Integrated Assessment of Coastal Exposure and Social Vulnerability to Coastal Hazards in East Africa

Estuaries and Coasts ◽

10.1007/s12237-021-00930-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Caridad Ballesteros ◽

Luciana S. Esteves

Keyword(s):

Coral Reefs ◽

East Africa ◽

Social Vulnerability ◽

Great Increase ◽

Dar Es Salaam ◽

Coastal Development ◽

Coastal Hazards ◽

Coastal Protection ◽

Coastal Change ◽

High Level

AbstractAn index of vulnerability to coastal change, integrating indices of social vulnerability and exposure to coastal hazards, was created for East Africa to identify ‘areas of priority concern’ for risk reduction. Currently, 22% of East Africa’s coastline and 3.5 million people are at higher levels of exposure to coastal hazards, which would increase, respectively, to 39% and 6.9 million people if mangroves, coral reefs and seagrasses are lost. Madagascar and Mozambique show the largest proportion of the coastline at higher exposure, while Kenya and Tanzania benefit the most from natural coastal protection. Coral reefs protect 2.5 million people from higher exposure, mostly in Mombasa, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. Considering Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania, the latter is the least, and the former is the most vulnerable. Under current conditions, 17 (out of 86) coastal districts are considered ‘areas of priority concern’; four of these are critically exposed as over 90% of their shoreline length are at higher exposure (Zavala, Inharrime, Manhiça and Mandlakaze, all in southern Mozambique). These locations are of critical concern for any present or future coastal development due to the high level of exposure posed to both vulnerable people and investments. Habitat loss would increase the number of ‘priority concern’ districts to 24; some would show great increase in the population exposed (e.g. Pemba and Mossuril in Mozambique). Applying this knowledge to identify where ecosystem-based management should be prioritised to promote social and environmental resilience is timely and urgent in East Africa.

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A benchmark survey of plankton, fish and benthic composition in Poblacion and Kadurong Reefs in Liloan, Cebu, Philippines

Biodiversity Data Journal ◽

10.3897/bdj.9.e72537 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Brisneve Edullantes ◽

Fleurdeliz Maglangit ◽

Angelito Ortiz ◽

Joana Mie Casibo ◽

Lorraine Louise Vicentuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Coral Reefs ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Marine Protected Areas ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

Coastal Development ◽

Fish Stock ◽

Coastal Protection ◽

Goods And Services

Coral reefs offer valuable ecosystem goods and services, such as coastal protection, erosion regulation, fishery, biodiversity, habitat and nursery grounds. However, they face threats from anthropogenic activities, including poor water quality, global warming, coastal development and unsustainable fisheries. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provide a structured and holistic approach in addressing these threats. Regular monitoring and assessment of these MPAs are crucial components in evaluating the MPAs design and effectiveness. Two coral reefs (i.e. Poblacion and Kadurong Reefs) were established as MPAs in Liloan, Cebu, Philippines to protect crucial habitat and biodiversity with the hope of improving fisheries by avoiding fish stock disintegration. These coral reefs provide shelter to many commercially-significant fish species, supporting subsistence and livelihood in the community. These MPAs are not only biologically rich, but they also support socio-economic stability. Hence, management and protection of the coral reefs in the MPAs of Liloan, Cebu is of paramount importance. To formulate conservation and applicable management measures, research and monitoring should be in place. This paper presents the data collected from the short term monitoring in the Poblaction and Kadurong Reefs. The paper describes an important set of data that can be used by the stakeholders to benchmark biophysical assessments for management of marine-protected areas in Liloan. This data paper provides baseline information on the health of the coral reefs of the MPAs in Liloan, Cebu. Datasets covering physico-chemical and biological parameters inclusive of water quality, coral reef cover, fish and plankton occurrence and abundance were determined using the standard protocols for surveying tropical marine resources. The results will serve as a benchmark in formulating guidelines and implementing relevant policies for the effective management and protection of the MPAs in Liloan, Cebu, Philippines.

