Each country informed the Workshop on the key coastal-area issues of greatest concern to it. Brief summaries of each country report follow:
Australia
Bangladesh
Comoros
IndiaIran
Kenya
La Reunion
Madagascar
Mauritius
Mozambique
Rodrigues
Seychelles
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Tanzania
Thailand
Increased nutrient concentrations:
The natural environment is highly oligotrophic, hence
very susceptible to the impact of nutrients introduced as
a result of human activities.
Habitat alteration and loss: Also due largely to human
activities, notably construction.
Marine pests: Bio-invasions from ship ballast water
and hull fouling are believed to have significant impacts
on native species and biodiversity.
Contaminants:Also due largely to human activities,
notably industry and domestic waste discharge.
Turbidity: There is decreased water clarity in the
coastal zone.
Data: There is a scarcity
of data on physical, chemical, biological, and geological
parameters relevant to the coastal area.
Coastal pollution: This is mainly due to heavy metals,
pesticides, oil, and oil spills.
Habitat destruction in the coastal zone: This is due
mainly to human activities, including shrimp aquaculture.
Aquaculture: Shrimp fishing and aquaculture are very
important; shrimp aquaculture is also very important.
Coastal flooding: This is a highly significant issue,
with huge losses of human life and property.
Two pilot projects were suggested: a study of the Bay
of Bengal, based on satellite data; a study of the coastal
ecosystem using remote-sensing and in situ data, to evaluate
the impact of aquaculture, pollution, coastal morphology and
biodiversity.
Overexploitation of the marine
environment: The best example is the coral-reef fishery.
Contaminants: This is mainly due to the discharge
of human garbage.
Coastal erosion: Although due to natural causes, human
activities, particularly sand mining, aggravate the problem.
Protection of endemic species: The most threatened
species are the coelacanth and marine turtles; this is mainly
because of the high scientific interest in these species,
which sometimes promotes illegal trade.
The problems of Comoros are similar to those of other countries,
but often have a different cause. The number-one driver of
these problems is poverty. There is a need for models and
scenarios for decision-making.
Biodiversity and habitat loss:
There is a need to establish a baseline and a monitoring
system, and to screen organisms for bioactive compounds.
Coastal erosion: There is a need to set up monitoring
stations and to be able to model and predict natural changes;
there is also a need to estimate the economic impacts of development.
Harmful algal blooms: An increased frequency of such
blooms is observed; there is a need to identify the factors
that trigger blooms and the bloom species.
For the adopted pilot projects, there is a need for a participatory
approach, to be decentralised and to enable information to
move from scientists to communities. For capacity-building,
there is a need to focus on training trainers, and it must
fit the culture of the country involved.
Habitat modification and loss
of biodiversity: This is arising as a result of the development
of marine fisheries, but some is due also to an increase in
exotic species (possibly in tanker ballast water) and to growing
aquaculture production.
Coastal erosion: This is due mainly to the alteration
of river flows and the coastal flooding caused by storm surges
and cyclones.
Water-quality degradation: This is due to point and
non-point sources of pollution, particularly oil spills and
nutrients.
Coral bleaching: This is
widespread, but its impact is now being measured.
Pelagic fish distribution: Benthic species have been
overexploited, so there is a need to identify new fish stocks
for new fisheries, and to improve fishery management; for
this purpose the acquisition of fishery data must be greatly
improved. There are also use conflicts between coastal and
trawler fisherman.
Coastal erosion: Sea-level measurements are being made
at stations operating within the IOC Global Ocean Sea-Level
System.
Harmful algal blooms: These are thought to be the cause
of recent fish kills; a new program to study these blooms
has been started.
Overexploitation of mangroves: This is due to the use
of mangrove wood for building and for charcoal production.
Four pilot projects were suggested:
Strong links between IOGOOS and GOOS-Africa are needed; joint modeling and data management projects might be a good starting point for this.
Degradation of marine ecosystems:This
is mainly due to the pressure of human activities in the coastal
zone and mostly affects the coral reefs, with a loss of biodiversity.
Cyclones: These have a serious impact on the coastal
zone due to the subsequent discharge of water and land-based
contaminants, and coastal erosion, all amplified by the steep
coastal topography and ill-adapted infrastructure.
Coastal pollution:This is due mainly to groundwater
seepage of sewage, agricultural herbicides and pesticides.
Overfishing of some marine species:
Sea cucumbers and coral-reef fishes are the principal
species of concern.
Degradation of the coastal ecosystem: This is due
mainly to coastal erosion and estuarine sedimentation, and
needs the development of a coastal ecosystem monitoring system.
