SFA Policies Update - 2002

Surfrider Foundation Australia - Draft Discussion Paper
Future Directions for Surfrider Foundation:
Key Issues for Policy Development (August 2002)

Prepared for Surfrider Foundation by:
Neil Lazarow, National Project and Research Director

Introduction

Living on the coast today represents something more than the prospect of food, clothing and shelter. A lifestyle by the coast has become synonymous with the great Australian dream.

  The beach, not the bush, is the new Australian utopia. It’s the beach that has become the focus of our imaginations, our desires, our yearning for a world different from the concrete-pavement universe that most of us inhabit for most of our lives. The beach today represents escape, freedom, self-fulfilment, the Right Path. It represents the way our lives should be (McGregor 2000).

There is a mysterious attraction about the coast, something every beach and ocean lover knows. It’s a powerful addiction that we’ve all been hooked on since first climbing a sand dune and squinting through the haze to the beautiful big blue. A timeless myth exists about the beach and the coast, a belief that our actions on the coast and in the coastal zone (land or sea) will always be temporary – like waves washing over footprints. Because of the coast’s ability to constantly refresh and renew itself, there is a feeling that we (humans) can’t actually harm it – the coast is impervious to our actions – and as such, we can act in any manner we choose. This myth has grown into a belief that because our actions on the coast are temporary, we can do whatever we like, because, ultimately, the ocean will be able to refresh itself (after Blomberg, 1982).

Reality, however, is something quite different. Population growth in the coastal zone has resulted in increasing competition for access to (diminishing) resources. The ensuing result has been conflict over uses and user rights (after Underwood and Chapman 1995, Clark 1996).

In many areas, conservation and management of our coastline is in a very poor state and the finite nature of the coast and its ability to recover from human intervention is only now being realised (OECD 1991b, Underwood and Chapman 1995). In Australia, the deterioration of our coastal resources can only be understood within the context of coastal settlement and population growth in the coastal zone.

This is the dominant paradigm for coastal planning and management today. Currently, 86% of our population (ABS 1998) lives within 30mins drive of the beach and we can expect many of the 11-15 million extra Australians predicted by the middle of the century to want to live near the coast (Bately & Cocks 1992, Davis & Weller 1993).

The Coast as a Resource

Coastal areas contain some of the world's most diverse and productive resources, including intensive areas of complex and specialised ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs and seagrasses, which are highly sensitive to human intervention (Underwood and Chapman 1995). The range of resources in the coastal zone is greatly varied and includes fisheries, wildlife, surface and groundwater, sand and minerals, and forests (Feeny et al 1990). In more recent times, access to coastal resources for the purpose of recreation has become an important, both in terms of access and economic growth for areas. Often referred to as common-property, these resources have two important characteristics: the first is control of access; and the second is that each user is capable of subtracting from the welfare of other users (Hardin 1968; Hanna 1990; Feeny et al 1990). These resources are prized for the many social, environmental and economic advantages they confer on users (OECD 1990a).

Human settlement and continued population growth over an extended period of time have, however, heavily modified many of these areas and contributed to deteriorating environmental quality on local through to international scales (after Underwood & Chapman 1995).

Because of increased population growth in and migration to the coast, access to resources is increasingly becoming an issue that requires careful planning. In many cases, the quality of the resources in many coastal areas has significantly deteriorated as a direct result of population growth and the continuation of traditional land management and use practices (SOMER 1995, Underwood and Chapman 1995). Environmental problems such as:
• the pollution of estuarine and coastal waters (WWF 1999, WWF 2000)
• declining marine and coastal water / sediment quality (SOMER 1995)
• loss of marine and coastal habitat (SOMER 1995)
• acid Sulfate Soils (Sammut 2000) and
• climate change and sea level rise (May et al 1998)
All of these issues affect the sustainability of coastal resources in Australia and this effects where we live, the way we live and how we live.

