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UN Atlas: 44 percent of us live in coastal areas
About 44 percent of the world’s population lives within 150 kilometres of the sea. This interesting research result...
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The Clark Bible of coastal management is a classic
“This book should provide the reader with a more comprehensive introduction to the practice of coastal management than any source available so far”, says John R. Clark in the Preface of his Coastal...
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Economic valuation is a key tool in coastal areas
Economic (socio-economic) valuation regularily makes coastal conservation efforts appear more desirable than what they appear when their value is calculated in business terms only. In the past, the...
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Innovative cooperation helps the Baltic
Coastal and marine conservation can be implemented in innovative ways which benefit everybody. This was proved at the Baltic Sea Action Summit (BSAS) in Finland on 10 February, 2010. The Summit united...
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Free access to the shore is everyone’s right
Hundreds of thousands of people travelling from Buenos Aires to the Atlantic coast of Argentina cannot be wrong. They invest a lot of time and money in order to get to the public beaches 300 to 500 km...
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Tsunami hits Juan Fernández archipelago in Chile
The powerful earthquake which hit Chile on 27 February, 2010, resulted in a tsunami. Chilean coastal towns south of the capital Santiago suffered. In several communities the devastation was nearly...
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Marine ecology suffers at CITES meeting in Doha
Coastal zone conservationists did not achieve their goals at the 15th meeting of the CITES Parties in Doha, Qatar, in March, 2010. The meeting was not a complete failure as positive results saw...
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Fresh winds in Mediterranean marine parks
“Conservation is more an art than a science” is a common statement in the nature protection circles. It reflects the fact that a flexible attitude and learning from experience are important in all...
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Louisiana spill threatens the suffering mangroves
The first global assessment on the status of mangrove conservation presents alarming results. This joint study by The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and Conservation International (CI) shows that 11...
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Good news from the Californian kelp forests
At the beginning of May 2010 California’s underwater state park system in the U.S. was expanded. As a result, well-known north central coastal areas like Point Reyes Headlands, Bodega Head, the...
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Coral restoration helps damaged reefs
Threatened staghorn and elkhorn coral colonies are getting important help from a dedicated conservationist in the Florida Keys. Ken Nedimyer, the driving force behind the Coral Restoration Foundation,...
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Sediment control strategies for the coastal zone
Guidelines for Sediment Control Practices In The Insular Caribbean is one of the most practical and useful coastal management handbooks ever written. The report was published by CEP (the Caribbean...
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The Baltic Sea in need of integrated management
Based on brainstorming opinions by Finnish conservation specialists, eleven topics would need to be taken into consideration in the management of the Baltic Sea. The list is a product of the Baltic Sea...
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The worst oil spills are unpleasant memories
Oil is one of the most significant driving forces behind the modern society. Nevertheless, all the consequences of oil exploration cannot be defined as progress. In addition to global climate change,...
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Plastic pollution threatens marine life and us
Plastic is everywhere. It is difficult to buy anything without also buying plastic. If the product is not made of plastic, the packing material is. Plastic is strong, versatile and inexpensive. It is...
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Coral reefs and environmental impacts
The coral reef ecosystem is one of the most sensitive natural systems to development impacts. Apart from global warming, which is likely to be the number one coral killer on our planet, local causes...
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Seagrass meadows and environmental impacts
The key reference used for the previous Coastal Challenges’ article on coral reefs was How to assess environmental impacts on tropical islands and coastal areas: South Pacific Regional Environment...
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Mangroves and environmental impacts
Like the previous Coastal Challenges’ article, this summary of mangroves and environmental impacts is based on How to assess environmental impacts on tropical islands and coastal areas: South Pacific...
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Shifting baselines threaten marine conservation
About 12 percent of the Earth’s land surface is conserved in some way; the corresponding figure for the oceans is little more than 1 percent. This is the starting point for the battle for more marine...
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Alarming coral death on South-East Asian reefs
“It is certainly the worst coral die-off we have seen since 1998. It may prove to be the worst such event known to science,” says Dr. Andrew Baird, an Australian coral reef specialist in an interview...
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UNDP: the world has become less sustainable
The recently published Human Development Report 2010 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a useful coastal management publication: the report highlights major factors behind daily...
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New hope after the Cancún climate negotiations
While coral bleaching is currently degrading coral reefs in the Indian Ocean and Caribbean Sea, there is new hope for those of us who are worried about the effects of global climate change in our...
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John R. Clark & the start of coastal management
John R. Clark (1927-2010) was the grand old man of coastal zone management in the United States. He was also very influential in the development of coastal management programs and marine protected...
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Living Planet Report and the fisheries’ footprint
“Living Planet Report 2010 – Biodiversity, biocapacity and development” is an important conservation document published in 2010. As regards coastal zone management, the report presents alarming...
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Revolutionary method: gypsum controls runoff
An interesting discovery is helping in Baltic Sea conservation efforts in Finland. It involves the use a gypsum, which is a chemical substance known to most of us. The environmental challenge we are...
