South Asia Convention On Coastal Management
Representatives from South Asian countries met in India to discuss issues related to regulating and managing coastal development. Focusing on protecting coastal habitats and climate change this Convention was organized by Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment(CSE) and Pondicherry-based PondyCAN.
There is a need to strengthen regulatory systems, build capacity and do more research to manage coastal challenges in all countries of South Asia.
It is noted that the crisis of coastal management across South Asia is quite evident from the experiences shared by the participants. What is also quite clear is that the challenges will increase because of greater industrialization, urbanization and tourism pressures on the coasts.This will lead to more pressure on coastal habitats and the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable communities.
“There is an urgent need to come together to find solutions that can match the scale and pace of intervention”, said Sunita Narain, Director-General, CSE.
The convention addressed the issues related to regulating and managing coastal development, protecting coastal habitats and climate change.
The participants of the convention discussed the regulatory systems in existence in different countries and found that every country has its own system for regulating coastal zones. But what came out is that regulatory systems in each country need strengthening both in terms of decision-making and enforcement. For example, while all countries have Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) based systems for granting permits
for development projects, the quality of the EIA report, based on which decisions are made, is a problem across the region. Worse, systems for enforcement and monitoring post-clearance are weak. It was also recognized that an individual project EIA is an insufficient tool for decisions making and that countries will have to develop a robust methodology for cumulative assessment.
“What has definitely come out in this convention is the great need for improving governance and training people on governance andenvironment,” said Chris O’Brien, Regional Coordinator, Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) project.
There is a clear recognition in the region that soft solutions for coastal protection — planting mangroves to beach nourishment — are economically efficient and long-term solutions compared to hard solutions like sea-walls and groynes, which only transfer problems from one place to the other. Countries have started implementing soft solutions for coastal protection.
South Asia is highly vulnerable to climate change. Sea level rise and extreme weather events are affecting the coastal areas of South Asia.
While some countries are beginning to put in place systems to adapt to climate change Bangladesh and Maldives. others like India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan need to do more.
The participants emphasized that regulation is just one tool for manage coastal areas. There are other tools like putting information and maps in public domain, training and education, involvement of the local community in management etc that need to be used to develop a holistic governance systems for the coasts. Probir Banerjee, President PondyCan, stressed that the “worst affected are the people living at the margins and the objective has to be to enhance livelihoods and not compromise them.”
FAQs