Coastal Management in 2002

Many of the key coastal management issues (as described in Table 1 below) are common across borders. As a result of these common issues, around Australia, we many face similar planning and management concerns for the coastal zone. Management of coastal resources has developed towards a more integrated approach and today has at its core, the principles of ESD.

Integrated CZM can be broadly defined as a process of governance that consists of the legal and institutional framework necessary to ensure that development and management plans for coastal zones are integrated with environmental and social goals, and are developed with the participation of those affected (Post and Lundin 1996). Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) centres around ways to bring together disparate planning and management techniques and to form holistic and flexible coastal management systems (after Cullen 1987, Kay & Alder 1999). This implies an interaction between local, regional, national and global goals for how we plan, manage, live, work and recreate in the coastal zone.

Table 1
Common Factors Contributing to Pressure on the Coastal Zone
• Population growth rapid urbanisation of the coast
• Pollution from residential, commercial and industrial activities
• Tourism development
• Resource allocation conflicts among users and
• Continued development in hazard prone areas
Source: OECD 1991b.

The major findings of the State of the Marine Environment Report (SOMER) for Australia (1995) pointed out that there has been a significant deterioration in many of Australia's productive marine areas such as mangroves and seagrasses. Pollution from land-based sources as well as dredging and trawling has contributed to this environmental damage.

The Report suggested that a combination of factors was necessary if these issues were to be redressed in any legitimate manner. Integrated management, especially through 'Total Catchment Management (TCM)' at the regional level was recommended. SOMER was just one of a series of major reports and inquiries that urged for a major overhaul of coastal management in Australia. Table 2 (below) provides a summary of the key management recommendations for CZM.

There is significant understanding of what has to be managed in the coastal zone – sea level rise, development, erosion, coastal hazards, population growth – but there has not been a similar commitment to actually manage the coastal zone and this is hindering effective and integrated CZM. In other words, too much attention has been paid to why (resource outcome) the coast is managed and not enough to how (organisational process) it is or should be managed. Bruce Thom, Chair of the NSW Coastal Council, argues that for CZM reform to occur, five major changes need to be made:
1. Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) principles need to be embraced
2. There needs to be better training for coastal managers
3. ICM principles need to be adopted
4. Global changes need to be recognised and planned for, and
5. There needs to be greater community based management and participation (after Thom 2001).

Conclusion

In recent years, most of the States have undertaken reviews of coastal management and developed coastal policies. As well as this, the Federal Government is currently reviewing the National Coastal Policy.

There are many issues that need to be addressed and Surfrider Foundation has taken this timely opportunity to review its own policies, many of which require substantial revision. It is a sad reality that "good policy has often sat on shelves across Australia and gathered dust, and the formulation of good policy has often proved a less demanding task than its implementation" (Morvell 1996).

In preparing this Discussion Paper on Policy Development, Surfrider Foundation Australia encourages its members and supporters to have input into the development of our policies and to further our involvement, where appropriate, in coastal management at all levels of government in Australia.

References:

Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998 Pocket Yearbook Australia Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

Batley GE & Cocks KD 1992 Defining and Quantifying National Coastal Resources Environment Australia 15 April 1999.

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Clark J 1996 Coastal Zone Management Handbook Lewis Publishers, USA.

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Commonwealth of Australia 1995 Department of Environment, Sport and Territories (DEST) Living on the Coast: Commonwealth Coastal Policy DEST, Canberra.

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Stratton J A 1969 Our Nation and the Sea. A Plan for National Action. Report of the Commission on Marine Science, Engineering and Resources, United States Government Printing Office Washington D.C.

Thom BG 2001 Coastal Management in NSW Keynote address at the Surfrider Foundation National Conference, Sydney, October 27.

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United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) 1992 Agenda 21 Rio de Janeiro, Chapter 17, November 25.

Worldwide Fund for Nature 1999 Australia's Marine Pollution Report Card WWF, Australia.

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