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Resilience from coastal protection

Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences ◽

10.1098/rsta.2014.0383 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 373 (2053) ◽

pp. 20140383 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lesley C. Ewing

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

San Francisco ◽

Coastal Communities ◽

Coastal Hazards ◽

Community Safety ◽

Coastal Protection ◽

Shore Protection ◽

Coastal Community ◽

Effective Community ◽

Key Aspects

Coastal areas are important residential, commercial and industrial areas; but coastal hazards can pose significant threats to these areas. Shoreline/coastal protection elements, both built structures such as breakwaters, seawalls and revetments, as well as natural features such as beaches, reefs and wetlands, are regular features of a coastal community and are important for community safety and development. These protection structures provide a range of resilience to coastal communities. During and after disasters, they help to minimize damages and support recovery; during non-disaster times, the values from shoreline elements shift from the narrow focus on protection. Most coastal communities have limited land and resources and few can dedicate scarce resources solely for protection. Values from shore protection can and should expand to include environmental, economic and social/cultural values. This paper discusses the key aspects of shoreline protection that influence effective community resilience and protection from disasters. This paper also presents ways that the economic, environmental and social/cultural values of shore protection can be evaluated and quantified. It presents the Coastal Community Hazard Protection Resilience (CCHPR) Index for evaluating the resilience capacity to coastal communities from various protection schemes and demonstrates the use of this Index for an urban beach in San Francisco, CA, USA.

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Review article: Mapping the adaptation solution space – lessons from Jakarta

Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ◽

10.5194/nhess-21-3285-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (11) ◽

pp. 3285-3322

Author(s):

Mia Wannewitz ◽

Matthias Garschagen

Keyword(s):

Social Vulnerability ◽

Keyword Search ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Solution Space ◽

Coastal Hazards ◽

Infrastructure Development ◽

Flood Hazards ◽

Adaptation Measures ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Coastal Cities

Abstract. Coastal cities are under rising pressure to adapt to climate change. They suffer from the severe effects of increased frequencies and intensities of coastal hazards, particularly flooding, while oftentimes continuing to sprawl into hazard-exposed areas and grow beyond the pace of sufficient infrastructure development. Even though these problems have been quite well understood for a while, there is still comparatively little knowledge and scientific assessment of the solution space, i.e., on the options available for adaptation and the ways in which they are being perceived, framed and evaluated in the scientific literature. Focusing on Jakarta, this study presents findings from a systematic assessment of peer-reviewed scientific literature on the adaptation solution space with regard to current and future flooding. Jakarta is chosen as a case study since it is among the cities with the highest flood risk and adaptation pressure globally while also being one of the most heavily researched coastal cities in this regard, certainly in the Global South. Based on a structured keyword search, we assess 339 articles. Results indicate that the perceived solution space is skewed towards hard protection against flooding, while measures to accommodate flooding or retreat from exposed areas are less widely considered in the scientific debate. Soft adaptation measures for the reduction of social vulnerability receive less attention in the literature than those measures targeting the taming of flood hazards, often through engineering solutions. Likewise, hybrid adaptation approaches, which combine soft and hard measures in a complementary way, are only rarely considered. Looking into the future, the findings suggest that despite the importance of hard flood protection as a main adaptation solution in Jakarta, other fields of the solution space deserve increased scientific attention. This relates in particular to urgently needed feasibility and effectiveness assessments of ecosystems-based solutions for flood mitigation and adaptation options targeting social vulnerability. While the empirical results are specific to Jakarta, heuristic observations from research on other coastal cities suggest that similar scoping exercises of the predominantly perceived solution space might be of relevance in many cities beyond Jakarta.

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Development of a conceptual framework for the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Mexican Caribbean

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2019-0901 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (suppl 1) ◽

Author(s):

Andrés Sánchez-Quinto ◽

Julliet Correa da Costa ◽

Nadia S. Zamboni ◽

Fábio H. C. Sanches ◽

Silas C. Principe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Coral Reefs ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Conceptual Model ◽

Coastal Region ◽

Ecosystem Model ◽

Coastal Protection ◽

Coastal Environments ◽

Management Actions ◽

Global Biodiversity

Abstract: Coral reefs and mangroves support rich biodiversity and provide ecosystem services that range from food, recreational benefits and coastal protection services, among others. They are one of the most threatened ecosystems by urbanization processes. In this context, we developed a conceptual framework for the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services for these coastal environments. We based our workflow on two sections: “Information base” and “Governance” and use the Puerto Morelos Coastal region as a case study for coastal protection. Puerto Morelos is between two of the most touristic destinations of Mexico (Playa del Carmen and Cancun) that has experienced an increase of population in the past four decades resulting in an intensification of multiple threats to its ecosystems. We characterized the two ecosystems with a “Management Units” strategy. An expert-based ecosystem services matrix was also described in order to connect mangroves and coral reef ecosystems with the multiple beneficiaries. Then an ecosystem model (conceptual model and Global Biodiversity model) was developed. The conceptual model was useful in understanding the interplay processes between systems regarding the ecosystem service of “Coastal Protection”. The Global Biodiversity model evidenced the human-induced shifts in the biodiversity for mangrove and coral reefs ecosystems. Also, a projection for 2035 of “best” and “worst” scenarios was applied using GLOBIO3. A DPSIR conceptual framework was used to analyze environmental problems regarding ecosystem services maintenance. Finally, we evaluated a set of policies associated with these ecosystems that favor coastal protection integrity. This framework facilitates the identification of the most relevant processes and controls about the provision of coastal protection service. It can also be useful to better target management actions and as a tool to identify future management needs to tackle the challenges preventing more effective conservation of coastal environments.

