhancing biodiversity conservation efforts. Here, we explored the variations in macrofaunal communities along sand physico-chemical gradient across four intertidal zones on nine representative beaches, within the largest land-bridge archipelago in eastern China. Our findings revealed that species richness, density, and Shannon-Wiener diversity of macrofaunal communities were notably higher in the lower intertidal zones, exhibiting a positive correlation with elevated levels of sand moisture (M), electrical conductivity (EC), available potassium (AK), and grain size (GS). Conversely, macrofaunal Simpson diversity displayed an inverse pattern, with heightened values observed in the vegetation zone. The Saprophagous, Predaceous, and Omnivorous groups of macrofaunal communities demonstrated an increase with higher levels of EC, AK, and M in the lower intertidal zones. Furthermore, Phytophagous group of macrofaunal communities tended to inhabit the vegetation zones characterized by elevated levels of sand total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and organic carbon (OC). Primarily, our findings indicate that sand nutrition, moisture, and salinity play pivotal roles in shaping the variations of macrofaunal communities on island beaches. These insights offer valuable perspectives into the holistic responses of macrofauna on island beaches to changes in sand physico-chemical properties, serving as a crucial theoretical foundation for the assessment, conservation, and restoration of island beaches.

Using Benthic Indices to Assess the Ecological Quality of Sandy Beaches and the Impact of Urbanisation on Sandy Beach Ecosystems

As the global population continues to grow, sandy beaches, one of the most valuable ecosystems, have been widely impacted by human activities. Therefore, to develop policies for the conservation and management of sandy beaches, the impact of human activities on sandy beaches must be accurately assessed. We used seven benthic indices to evaluate the ecological quality of sandy beaches in Anmyeon Island, Korea. However, these seven indices were found to either over- or underestimate their ecological quality. Moreover, despite incorporating beach morphodynamics into our study, these indices did not respond to the pressure of urbanisation on beaches. Given the suboptimal performance of benthic indices in reflecting the actual state of Korean beaches, our study indicates that beaches without human interference but with the same morphodynamics must be selected as control groups to further explore the effectiveness of these indices. This is critical for advancing our conservation efforts and managing sandy beach ecosystems under increasing human influence.

The dilemma of coastal management: Exploitation or conservation?

Abstract The real estate business on sandy coasts and coastal dunes has increased dramatically over the last decades because of the growing demands for leisure activities which, consequently, have yielded important economic gains. Such ravaging exploitation results in the replacement of sandy ecosystems with tourism-oriented settlements, infrastructure, and facilities. As the sandy beaches and coastal dunes become deteriorated or eliminated, their protective role is lost, and the hydrometeorological risks to which the increasing human coastal populations are exposed grow, especially in a climate change scenario with increasing storminess. Furthermore, when possible, the expansion of the tourism industry continues searching for new, unspoiled locations, and the cycle begins again. This situation leads to the dilemma of coastal management: should we continue with the over-exploitation of sandy coasts for growing economic benefits? Or should we preserve the coasts for protection against the impact of increasing storms and sea level rise and to benefit biodiversity? Although scientific evidence demonstrates the relevance of protecting the coasts, coastal development plans continue to ignore these findings. What are the key drivers for these trends? We first looked for scientific evidence of the appraisal of the esthetic beauty of the beach and coastal dunes, as highly important drivers of urbanization and coastal environmental change. We then looked for evidence that demonstrated how coastal dunes offer storm protection Finally, we examined if the conservation of beaches and coastal dunes can be compatible with non-intrusive tourism. In summary, through the literature review and our own data, we show how different alternatives may help achieve a more sustainable coastal tourism by combining economic necessities with environmental concerns.

