Policy Review: How to Combat Coastal Erosion

important income sources, such as for fisheries. However, quantifying the effects on these sectors is extremely challenging and out of the scope of this report.

POLICY REVIEW: HOW TO COMBAT COASTAL EROSION

This section first discusses the principles for sustainably managing the coastline and effectively avoiding coastal erosion in the Middle East and North Africa. It then highlights priority recommendations for policies and actions that the region’s economies can take to combat coastal erosion. Managing and effectively avoiding coastal erosion necessitates detailed information on coastal dynamics. Therefore, the section next reviews the general drivers of coastal erosion and highlights the paucity of this information in the Middle East and North Africa, arguing that to plan interventions effectively, such gaps in the evidence basis must be filled.

Finally, the section presents a comprehensive review of actions and recommendations for reducing the effects of coastal erosion, including ICZM planning; forward (prospective) management strategies; reactive mitigation (such as defensive investments) including NBS; and preventive policies (such as banning sand mining). The objective is not to present a detailed pathway with concrete recommended options for each city and country—which would be a futile task given the paucity of evidence on the sources—but rather to present a menu of options with priority recommendations that can be beneficial to many countries.

ICZM: Principles and Benefits of Sustainable Coastline Management

To be successful, ICZM requires continuous assessments of the coast as well as engagement of all stakeholders at all stages (figure 5.4). Given the proper identification of the sources of coastal erosion (with the aid of data, monitoring, and analysis) and consideration of different stakeholders’ claims, suitable strategies can be formulated to tackle the challenge posed by coastal erosion. These include prospective management, such as risk assessment for different parts of the shoreline, and appropriate zoning. Participation of local communities and other stakeholders is a key element in designing successful strategies.

Once the coastal erosion problems are identified, the question becomes one of adapting to the challenge, presented in figure 5.4 under “reactive management and control measures.” The adaptation options include either (a) defending developments where possible (using hard defenses, soft defenses, or both, including natural solutions and NBS); or