Objectives
Field SitesKnowledge ManagementScience for GovernanceTraining and EducationThemes
Coastal HazardsCoastal PeopleCritical Coastal HabitatsFisheriesMaricultureTourismUrban CoastsWater Quality and SupplyApproaches
Capacity BuildingCoastal Plans & PoliciesConstituency BuildingEcosystem GovernanceEvaluation for LearningIncorporating ScienceProtected AreasAbout the Coastal Resources Center
Coastal ecosystems play a central role in the processes that sustain life
on earth and in the prospects for human development. Although coastal lands
are less than one-fifth of the inhabited land space, they contain almost
half of today's global population of five billion people. The proportion
of the world's people that will live along coastlines is expected to increase
three-quarters by mid-century. Twelve of the fifteen largest cities are
on a coastline. At the global scale, the trends in environmental qualities
are all in the wrong direction. Critical coastal habitats such as wetlands
and coral reefs are being destroyed, fish stocks are declining and collapsing,
pollutant inflows are increasing, freshwater is in ever shorter supply,
and climate change is affecting long established patterns of rainfall, storms
and sea level. From a global perspective, coastal peoples see a sharper
divide between the haves and the have-nots, and there is increasing conflict
over the allocation of ever more scarce natural resources and space. Governance
institutions often do not have the power or abilities to address these
forces. Traditional sector-by-sector approaches to management are increasingly
ineffective and more holistic approaches often threaten the traditions of
existing institutions.
Over the last 25 years, more individuals, organizations and nations have recognized this situation and are attempting to address it. There is now a global consensus that an integrated approach to coastal issues is essential; and a plethora of projects and activities whose purpose is to slow or reverse the negative trends are underway in nearly all coastal nations. There is also increasing acceptance of CRC's approach and emphasis on good governance, which has indeed led to improved environmental and human conditions.
CRC's challenge as we enter the new millennium is to discover, model and advocate approaches to Integrated Coastal Management
that have significant impacts on increasingly urgent coastal
problems. We need to learn how to sustain successes in improved
coastal governance and scale up to achieve the objectives
of ICM at larger scales.
About the Coastal Resources Center
The CRC Approach
The Nature of the Challenge
CRC History
CRC Staff
CRC Values