PENANAMAN MANGROVE DI PANTAI MEKO DESA PLEDO SEBAGAI UPAYA PENCEGAHAN ABRASI

Climate change, which is increasingly erratic, is a natural phenomenon that needs to be addressed. It is this kind of fact that should invite all parties to how to respond to such natural phenomena, especially the government as an agent of service and development. In line with such climate change, innovation in ecosystems in various aspects of human life has to be increasingly eroded and one of them is the threat to the sea. One of the alternatives for preserving marine ecosystems is innovation in sea reforestation. Mangrove which is a marine plant as a retention barrier for the potential for sand to erode and prevent abrasion is one of the superior alternatives. Mangrove forest ecosystem is an important habitat for biodiversity and as a coast guard from abrasion. This activity aims to increase public awareness about the importance of mangroves in preventing abrasion, especially in Meko Hamlet. This activity involved all village officials, youth youth organizations and residents of Meko Hamlet and MBKM students. In general, this activity went smoothly and was attended with quite high enthusiasm. It is hoped that with this activity, the community can understand and take advantage of the great benefits possessed by mangroves and prevent villages from abrasion. Mangrove planting as a prevention effort is an option that can be offered to Meko beach conservation, Pledo Village, Witihama District – East Adonara.

Effect of touristic activities on seabirds’ habitat selection on sandy beaches

Seabirds are biological models for habitat selection studies at different spatial scales. In general, seabirds select areas with a higher availability of prey, but human disturbances can modify their spatial and temporal foraging patterns in urban coastal ecosystems. Here we tested the hypothesis that human activities prevent seabirds foraging on beach sectors that are impacted by urbanization and recreational activities. Seabirds were counted while foraging at the interface between the surf zone and foreshore in three sectors with different levels of urbanization in southeastern Brazil. Physical variables, prey abundance, and human stressors, such as the number of people and dogs, were also measured. The brown booby Sula leucogaster foraged mainly in the least impacted sector, despite the lower abundance of prey and harsher physical conditions. The number of individuals of this species was negatively related to the number of people, indicating a human-induced avoidance behaviour. In turn, the kelp gull Larus dominicanus, a synatropic species, was more abundant in the high impact sector. Our results have implications for the management and conservation of sandy beaches, especially regarding the zoning and selection of priority areas for environmental protection and nature-based ecotourism activities.

Microhabitat partitioning between sympatric intertidal fish species highlights the importance of sediment composition in gravel beach conservation.

Gravel beaches in the Mediterranean ecoregion represent an economically important and unique habitat type. Yet, burgeoning tourism, intensive coastal development and artificial nourishment of beaches may jeopardize their ecological communities. To date, species that reside on gravel beaches and the consequences of beach alterations are poorly understood, which hampers the development of a sustainable coastal tourism industry along the region's shorelines. Using a simple collection method based on dredging buckets through the intertidal section of beaches, we quantified the microhabitat association of two sympatric clingfish species in the genus Gouania at seven natural and an artificial gravel beach based on sediment characteristics. We hypothesized that slender (G. pigra) and stout (G. adriatica) morphotypes would partition interstitial niche space based on sediment size, which may affect the vulnerability of the species to changes in gravel beach composition due to coastal development. We detected substantial differences in gravel composition within and among the sampled beaches which suggests scope for microhabitat partitioning in Gouania. Indeed, we found significant relationships between species identity and the presence/absence and abundance of individuals in hauls based on their positioning on PC1. Our results suggest that modifications of gravel beaches through coastal development, including beach nourishment, intensifying coastal erosion, or artificial beach creation, may have detrimental consequences for the two species if sediment types or sizes are altered. We posit that, given the simplicity and efficacy of our sampling method and the sensitivity of Gouania species to prevailing gravel composition, the genus could serve as an important indicator for gravel beach management in the Mediterranean ecoregion.

Konservasi Pantai dan Daur Ulang Limbah Plastik menjadi Kerajinan Tangan

A clean beach indicates a healthy surrounding environment. Beach cleanliness cannot be separated from the role of the community to always protect it. One way is by not throwing garbage or waste carelessly. If the beach is dirty, it should be cleaned immediately so as not to cause bad effects. On the coast of Tlesah you can find plastic waste that is difficult to decompose and other waste that pollutes the environment. This requires an action. In this service, an activity was carried out, namely beach conservation and recycling of plastic waste into handicrafts. It aims to make the beach clean so that marine biota becomes healthy, provide knowledge on how to make handicrafts, create business opportunities from the handicrafts that have been made and instill awareness about cleanliness in the surrounding community. The methods used in this activity are observation, outreach and documentation. Socialization is carried out by directly involving the community in activities. The results obtained are that people are more aware of the importance of cleanliness and the benefits of recycling waste into valuable goods.

