Coastal

The coastline is the strip of land or the area between a maritime and mainland, or the hinterland. According to the scales chosen, the coast range from a few hundred meters to several kilometers on both sides of the land-water boundary or strictly speaking, correspond to the foreshore.

Space is limited, coveted, attractive, conducive to different flows (trade, transportation ...), it currently hosts the majority of mankind, many cities and many activities. This is known as coastal development.

An important part of the coastline is considered wetlands as defined by the Ramsar Convention.

The coastline is rich in unique landscapes that make it a tourist attraction (here on the west coast Suuroy, Faroes Islands), often risking his own degradation by overcrowding. The landscape is the issue of balances that seek to find patterns of integrated coastal development

The coastal dunes of the Province of Buenos Aires , photo taken by NASA at the altitude 389 km

Across the globe, the coasts tend to s' artificialize , and they are often threatened by the rising oceans (here: Besant Nagar, India )

In less urbanized areas, coastlines are often ecotones rich, playing a role in biological corridor

Features

The proximity of water and land-water interface has developed a particular environment: dunes , shingle , rocky shores at some cliffs , estuaries , beaches, coastal wetlands ... Of microclimates and ecosystems cotoniaux specific shorelines. Group 1 of Grenelle Sea recalled in June 2009 that the area "hinge" that is the coastline or the meeting place between land and sea made it a place of hazards, vulnerabilities and pressure: "By narrowing the field to the facade, the foreshore, public maritime domain, to the coastal strip, the coastal zone or territorial waters, the man has concentrated on the hinge, over the centuries, all constraints "places where" tolerance, the capacity, the burden of old and new uses are now obsolete " ^{Development and Management of Coastal}

The coastlines are fitted on the coast. Many coastlines are fitted for increased trade and tourism activities. These activities are major sources of revenue for the country.

Threats and Vulnerabilities

Various factors contribute to transgression of coasts:

• natural susceptibility to erosion, marine (down the coastline or silting; natural or exacerbated by rising sea levels and the occurrence or severity of phenomena climatic extremes associated with climate change (storms, rainfall shocks exacerbate thermal erosion).
• movements geomorphological natural (tsunami, collapsed cliffs ...)

For example, the lower cliffs of Upper Normandy and Picardy, 6 m on average over the period 1966-1995, is an illustration, such as degradation of coral reefs in the overseas or the decline of the mangrove ; A report of the OECD (2008) estimated that in 136 port cities studied by the report, at least one million inhabitants in 2005 were already exposed to coastal flooding centennial (of 40 million people living there (ie 0.6% of world population and about one in ten of these cities, and this number could be multiplied by 3 from 2005 to 2070, reaching 150 million people).

Number of beaches have attracted urbanization: the cities of Mumbai , Guangzhou , Shanghai , Miami , Ho Chi Minh City , Calcutta , Alexandria and New Orleans and the cities of New York and Osaka - Kobe are most vulnerable in terms of population exposure.

In France, in 2006, the coastal towns were home to 10 people (6.1 million people on 1 January 2006), only 4% of the country (this proportion is stable since the 1980s), with 281 inhabitants. / Km (density 2.5 times higher than the metropolitan average) The population there was only 4.8 million inhabitants in 1968 (ie + 25% between 1968 and 2006).

In terms of risks / costs for heritage, the large port cities most exposed are Miami , Greater New York, New Orleans, Osaka-Kobe, Tokyo , Amsterdam , Rotterdam , Nagoya , Tampa - St. Petersburg , and Virginia Beach , all located in 3 countries (USA, Japan, Netherlands). According to the OECD, heritage threatened by this hazard in 2005 was estimated at 3,000 billion U.S. dollars (5% of annual global GDP) and could be multiplied by 10 by 2070 with a value of 35.000 billion U.S. dollars mencace ( 9% of annual global GDP projected by forecasters).

Economic growth and urban population are the primary reasons for this increased risk, but the rise of the sea account for a significant part. It is in poor or developing countries that covers most urban areas at risk.
The movement of groundwater or salt water intrusion can cause salinization

• increasing human pressure and more developed than the rest of land, urbanization , pollution , density of growing population, development activities of industrial and tourism );
• Aftermath of war , with the problem of dumped munitions (which could start to leak and lose their toxicity in the first decades of the twentieth ^century);
• The coasts are also exposed to the return of pollutants via sea spray or oil spills for example.
• Overfishing

Tourism and Coastal Marine

Marine tourism is one who has the most developed in the twentieth ^century, not without negative impacts, including the concrete and artificial shoreline.

