General
A review of the implications of sea-level rise
for the UK (de la Vega-Leinhart & Nicholls, 2008) suggests that
although the UK has the potential to adapt to sea-level rise, there
are a number of barriers to implementation. For example, public
acceptance of coastal change is still very low, and funding of
innovative approaches is limited. The development of new Shoreline
Management Plans in 2010 for England and Wales will help to direct
the future public funding of coastal management, these plans are
increasingly geared towards long-term sustainable solutions rather
than a 'hold the line' approach. A number of 'pathfinder' projects
in England have recently been announced by Defra which will explore
a range of situations where coastal change is an issue for local
communities.
Also in 2010, a revised beach management manual
will be published to help guide engineers and other beach managers
to more sustainable methods of managing flood risk on low-lying
coasts.
The integration of coastal management with
land-use and marine planning will become more important in future,
under the broader context of Integrated Coastal Zone Management.
The economic value of coastal habitats and coastal processes needs
to be more widely understood and promoted: this is often difficult
due to the public and political expectation that risk of flooding
and erosion can and should be controlled.
There are a number of key researchers working
on this issue of stakeholder dialogue and coastal change, for
example the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (Milligan
et al., 2006)
Dune systems: The prospect of future
morphological changes arising from climate / sea level change and
changing patterns of coastal erosion and accretion, combined with
changing attitudes away from fixed coast and flood protection
towards coastal erosion and flood risk management, provides a
significant opportunity to increase the geomorphological and
ecological dynamism of dune systems. However, the evaluation of
future management options needs to be carefully assessed on a site
by site basis, taking into account the nature of local physical
processes, sediment supply, likely long-term morphological
evolution, and the present and possible future uses of the dunes
themselves and the hinterland. Approaches to managing the landward
movement of dune systems need to be developed (Pye et al.,
2007). In view of the likelihood of increased beach steepening,
rising sea levels and more frequent storm events in the coming
decades, rates of frontal dune erosion are also likely to increase
and 'hard' dune defences will become unsustainable in some areas.
The future of dune golf courses will need to be addressed
specifically in relation to this habitat.
Machair: The future of this habitat is
totally interwoven with the role of traditional management. It
appears to be very vulnerable to extreme events, and as is often
the case, hard defences are called for after the event to reduce
flood risk. This may not be sustainable in the long-term
however.
Shingle: Flood and coastal erosion
risk management relies largely on the ability of natural coastal
processes to move and retain sediment within systems. In some areas
there has been a decrease in shingle volume to sustain past flood
risk management techniques, but new, more adaptive approaches which
depend on natural processes are difficult for the public to
accept.
Cliffs: it is estimated that on
average, over the next 50 years 1 property per year will succumb to
coastal erosion. Experience in places with rapid erosion form a
focus for stakeholder dialogue on erosion risk management.
Coastal grassland and heath: Many of
the key locations are within protected landscapes and as such play
an important socio-economic role. Low- intensity agricultural
management will play a key role in securing these habitats across
their whole range, and needs to be addressed in agri-environment
incentive schemes.