Kesesuaian Habitat Peneluran dengan Wisata dan Daya Dukung Kunjungan di Kawasan Pelestarian Penyu Pantai Batu Kumbang, Kabupaten Muko-Muko, Provinsi Bengkulu

The balance of ecological and economic utilization plays a real role in maintaining the stability of turtle nesting habitat on the coast. This study aims to calculate the suitability index and visitation carrying capacity (DDK) of sea turtle nesting habitat to maintain the sustainability of its population. The survey was conducted in December 2020 to January 2021 at Batu Kumbang Beach, Pulau Baru Village, Muko-Muko Regency. The analysis used was the Habitat Suitability Index (IKH), Tourism Conformity Index (IKW), and visitation carrying capacity (DDK). The Mukomuko Turtle Conservation Nature Lovers Community (KPAKPM) reported that this beach is still predominantly used as a nesting habitat for green turtles (Chelonia mydas), olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in 2018. At least 35 heads of various types landed and laid eggs here and further decreased in 2020 with only 17 heads. The IKH showed that about 84.06%, 75.36%, and 75.36% belonged to the highly appropriate category and were spread out at Stations 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The suitability of the coastal area is at a value of 2.0 ≤ IKW < 2.5, and is categorized as sustainable. The number of visitors allowed according to DDK is only 84 people per day. Batu Kumbang Beach needs to be managed in a balanced manner with a conservation approach and beach ecotourism to ensure the sustainability and sustainability of nesting habitats for various types of turtles.
 
 Keywords: beach conservation, ecosystem, turtle nesting habitat

Conservation-based ecotourism development at Pasir Putih Prigi Beach, Trenggalek District, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract. Sulistyaningrum N, Kurniawati B, Nugroho GD, Sunarto, Kusumaningrum L, Sujarta P, Nisyawati, Thenya T, Setyawan AD. 2022. Conservation-based ecotourism development at Pasir Putih Prigi Beach, Trenggalek District, East Java, Indonesia. Indo Pac J Ocean Life 6: 29-35. One of the contributors to state revenue is the tourism sector. To advance the tourism sector, the government has begun to develop tourism based on sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism is useful for helping nature conservation efforts. Moreover, creating sustainable tourism, it can be done by creating ecotourism. This research was conducted in June 2022 with 50 respondents around the research location. Respondents aged 20-70 years consisted of traders, homemakers, fishermen, and Pasir Putih Prigi Beach management staff. This study examines conservation and ecotourism efforts by the community around Pasir Putih Prigi Beach and social perceptions of ecotourism. Several aspects studied in the Pasir Putih Prigi Beach conservation efforts include protection, preservation, utilization, and public perceptions of Pasir Putih Prigi Beach ecotourism. The study results show that protection employs local wisdom called Larung Sembonyo, a form of gratitude for the fishing community for the marine products that have been obtained. This ceremony is also a request for the safety of the fishing community when looking for fish in the sea. Preservation by regularly cleaning the beach while utilizing the beach as a recreation and trade center improves the community's economy. Recreation offered at the beach is swimming, boat rides, snorkeling, and deep diving. More than 90% of the coastal communities of Pasir Putih Prigi Beach do not understand the concept of ecotourism. People think that ecotourism is the same as tourism in general. Ecotourism conservation and development efforts are carried out by the Tourism and Culture Office of Trenggalek District through the TIU of Tourism Destinations with the community groups. Cooperation between the government and the community will increase coastal conservation and the economic benefits the community receives.

