INTEGRATED COASTAL AREA MANAGEMENT

The dynamic process by which actions are taken for the use, development and protection of coastal resources and areas to achieve national goals established in co-operation with user groups and regional and local authorities. In this definition, integrated management refers to the management of sectoral components as parts of a functional whole with explicit recognition that it is the users of resources, not the stocks of natural resources, which are the focus of management. For the purpose of integrated management, the boundaries of a coastal area should be defined according to the problems to be resolved. The definition thus implies a pragmatic approach to the defining of coastal areas in which the area under consideration might change over time as additional problems are addressed which require resolution over a wider geographical area. Choudhury and Jansen (1997)