Human influences and coastal management techniques

Human Influences on Coastal Habitats

Human activities can significantly impact coastal habitats.
Residential and industrial development, tourism, and aquaculture often contribute to coastal habitat loss and degradation.
Pollution from industries, agriculture, and households is a serious issue, threatening the health of coastal ecosystems and biodiversity.
Overfishing and unsustainable fishing practices can disrupt marine food chains, affecting birds and mammals that rely on fish for food.
The extraction of coastal resources such as sand and gravel for construction purposes can cause habitat destruction and increase erosion rates.
Climate change, driven by human-induced CO2 emissions, can result in sea-level rise, higher storm surges, and more intense storms, thereby threatening coastal habitats.

Coastal Management Techniques

Coastal management involves adopting strategies to control erosion, protect coastal habitats, and manage human activities in coastal zones.
Hard engineering methods provide immediate and visible solutions but often disrupt natural processes. These include sea walls, groynes, and revetments.
Sea walls are built to protect the coast from high tides and storms, but can accelerate erosion elsewhere.
Groynes are barriers built at right angles to the beach to slow down longshore drift, helping to build up the beach and protect the coastline.
Revetments are sloping structures placed on banks or cliffs to absorb the energy of waves, reducing erosion.
Soft engineering methods work with natural processes and are often more sustainable. These include beach nourishment, managed retreat, and dune stabilisation.
Beach nourishment involves adding sand or shingle material to the beach to replace what has been lost due to erosion.
Managed retreat allows an area to flood and return to its natural state, creating new habitats and dissipating wave energy.
Dune stabilisation involves planting marram grass or placing fencing to trap sand, encouraging dune growth which naturally helps protect the coast.
Coastal management plans should always consider local characteristics, environmental impacts, feasibility, and long-term sustainability. They often involve a mix of hard and soft engineering.
Coastal management also includes laws and regulations to protect habitats, especially for threatened and endangered species, and to manage human activities, such as fishing and tourism.