Contingent Valuation Study for Selected Beach Areas in San Francisco, Surigao Del Norte for its Environmental Conservation

Beaches are one of the tourist attractions in many countries; it views as an ecosystem that would create benefits due to its scenic beauty. Diaz Beach and Banbanon Pebble Beach are commonly known tourist spots in the municipality of Anao-aon, hence, these two are the chosen study area that was conducted as it meets the standards of our research that aimed to evaluate the maintenance and conservational status. To some extent, implementation of Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept a branch of the Contingent Valuation Method serve as requisite that individuals need to indicate their preferences for environmental assets, or to alternate in a resourceful status. Beachgoers are targeted to determine their amount of WTP and WTA, such that their perceptions are a key to assessing the factors for beach usage. The researchers adopted a survey questionnaire that determined their willingness to pay (WTP) for the beach environmental maintenance, conservation, and willingness to accept (WTA) in reducing plastic wastes particularly cellophane and bottles, and the pre-determined factors affecting their preference in using the beach. The proposed entrance fee (20php) that served as biddings of promoting sustainable usage and development was rejected. On the other hand, in Willingness to Accept, the highest preferred amount for the price of cellophane is Php 4.00 while for the plastic bottle is Php 6.00. Thus, the outcome of WTA was inevitable to create potential environmental services and maintenance. The compensation of cellophane and plastic bottle is a good factor in implementing rules and regulations at its essential aspect of promoting sustainable usage and development for the present and future generations.

Sediment provenance of a carbonate bioclastic pocket beach — Le Dune (Ionian Sea, South Italy)

This study focuses on the analysis of a carbonate bioclastic pocket beach located along a coastal sector of the Apulia Ionian Sea, Le Dune beach, South Italy. The beach develops for about 800 m and it is exposed to the south-westerly and southerly seas. Coastal sediments range from very coarse to medium–fine sands and they are mainly composed of bioclasts (more than 90%) which include molluscs, foraminifers, echinoderms, algae branched, bryozoans, spicules of sponges and arthropods. The study area is one part of a marine protected reserve characterised by 15 different habitats of the typical Mediterranean submerged populations and the presence of Posidonia oceanica meadows. The aim of our research is to highlight the correlation between physical and biological processes influencing Le Dune beach dynamics and its sediment provenance by analysing the textural and compositional characteristics of beach sands, which is fundamental for pocket beach conservation. The beach sand analysis, deriving from textural, compositional and bioclast investigations, underlines that one of the main indicators of the beach dynamics is the bioclast component, which provides relevant information about sand provenance and sediment transport. The beach constitutes a semi-close system only nourished by the shells of organisms and by the erosion of headlands and dunes without important sediment interchange with adjacent littoral sectors.

Perceptions and Social Values Regarding the Ecosystem Services of Beaches and Coastal Dunes in Yucatán, Mexico

The ecosystem services (ESs) approach has been used as a powerful tool for the analysis of socio-ecological systems to investigate the relationship between society and the environment. The aim of this article is to analyze the social perceptions of stakeholders, forms of use (sociocultural and economic), and the conservation of beaches and coastal dunes in Yucatán, Mexico. Interviews were held with focus groups to analyze the forms of use, social perceptions of stakeholders, and the conservation of beaches and coastal dunes in Yucatán, Mexico. The results indicate that these ecosystems are important to different types of activities related to regulating, provisioning, and cultural services. However, degradation is identified as a consequence of contamination and land-use change. The main identified threats are natural phenomena, followed by the presence of garbage, human presence in natural environments, infrastructure construction, and privatization of beaches. The opinions (e.g., conservation, ecosystem services provision, drivers of change), emotions (e.g., joy, fear, sadness), and knowledge of the local community and tourists with respect to these ecosystems were evidenced. In general, there is an absence of conservation and sustainable management projects. However, community perceptions provide an opportunity to outline public conservation strategies in which the community, as a component of these socio-ecosystems, can be fully involved in their implementation.

Perception of environmental quality in a beach of high social segregation in northern Chile: Importance of social studies for beach conservation

Sandy beaches are of interest to various sectors of society, so it is urgent to move to integrated and participatory models that facilitate the management of these socioecological systems. Currently, there is a growing appreciation of the perception of the social and natural environment as a valuable tool for the management of tourist beaches, as the opinions of users are essential to evaluate beach management proposals and policies. Chile has one of the longest coastlines in the world, where sandy beaches are one of the most interesting coastal habitats for the tourism industry. Based on traditional knowledge of a socioeconomic stratification of users along Playa La Herradura (Coquimbo), we studied the perception of the level of quality of different indicators and the degree of satisfaction of beach users in three different sectors through semistructured interviews. The analysis showed a not good enough evaluation by all users, a higher demand at the highest socioeconomic levels and a series of factors that require urgent attention from the municipality, such as litter in the sand, the growing accumulation of stranded algae and the presence of stray dogs. To advance beach management, we propose the development of a “management ecosystem” for sandy tourist beaches, including a central government that promotes decentralization of management, a municipality with high governance power, academic institutions with high public involvement and a civil society that mobilizes bottom-up processes.