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Thai challenge: warming seas bleach the coral
Several popular dive sites at seven marine parks have been closed to diving in Thailand. The ban covers coral reefs suffering from serious coral bleaching which started in 2010. The reefs which will be...
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Connectivity, coral reefs and marine parks
Water is in constant motion and transports sediments, nutrients and pollutants. At least during one life stage, most marine organisms move within the water stream, either passively or actively....
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How to be prepared for tsunamis?
The powerful earthquake in Japan and the following tsunami in March 2011 remind us of the need to be prepared for tsunamis. These are the instructions for individual citizens by the American Red Cross...
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Rehabilitation helps suffering coral reefs
Global climate change is expected to cause serious damage to coral reef ecosystems during the coming 50 years. The rising sea surface temperatures and increasing ocean acidification are so serious...
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Key considerations for integrated coastal zone management, part 1
Lessons from the European Commission’s Demonstration Programme on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is one of the most interesting coastal management publications. This 93-page document was...
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Key considerations for integrated coastal zone management, part 2
Many of the important conclusions presented in the report Lessons from the European Commission’s Demonstration Programme on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) are summarised in the second part...
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Key considerations for integrated coastal zone management, part 3
The third part of this Coastal Challenges’ article continues summarising conclusions presented in Lessons from the European Commission’s Demonstration Programme on Integrated Coastal Zone Management...
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Coastal zone of Chile: ten management recommendations
Chile is a country with thousands of kilometres of coastline (the exact length of the coast depends on the definition applied). Naturally, moving towards integrated coastal zone management benefits a...
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Human wastewaters infect elkhorn coral
A human pathogen has been shown to contribute to the degradation of elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) colonies in the Caribbean Sea. The pathogen Serratia marcescens is known to be present in human...
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Days of Eastern Caribbean reefs are numbered
The West Indies’ coral reefs will disappear in a few decades. This is the shocking result of a new scientific study. Individual coral colonies will survive in the region even in the future, but the...
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Important progress in shark conservation
In the past, sharks were not appreciated because their importance as ecosystem top predators was not understood. As a result of that and global over exploitation of marine fauna, most shark populations...
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Coral conservation in Honduras: building on local roots is important
“We have got one of the best coral reefs in the Caribbean”, says Nelbin Bustamante from the Prolansate Foundation and Amatela reef conservation group of the Town of Tela, Honduras. More in detail, Mr....
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Integrated coastal zone management: a specialist highlights the needs,...
Dr. Peter R. Burbridge is a well-known advocate of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM). In a recent Coastal Challenges interview he explained what integrated coastal management is and why it is...
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UN Conference on Sustainable Development: highlights of the Rio+20 final...
At the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio (June 2012), binding new international agreements were not agreed upon, which was disappointing. Nevertheless, the final document is worth...
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Shipwrecks support coral conservation in Egypt
Text and photos (c) 2013 Erkki “Eric” Siirila, copyright & all rights reserved. (The article below is a short version of a more complete magazine article published elsewhere.) In popular diving...
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Manatees, a challenge for coastal management
Text and photos (c) 2013 Erkki “Eric” Siirila, copyright & all rights reserved. (The article below is a short version of a more complete magazine article published elsewhere.) There were about...
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Progress in Tela reef conservation in Honduras
Text and photos (c) 2013 Erkki “Eric” Siirila, copyright & all rights reserved. Some years ago the city of Tela in Honduras was only known for its beaches. No one was aware that underwater...
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Carbon sink and diversity oasis – Kelp forests are abundant in the coastal...
Text and photos (c) 2013 Erkki “Eric” Siirila, copyright & all rights reserved. Orange garibaldis, the “official” fish of California, are the first thing I see while entering the undersea kelp...
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Ocean state alarming – policy changes are needed
Text and photos (c) 2013 Erkki “Eric” Siirila, copyright & all rights reserved. Urgent measures are needed to stop ocean degradation related to climate change. The speed and negative effects are...
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Microplastic pollution – a serious threat to marine ecosystems
Text and photos copyright (c) 2013 Erkki “Eric” Siirila, all rights reserved Pioneering research has shown that plastic waste entering the ocean may have more serious negative effects on marine life...
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Seas, coasts and climate change negotiations
In 2015 the countries of the world will hopefully agree on a binding climate treaty in Paris. The outcome should stop climate change, which is currently threatening the wellbeing of the inhabitants of...
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Oceans and coasts, a key component on the new UN agenda for sustainable...
Transforming our world, the 2030 agenda for sustainable development (advance unedited version) was published by the UN in August 2015. In chapter 14, the document highlights important marine and...
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NASA: sea level rising faster than the UN predicted
Recently published research indicates that sea level rise is a bigger threat to us and our coastal regions than previously thought. The latest predictions were made public by a team of Nasa-related...
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WWF Living Blue Planet Report: alarming 49% decline in marine animals since 1970
An incredibly big and serious decline of 49% has taken place in the numbers of marine animals between 1970 and 2012. This is one of the main results of an updated study of marine mammals, birds,...
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Extensive coral bleaching is destroying reefs
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S., the longest coral bleaching ever is occurring in the tropical seas. The on-going, especially strong El Niño is...
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