The need for international co-operation in the management of coastal environments

The coastal zones are areas of high biological productivity and intense human pressure. Environmental challenges arise from pollution and from urban and industrial development. Administrative, social and legal challenges centre upon the need for sound management of coastal zone resources, as an important component of national strategies for sustainability. A number of specific actions have been set out in Agenda 21, the principal product of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. But these need to be carried forward within cross-sectoral, integrated coastal area management procedures. International action is also needed because marine ecosystems rarely coincide with national boundaries, and are affected by international economic, social and legal decisions.

International scientific co-operation on marine issues is already well established, and many regional action plans and Conventions have been adopted. Technological co-operation is less advanced. Such efforts need to be intensified, and continuously adapted. Sound plans for the future must be based on good science, critical economic evaluation of resources, sensitive evaluation of social and cultural factors and of the needs of local communities, evaluation of the risks of climate change, sea-level rise and other changes, and monitoring as a basis for continuing adaptation.