Analysis of Longshore Drift Patterns on the Littoral System of Nusa Dua Beach in Bali, Indonesia

Bali is one of the most popular tourist areas in Indonesia. With its coastline stretching 633 km, Bali has many beautiful beaches that have become world tourism attractions, thus making tourism the economic engine of Bali. The biggest priority of major tourism sites is maintaining sufficient beach width. However, based on a survey from Balai Wilayah Sungai (BWS) Bali Penida, Bali has suffered from a series of erosions along 215 km of its coastline, including Nusa Dua, in 2015. The location of the study area for this report is a 2.8 km stretch of coastline at Nusa Dua Beach. The erosion problem at Nusa Dua Beach was assessed by analyzing the longshore drift patterns. Simulations are required to assess this erosion problem, combined with the erosion rate and the simulated equilibrium shoreline for each sublittoral cell. To estimate the erosion rate, this study employed profile monitoring data of the beach obtained from 2003 to 2016. This advanced study was based on the mass conservation principle as a governing equation used to predict longshore drifts between sublittoral cells. The satellite image for every sublittoral cell was also used to check the equilibrium condition and estimate the predominant wave direction as the shoreline orientation. Nusa Dua Beach was found to suffer from the change of wave direction and the consequent generation of littoral drift after the reclamation project of Serangan Island located north of the Benoa strait. The correlation between the transportation of longshore sediments and the predominant wave direction indicates the effect of longshore drift in the system. The groin system also created a unique longshore transport pattern in the coastal area. The results obtained in this study can help manage the longshore drift system of Nusa Dua Beach and can be used to predict the beach area subject to erosion and deposition after every beach conservation project. Hence, a strategic plan for managing the shore target lines can be formulated.

Risk of shoreline hardening and associated beach loss peaks before mid-century: O\u02bbahu, Hawai\u02bbi

Shoreline hardening, which causes beach loss globally, will accelerate with sea level rise (SLR), causing more beach loss if management practices are not changed. To improve beach conservation efforts, current and future shoreline hardening patterns on sandy beaches need deeper analysis. A shoreline change model driven by incremental SLR (0.25, 0.46, 0.74 m) is used to simulate future changes in the position of an administrative hazard zone, as a proxy for risk of hardening at all sandy beaches on the island of O‘ahu, Hawai ‘i. In Hawai ‘i, hardening can be triggered when evidence of erosion is within 6.1 m (“20 ft”) of certain structures, allowing an applicant to request emergency protection. Results show an increase in shoreline vulnerability to hardening with SLR governed by backshore land use patterns. The largest increase (+ 7.6%) occurred between modern-day and 0.25 m of SLR (very likely by year 2050) with half of all beachfront shoreline at risk by 0.74 m of SLR. Maximum risk of shoreline hardening and beach loss is projected to occur from modern-day and near-term hardening because of the heavily developed aspect of some shoreline segments. Adaptation to SLR should be considered an immediate need—not solely a future issue.