Coastal pollution: This is due mainly to uncontrolled
waste discharge; it compromises the development of tourism
and calls for the establishment of a coastal-zone pollution-monitoring
system.
Coastal desertification: An increase in the formation
of dunes is observed in southern Madagascar.
There is also a need to develop an oceanographic data collection
system.
Coastal erosion: The main
causes are cyclones, sea-level rise, human activity, notably
coastal urbanization and other hard coastal infrastructure.
In Mauritius, 27 sites are affected, of which 7 are critical.
Loss of biodiversity: A number of habitats are affected,
notably mangroves, coral reefs (mainly by inappropriate fishing
practices), seagrass beds, and wetlands. Fisheries are also
a cause of biodiversity loss. Mauritius is trying to establish
a Marine Protected Area to conserve biodiversity.
Marine pollution: The main sources are land-based,
notably sewage, agrochemicals, industrial wastes, oil spills,
and nutrients. Sand mining has been a problem, but is now
stopped. There is a significant impact of dirty ballast water
from maritime shipping.
Sustainable tourism: This
requires conservation of beaches, so coastal erosion is very
important here.
Coastal pollution: There is a need to understand the
impact of the high level of international shipping.
Safety at sea: Many lives are lost by drowning, so
there is a need to forecast sea state and to be able to issue
warnings to coastal communities.
Fisheries: Forty per cent of the Mozambican economy
is based on coastal fisheries, so it is very important to
understand the dynamics of the fisheries and the fish stocks.
Illegal fishing by foreign fleets is a significant issue.
There is need to improve infrastructure and institutional
capacity; most institutions lack mandate and resources, human
and material, to address the key problems.
This small island has similar problems
to those of Mauritius, although the causes are different;
in addition, there is significant soil erosion.
Thirteen sites are affected, of which 3 are critical.
Harmful algal blooms do occur and there are fish kills that
are often seasonal, but there is still no identified cause..
Land reclamation: There
is increasing sedimentation and, consequently, serious alteration
of the coastal marine environment, leading to a drop in water
quality, massive death of coral reefs, and loss of seagrass
beds and of mangrove forests. Coastal erosion/accretion patterns
are also strongly affected. There is a need to build capacity
to deal with these issues.
Oil pollution: There is a need to be able to map and
model where spills will move. A World Heritage
Overexploitation of inshore
fish and invertebrate stocks: This occurs in the marine
and estuarine environments; the abalone resource is especially
affected and there is particular concern for endemic species
associated with reefs. The region is usually oligotrophic.
Impact of human activities in catchment basins: Water
abstraction, changes in sediment transport due to retention
by dams, increased soil erosion due to inappropriate agricultural
practices, changes in water quality due to the addition or
reduction of nutrients, industrial and agricultural runoff,
and poorly treated sewage are the main impacts. Sand and coastal-dune
mining also have a significant impact.
Inappropriate coastal development:This consists principally
of urbanization, infrastructure and industry, resulting in
physical changes to the coastline, hence the loss or alteration
of natural habitat and of biodiversity.
All issues lead to the need for an ecosystem approach involving
modeling on various spatial scales. South Africa has a new
legal framework, which is assisting in reducing human pressures
in the coastal zone.
A significant proportion of the
population rely on subsistence fisheries, and these are adversely
affected by:
Coastal erosion: The main causes are sea-level rise,
river sand mining, river dams, coastal structures.
Coastal habitat loss: This is caused by changes in
land use, pollution, destructive fishing practices, agricultural
runoff, algal blooms, sand mining, and freshwater runoff.
Coastal pollution : This includes principally nutrient runoff from the land, and sewage,
industrial and solid waste discharge.
Degradation of ecosystems and
loss of biodiversity: The ecosystems mainly affected
are coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangroves. The degradation
is due to overfishing and improper fishing methods, and overexploitation
of the mangroves; coral bleaching is also prevalent.
Coastal erosion: This is increasing as a result of
sea-level rise, destruction of the mangroves, and destruction
of the coral reefs by dynamite fishing.
Pollution of inshore waters: This is due mainly to
the improper discharge of wastes. A community-based monitoring
program was presented as a possible solution.
Overexploitation of fisheries
resources: This is now widespread, covering key benthic
and pelagic species, with one important consequence being
the adoption of illegal fishing methods (e.g., explosives
and poisons).
Degradation of coastal ecosystems: Thailand has lost
50-80% of its mangroves in the past 50 years as result of
coastal construction, prawn farming and coastal agriculture.
Coral reefs in the Andaman
Coastal erosion: This is due to natural storms and coastal construction.
Coastal water pollution: This is mostly due to effluents from coastal industries, urban
wastes, oil spills, and tarballs.