Coastal Zones: Introduction

Coastal zones, the narrow transition areas that connect terrestrial and marine environments, are our planet’s most productive and valued ecosystems (Crossland et al., 2005). Sixty percent of the world’s major cities are located in coastal zones, and 40% of the all the people on the planet live within 100 km of a coastal zone (Nicholls et al., 2007). Within coastal areas, we see the tightly intertwined relationships between humans and coastal resources amplifying the most urgent questions of limits and equilibrium, sustainability, and development in our world today.
Over the past 25 years, efforts have been made to understand and improve the relationships between our societies and our coastal ecosystems. They have led to more than 100 national and transnational coastal zone plans, protocols, and conventions. Nevertheless, we realize the balance between development and stewardship still tilts toward development. Many more efforts are needed to restore harmony between use and conservation of coastal zones. Furthermore, most advances have been driven top-down, often with scant regard for grass-roots interests.
In November 2011, the “Coastal Zones: 21st Century Challenges” working group, a consortium of academics and members of research centers across the globe, collected 115 points of view and synthesized them into one document addressed to delegates attending the Rio+20 Conference held in Brazil in June 2012. This baseline document represented the interdisciplinary collaborative work of more than 200 coastal zone researchers from all continents (see Appendix). The idea for this book grew from seeds planted by the baseline document, and it was nourished through subsequent workshops organized by the working group.
Rooted in the baseline document, our objectives for this book are to: (1) highlight the looming challenges facing coastal zones around the world and (2) explore potential solutions from the perspective of the scientific and technological community, as part of the effort to construct and achieve the Rio+20 goals and soon to come, the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indeed, among the proposed SDGs, Goal 14 is of particular importance to us: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development. Several others are also directly or indirectly connected to our work and dialog.