From the port, has developed a marine tourism and leisure, for estimated sales of 72 billion euros for 2004 Europe, according to the ESPO ( European Sea Ports Organisation Community ), in contribution to the Green Paper of Europe, ecotourism rapidly developing , and boating (+ 5-6% / year in Europe
European Union Recreational Marine Industry Group (EURMIG), contribution to Green Paper the European Commission
despite its cost and lack of space in ports) continues to grow, and the cruise (+ 10% / year, cruise ships are almost all built in Europe. These figures are representatives of these sectors would to balance costs with social-environmental and ecological footprint of certain types of high tourism Shipyards have gained 43% in productivity, but lost 36% of their jobs, and impacts of deconstruction artisanal vessels containing asbestos or not in poor countries are rarely taken into account, as well as the fate of the pleasure boats (plastic, toxic paints, batteries, etc..) ).

European Strategy

In Europe, the mid- 1990 , approximately 200 million people lived within 50 km of European coastline, which extends over a band of about 148 000 km and Europe had no overall system of management coastal areas . Polder areas (Netherlands, Belgian Flanders, northern France are at risk of flooding and in 2009, marine pollution from these areas remains a major problem in all European seas.

The succession of Marine Accidents has noted that there was no coordination of maritime policies of European countries. In its strategic objectives for two thousand and five - 2009 , the Commission said, and she recalled in her ^{, ,} , "it is particularly necessary to develop a comprehensive maritime policy aimed at ensuring a thriving maritime economy , environmentally acceptable and supported by excellence in scientific research, technology and innovation in the maritime sector. "The Green Paper concludes with a consulting project to be completed in 2009.

Europe has contributed to the World Oceans Conference Madado of committing it to better protect the global ocean

Despite the collapse of fish and crustaceans, including the European Union through the development of trawling and exploitation (some are already talking about overuse ) of deep-sea fish is one of the first fishing powers world and the largest market for processed fish, again not without environmental impacts and socio-economic: With the aid of industrial fishing equipment, the number of European fishermen had stopped falling from well as fish stocks while prices are kept artificially low by subsidies and competition. This sector still provides direct and indirect employment to 526,000 people , particularly through aquaculture is growing, also with some negative impacts on the environment.

An association dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of Europe's coastline for 20 years: Surfrider Foundation Europe.

Coast and urbanization

Worldwide and in Europe, the coastal towns and hinterland have a rate of urbanization and suburbanization generally much higher than average. And early twenty-first ^century , nearly 25% of Canadians and about 55% of U.S. residents already live in coastal areas (CEQ 1997, EC 1999) and the U.S. coastal population is growing four times faster than from within. Around the world, often in coastal cities that hold the record of urban growth (UN / CEC, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 2000 ). For example, in 2003, they accounted for 10.5% in France surfaces newly built, on only 4% of the territory . It is the coastal hinterland which now reduces congestion in the coast and the largest contributor to urban sprawl and ecological fragmentation of the territory, also contributing to the phenomenon known as light pollution.

Coast and Environment

Coasts - because they are ecotones are often diverse ecologically rich and remarkable and they provide irreplaceable habitat for many species, to fry fish, which mostly breed on the continental shelf.
Two main types of coasts opposed: those with high biodiversity and habitat for numerous and varied over short lengths of coastline, and those that are more homogeneous and less rich in species but may be significant functional (spawning, leads to the sea, etc.).

Coastal habitat is an ecological unit consisting of a dissociated biotope (or station) and a biotic community (or community of living beings in this case must be printed on the coast all or part of their life cycle). Certain plants or plant associations are considered indicators and characteristic of each habitat type.
Europe has listed coastal habitats generic so-called Community interest (Annex 1 of the Habitats Directive and nomenclature EUR15). These habitats generic "currently include 105" Habitat blocks "defined by" books habitats. They are terrestrial, estuarine, or marine intertidal and supra-storey, mid-and subtidal (up to 15-20 meters deep). The European classification called " Corine Biotope "are grouped into 3 categories, themselves broken down into 8 major habitat types to facilitate a seamless European mapping.