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Benthic foraminifera as ecological indicators in the Tunda Island Waters, Serang District, Banten Province, Indonesia

Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity ◽

10.13057/biodiv/d210735 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (7) ◽

Author(s):

ISNI NURRUHWATI ◽

FACHRI ARDIANSYAH ◽

YUNIARTI ◽

LINTANG PERMATA SARI YULIADI ◽

Ruhyat Partasasmita

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Coral Reefs ◽

Benthic Foraminifera ◽

Human Activities ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Ecological Indicators ◽

Coastal Development ◽

Mangrove Forests ◽

Benthic Foraminifers ◽

A Site

Abstract. Nurruhwati I, Ardiansyah F, Yuniarti, Yuliadi LPS, Partasasmita R. 2020. Benthic foraminifera as ecological indicators in the Tunda Island Waters Serang District, Banten Province, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 3142-3148. Coral reef communities all across Southeast Asia are experiencing intense pressures from extensive tourism and massive coastal development. A prediction regarding coral reefs’ capacity to recover is a necessity since it is constantly exposed to damaging events such as mass bleaching and increased erosion. Tunda Island (which is highly rich in biodiversity and include coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass, and algae meadows) was sampled at 10 different sites in August 2019. Coral reefs are highly influenced by ecological factors such as temperature variability, salinity, DO, and pH. The assessments were conducted using the FORAM Index (FI) to accurately predict the capacity of coral reefs to recover based on relative abundances of symbiont-bearing larger benthic foraminifera in reef sediments. The FI values ranged from 3.7 to 7.9 with a median of 4.7 and the average of 5 indicates that the water quality should support the recovery of reefs by reef-building corals and symbiont-bearing larger benthic foraminifers. The lowest FI value sampled was recorded from a site with extensive human activities (FI=3.4), while the highest one was recorded from a site with minimal to none human activities (FI=7.9), which indicates that the deterioration of water quality is caused by wastes from tourism activities near the coastal area.

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Linking Land and Sea through Collaborative Research to Inform Contemporary applications of Traditional Resource Management in Hawai‘i

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10093147 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 3147 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jade Delevaux ◽

Kawika Winter ◽

Stacy Jupiter ◽

Mehana Blaich-Vaughan ◽

Kostantinos Stamoulis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Resource Management ◽

Coral Reefs ◽

Natural Resources ◽

Pacific Islands ◽

Local Communities ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Coastal Development ◽

Modeling Framework ◽

Reef Management ◽

Management Approaches

Across the Pacific Islands, declining natural resources have contributed to a cultural renaissance of customary ridge-to-reef management approaches. These indigenous and community conserved areas (ICCA) are initiated by local communities to protect natural resources through customary laws. To support these efforts, managers require scientific tools that track land-sea linkages and evaluate how local management scenarios affect coral reefs. We established an interdisciplinary process and modeling framework to inform ridge-to-reef management in Hawai‘i, given increasing coastal development, fishing and climate change related impacts. We applied our framework at opposite ends of the Hawaiian Archipelago, in Hā‘ena and Ka‘ūpūlehu, where local communities have implemented customary resource management approaches through government-recognized processes to perpetuate traditional food systems and cultural practices. We identified coral reefs vulnerable to groundwater-based nutrients and linked them to areas on land, where appropriate management of human-derived nutrients could prevent increases in benthic algae and promote coral recovery from bleaching. Our results demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers, managers and community members. We discuss the lessons learned from our culturally-grounded, inclusive research process and highlight critical aspects of collaboration necessary to develop tools that can inform placed-based solutions to local environmental threats and foster coral reef resilience.

