Enhancing Governance

12. Integrated Coastal Planning
Strengthening the integration and enforcement of environmental and social safeguards in coastal land use planning

Land use planning involves identifying the most suitable use of the coastal zone in relation to its physical and ecological characteristics and resources, and human needs. It is essential to integrated coastal management. Spatial planning is particularly important on the coast because of its vulnerability to disasters. Most of the countries participating in MFF have a voluminous, and often comprehensive, body of laws and regulations governing land use in the coastal zone.


However, in many cases regulations are weakly enforced, if at all, meaning that illegal land and resource use takes place, often in an environmentally unsustainable manner. Not all countries contain an integrated land use policy or strategy for coastal areas, and where they exist these policies and strategies are not always implemented.

Weak enforcement of regulatory and planning frameworks exacerbates, and sometimes cause, pre-existing land conflicts in coastal areas. Land use planning is of little use if there are major land conflict issues, as is often the case on the coast. Vulnerable landless people often settle in coastal areas, having migrated from the interior, in order to make a living from fishing, and subsequently develop into permanent communities with perceived rights to land which they have cultivated for many years. Meanwhile, the rich resources and lucrative opportunities for business and industry mean that powerful interests often intervene in coastal development processes and land use arrangements. Encroachment into protected areas and state lands remains a major problem, and gives rise to frequent conflicts between different resource users, local communities, the private sector and government.

Many of the weaknesses and gaps in land use planning, and in enforcement of regulations, policies and plans for the coastal zone, such as illegal or inappropriate siting of coastal settlements and resettlement areas, of failure to incorporate environmental safeguards into infrastructure development and reconstruction, and of the intense land use conflicts arising within the reconstruction process was highlighted after the tsunami. Unclear or absent land tenure arrangements were also stated as a critical issue requiring attention and as a major source of land use conflict.

The actions carried out under this programme of work will contribute towards:

• More effective policy, legal and institutional mechanisms for inter-sectoral coordination in environmental aspects of coastal management.

• Strengthened alliances and procedures to improve environmental law enforcement and compliance.

• More inclusive development planning, appraisal, approval and monitoring processes, which reflect ecosystem needs.

• Greener business plans which recognise and reflect ecosystem services.
  

Actions carried out under this programme of work will generate the following outputs: Review of legal and regulatory measures governing coastal zone land use and development, and associated information sharing among coastal planners and developers. Support to the development of spatial plans for coastal zones at national and local levels, including assessing critical and vulnerable ecosystems and needs for ecosystem protection within land use zoning. Support to the formation of resolution mechanisms to deal with land-use conflicts around critical ecosystems, particularly protected areas.