Supporting sandy beach conservation through comparative phylogeography: The case of Excirolana (Crustacea: Isopoda) in South Africa

Sandy beach ecosystems are ecologically and culturally important, yet they face a wide range of anthropogenic stressors. Their constituent biodiversity is usually poorly resolved, with numerous instances of cryptic species described. In addition, there are few studies on the spatio-temporal patterns of evolutionary diversity, although these are vital for unravelling historical and contemporary processes acting to shape biodiversity, with measures of molecular diversity and differentiation providing important insights towards the conservation and management of beach ecosystems. Here we utilise a comparative phylogeographic approach to describe the mtDNA COI variation of two co-distributed Excirolana (Crustacea, Isopoda) sister-species in South Africa. We found that both species showed medium to high population genetic structure, with many populations isolated from each other. In addition, we describe two deeply divergent lineages for both species in the eastern parts of their ranges, which may constitute two additional Excirolana species in South Africa. We show that populations on the range edge for both species have lower genetic diversity than in the core. Our results on the divergent patterns of molecular diversity, in addition to the high levels of population divergence, highlight the need for the inclusion of molecular indices into conservation planning. This ensures safeguarding not only patterns of species occurrence, but also genetic diversity, critical to maximising resilience of sandy beach species in a changing world.

A Global Analysis of Anthropogenic Development of Marine Turtle Nesting Beaches

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels will rise by up to 0.82 m in the next 100 years. In natural systems, coastlines would migrate landwards, but because most of the world’s human population occupies the coast, anthropogenic structures (such as sea walls or buildings) have been constructed to defend the shore and prevent loss of property. This can result in a net reduction in beach area, a phenomenon known as “coastal squeeze”, which will reduce beach availability for species such as marine turtles. As of yet, no global assessment of potential future coastal squeeze risk at marine turtle nesting beaches has been conducted. We used Google Earth satellite imagery to enumerate the proportion of beaches over the global nesting range of marine turtles that are backed by hard anthropogenic coastal development (HACD). Mediterranean and North American nesting beaches had the most HACD, while the Australian and African beaches had the least. Loggerhead and Kemp’s ridley turtle nesting beaches had the most HACD, and flatback and green turtles the least. Future management approaches should prioritise the conservation of beaches with low HACD to mitigate future coastal squeeze.

Set of indices to assess dune development and dune restoration potential in beach-dune systems on Mediterranean developed coasts

The purpose of this paper is to contribute with a tool to guide decision makers with some level of understanding of coastal dynamics as to the most appropriate management measures to adopt. A set of indices for assessing beach-dune systems and their potential for dune restoration are presented. The systems analysed are described using variables related to physical and anthropic factors, and the sites are classified according to the intervention actions required. Fifty beach-dune systems representing the range of types of beaches, the degree of urbanisation, and the dune morphologies found on the Catalan coastline (NE Iberian Peninsula) are sampled. The results show that beaches with the most developed dunes usually have high scores for management and low scores for urbanisation, while the less developed dunes are found on beaches with very low scores for management. Regarding the potential for dune restoration, the beaches are classified into four groups according to the management measures recommended: dune conservation, dune restoration, dune recovery, and renaturalisation of beaches where only incipient dunes can be developed.

Beach vegetation as an indicator of human impacts in arid environments: Environmental conditions and landscape perception in the Canary Islands

Human occupancy of beaches is an important cause of environmental and landscape transformations, some of which are identifiable through vegetation analysis. Commonly, arboreal vegetation has been socially perceived in a positive way, as it contributes to the creation of environments appreciated as beautiful and natural. This type of vegetation has been recreated in urban coastal areas worldwide, including those located in arid environments where it is not always common or endemic to these areas. The typology of plant species, human impacts on beach environments, and the social perception of vegetation contrast were analyzed to understand the landscape influence and human impact on beach environments from arid regions. The study was carried out on 12 beaches with different degrees of human occupation (4 urban, 4 semi-urban and 4 natural) in Gran Canaria island (Spain). The results indicate that the number of exotic and ruderal (first to colonize human disturbed environments) species increases with human occupation of the beaches. A greater number of arboreal species were identified on urban beaches, while shrub and herbaceous species were more common on less occupied beaches (semi-urban and natural). However, when surveyed, the users of semi-urban and natural beaches, considered that arboreal vegetation compose a more attractive landscape than other with herbs or shrubs, even though tree species appear occasionally on these types of beaches. This inconsistency identifies a conflict of values between the development and conservation of beaches in arid environments. This study can be used to establish environmental sustainability strategies on beaches. Conservation and environmental information about ecosystem services related with indigenous plant species is and important issue for integrated management on beaches from arid regions, especially those that may be urbanized in the near future.