For example, in France, in the band of land 500 meters, almost 45% of land is still natural land and aquatic habitats and many economic develop only near the sea or under its priority influence (eg, dunes and associated wetlands, grasslands and rocky ledges, salt marshes, moors and marshes Atlantic, Mediterranean temporary ponds. Many species are endemic to the coasts . Nevertheless, the artificial and urbanization are also moving forward more faster than elsewhere on the coasts . In France we start talking about " Weft blue "to describe the functional network of marine habitats and submarines that would protect the image of the green and Blue Earth.

Globally, coastlines are among the places where human pressure on the largest increase since 3 centuries. Some entities were established to regulate shipping and mitigate risks or for better management of areas ( OSPAR , HELCOM ...).
In Europe, the Water Framework Directive sets targets and indicators for qualitative and quantitative detailed surveillance and target levels in coastal waters by 2015. Some areas more industrial, urbanized and / or bottlenecks are most vulnerable: for example from 600 to 800 ships carrying people and / or hazardous substances and / or pollutants or circulate meet every day in Dover. In late 2006, they were still not individually tracked by satellites and rescue vehicles fail even if there was a serious accident. (Three small oil spills were still reported at least annually in the early 2000s, in the Strait (pollution whose authors are generally not found or prosecuted).

The aftermath of war are formed by the deposition of old munitions dumped. While OSPAR and the European Commission was alerted to this point, this problem is not addressed in the 2006 Green Paper. It seems to be a major risk: At least 140 sites of ammunition or explosives were found dumped near the coast by France to the OSPAR Commission . They are some sites close to farms of oysters and mussels (eg, Cancale , Quiberon, France). In the Baltic and English Channel / North Sea , they are often in fishing area (more than 400 fishermen were victims of accidental contact with the Baltic yperite
Sources: Commission OSPAR , 2005 and Helsinki Commission ( HELCOM , 2004, 2005, 2006)). Some deposits are close to aquaculture sites (eg Salmon Bornholm in the Baltic , near the high tens of thousands of tons of ammunition treated as hazardous and toxic waste, and deteriorating inevitably lose some of their contents already ). Some deposits are close to nuclear power plants (including the largest in Europe at Gravelines in northern France), in contact with nuclear waste dumped ( Trench Caskets north of Normandy ) or the right port industrial energy (ex: 35 000 tons of ammunition of 1914-1918 with 12 000 charged to the mustard and Chloropicrin immersed in 4 acres at least a few hundred meters north of the port ( LNG ) from Zeebrugge in Belgium and a few fathoms from the beach.
Such discharges are also underwater on the coasts of the United States from Canada , from Japan , the Australia and other regions. Ocean currents during storms or tsunamis have already shown themselves capable of bringing these munitions on beaches and in one case near a nuclear plant.

Littoral and Sustainable Development

Several countries and regions have supported schemes integrated development of coastal , estuarine or sea, Schematic development of the sea , more or less implemented and evaluated.

The European Parliament and the Council adopted 30 May 2002 Recommendation 2002/413/EC on the implementation of a strategy for integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) in Europe (requiring an initial report to Member States in February 2006, and monitoring of objective and scientifically based to monitor and look for Sustainable Development (SD) on the coast. A European Expert Group on ICZM was established in 2002, composed (in 2007) of 20 Member States coastal states and two candidates, with a sub-group "Indicators and Data (WG-ID) working in February 2003. The program INTERREG "DEDUCE" (Sustainable Development of European coasts), reported in 2007 an evaluation of 27 these indicators. France contributed via the IFEN with its Coastal Observatory , as well as the Observatorio de la Sostenibilidad (for the Ministry of Environment of Spain). Read more. Europe is developing in 2007 a proposed Directive navy, and another on the floods in the context of the future European Maritime Policy drawn in a Green Paper entitled Towards a future maritime policy for the Union: A European vision for oceans and seas. The EU is preparing also a European network of observational data and monitoring ( EMODNET ) should incorporate the Marine and Coastal areas.