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A Stepwise Approach to Beach Restoration at Calabaia Beach

Water ◽

10.3390/w12102677 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 2677 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mario Maiolo ◽

Riccardo Alvise Mel ◽

Salvatore Sinopoli

Keyword(s):

Coastal Hazards ◽

Coastal Protection ◽

Stepwise Approach ◽

Strategic Resources ◽

Erosion Processes ◽

Blue Growth ◽

Marine Economy ◽

Emergency Interventions ◽

Flooding Events ◽

The Impact

Sea hazards are increasingly threatening worldwide coastal areas, which are among the most strategic resources of the Earth in supporting human population, economy and the environment. These hazards enhance erosion processes and flooding events, producing severe socio-economic impacts and posing a challenge to ocean engineers and stakeholders in finding the optimal strategy to protect both the coastal communities and the health of the environment. The impact of coastal hazards is actually worsened not only by an enhancing rate of relative sea level rise and storminess driven by climate changes, but also by increasing urban pressure related to the development of the sea economy. With regard to larger environmental awareness and climate change adaptation needs, the present study focuses on a stepwise approach that supports the actions for coastal protection at Calabaia Beach, which is located in the Marine Experimental Station of Capo Tirone (Cosenza, Italy). These actions first aim to protect humans and coastal assets, then to restore the environment and the local habitat, overcoming the need for the emergency interventions carried out in the last decades and pointing out that healthy ecosystems are more productive and support a sustainable marine economy (“Blue Growth”).

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Divergence of seafloor elevation and sea level rise in coral reef ecosystems

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-14-1739-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 1739-1772 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Kimberly K. Yates ◽

David G. Zawada ◽

Nathan A. Smiley ◽

Ginger Tiling-Range

Keyword(s):

Coral Reef ◽

Coral Reefs ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Coastal Hazards ◽

Carbonate Production ◽

Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽

Study Sites

Abstract. Coral reefs serve as natural barriers that protect adjacent shorelines from coastal hazards such as storms, waves, and erosion. Projections indicate global degradation of coral reefs due to anthropogenic impacts and climate change will cause a transition to net erosion by mid-century. Here, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the combined effect of all of the processes affecting seafloor accretion and erosion by measuring changes in seafloor elevation and volume for five coral reef ecosystems in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Caribbean over the last several decades. Regional-scale mean elevation and volume losses were observed at all five study sites and in 77 % of the 60 individual habitats that we examined across all study sites. Mean seafloor elevation losses for whole coral reef ecosystems in our study ranged from −0.09 to −0.8 m, corresponding to net volume losses ranging from 3.4  ×  106 to 80.5  ×  106 m3 for all study sites. Erosion of both coral-dominated substrate and non-coral substrate suggests that the current rate of carbonate production is no longer sufficient to support net accretion of coral reefs or adjacent habitats. We show that regional-scale loss of seafloor elevation and volume has accelerated the rate of relative sea level rise in these regions. Current water depths have increased to levels not predicted until near the year 2100, placing these ecosystems and nearby communities at elevated and accelerating risk to coastal hazards. Our results set a new baseline for projecting future impacts to coastal communities resulting from degradation of coral reef systems and associated losses of natural and socioeconomic resources.

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A Waterfront View of Coastal Hazards: Contextualizing Relationships among Geographic Exposure, Shoreline Type, and Hazard Concerns among Coastal Residents

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11236687 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (23) ◽

pp. 6687 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Steven B. Scyphers ◽

Michael W. Beck ◽

Kelsi L. Furman ◽

Judy Haner ◽

Lauren I. Josephs ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Coastal Communities ◽

Coastal Hazards ◽

Coastal Protection ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Living Shorelines ◽

Ecological Objectives ◽

Coastal Residents ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

Coastal communities exist on the front lines of diverse natural hazards and the growing impacts of climate change. While traditional strategies for dealing with coastal hazards have often involved the hardening or armoring of shorelines, more recent research and practice have demonstrated the value and cost-effectiveness of “living shorelines” and other ecosystem-based strategies for coastal protection. To explore potential relationships among geographic exposure (waterfront vs. inland), shoreline condition (armored vs. natural), and hazard concerns, we surveyed 583 waterfront and inland residents in the northern Gulf of Mexico. We found that overall concern for coastal hazards was similar across waterfront and inland residents, as well as among residents with both armored and natural shorelines. However, concern for specific hazards differed across these groups. Waterfront residents were significantly more concerned about major hurricanes and erosion than inland residents. Conversely, inland residents were more concerned with drought and flooding than waterfront residents. Among waterfront residents, specific hazard concerns were similar between residents with natural and armored shorelines with two key exceptions. Residents with armored shorelines reported higher concern for erosion and sea level rise than residents with natural shorelines. Our results suggest that armored shorelines do not necessarily alleviate concerns about coastal hazards. In the context of balancing social and ecological objectives in addressing coastal hazards or adapting to climate change, understanding the perceptions and behaviors of coastal residents is essential for conserving and protecting coastal ecosystems along residential shorelines.

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