The objectives of sustainable fisheries set by the EU are not met. They may seem contradictory with the priority given to economic competitiveness and technology, even as demand for fish continues to grow. While a climate crisis and the oil was announced in 2006 (Green Paper), the EU still shows its willingness to develop the maritime transport and ports as key elements of the chain logistics that connects the single market to global economy, with a goal of sustainable development, but failing to take into account the fact that these ports, some nuclear littoral may soon be greatly affected by a possible rise of the oceans and accelerated by the lack of clean, safe and renewable.

Europe is exploring the possibility of retaining indicators and levels of sustainability for its beaches.

In France, the Observatory Coastal IFEN monitors and updates a number of indicators measuring the evolution of the French coast the light of sustainable development.
The concept of " third wild "(in this case 33% of the territory of the coastal areas of France must be protected for conservation of Nature) has been proposed to Europe by the Coastal Protection . The Working Group No. 1 ("The delicate encounter between land and sea") of the Grenelle sea at mid-2009 called "... accelerate the achievement of the third wild by the year 2020, including enlargement of contributing partners, the. sides of the Coastal Conservancy ... " . The same group has proposed the creation of a BAYLIMER Council ("Council of watersheds, coastal and sea" in connection with the establishment of an integrated strategy involving watershed - coast - sea, which in Overseas by unity biogeographic via the "Conference BAYLIMER watershed, coastal and sea" (proposals 1 to 11 of Unit No. 1) .

Coast and right

International law, including the Law of the Sea defines the territorial waters or on the law and the maritime safety to coastal implications.

Various international conventions, charters, declarations concerning the coasts, but the legal definitions of the coast vary between countries. Clarification of definitions is being conducted in France ^, .

In Europe, a Green Paper, a blue book and several European directives concerning the fishing at sea, maritime safety and marine common strategy and a strategy for the Baltic.

In France,

• the Coastal Act lays the premise of a "right coast" and attempts to regulate coastal urbanization. But some of its provisions are seldom applied.
  Regretting this, the Group I Grenelle sea has in its report suggested a mid-2009, to give "new impetus" to the concept of "carrying capacity" for better control and urbanization land pressure in determining the "fair capacity of the coast." This group also suggested a genuine political property overseas ... The law allows coastal effect via the "capacity" to calibrate the urban development and hosting people to better control the intensity of urbanization.
• A law on the development of rural areas in 2005 established a National Council of the coastline (CNL), installed July 13, 2006. It includes 72 members appointed for five years (parliamentarians, elected local authorities in metropolitan France and overseas, representatives of socio-professional, civil society personalities and representatives of public institutions involved). It is a place saver, exchanges and proposals that relies on data from the Observatory of the coast, within the IFEN.
• French perspectives: A is provided by the draft law Grenelle 1 . This strategy should be defined by the State in connection with local authorities, should be the future framework for the protection of the marine environment, marine resources development and integrated management and collaborative activities related to the seas and coasts. It could include many of the proposals of the "Grenelle of the Sea" (June 2009), in particular Bill Grenelle 2, provided an ad hoc body to validate this strategy: a National Council for Marine and Coastal. Group 1 of the Grenelle of the Sea in June 2009 requested that this notion is changing, with:

- A National Watershed Council, the Coastal and Marine, to reach wider than originally planned. Because the sea is impacted by pollutants from the entire watershed, "he would deal with problems of the sea and coastline in their relations with the watershed, which may for example be renamed" watershed council, the Coastal and Marine Council - BAYLIMER. This advice to "be articulated so pertintente with the National Council for Water, to avoid duplication of their prerogatives and will including working jointly with the Council of the Mountain."

- A "strategic documents facade" under the bill Grenelle 2 to decline the national strategy, which should then also evolve to integrate "upstream-downstream dimension," Grenelle of the sea offering "not just of have a vision of the "facade", and expand the vision from "the top of the mountain to the sea". This group proposed that the Council relies on BAYLIMER 6 Conferences of watershed, coastal and marine (Conferences BAYLIMER can substitute for the advice of the planned facade Grenelle 2), France. Their marine perimeter would be 200 miles (limits of application of the Framework Directive "Strategy for the Marine and Earth would be that of SDAGE. In addition to sea, would create an equivalent for each biogeographical unit: Guadeloupe / Martinique / Saint Barthelemy / Saint Martin , French Guiana , Reunion / Mayotte , Polynesia , New Caledonia , Saint Pierre and Miquelon , French Southern and Antarctic and Austral Islands.

References

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