Governments must work now to combat cliff erosion on Mediterranean coasts

Experts participating in the Mare Nostrum Project conference in Volos, Greece, last week called on all Mediterranean governments to take immediate and coordinated action and provide funding to fight cliff erosion.

"The risk of coastal erosion is shared by all Mediterranean countries," said Prof. Rachelle Alterman of the Technion in Israel. "This issue pertains to the coastline, which should be viewed as a national and international asset. Governments should act to meet their obligations as presented by the Integrated Coastline Zone Management (ICZM) Protocol to the Barcelona convention," added Prof. Alterman, who is the initiator and coordinator of Mare Nostrum, an EU-funded international effort to produce new methods to protect and properly manage Mediterranean coastal regions.

The Coastal cliff in Netanya, Israel

Mare Nostrum partners came together for a three-day conference in Volos, Greece for a groundbreaking first workshop, in which case studies from different Mediterranean countries were presented. The most urgent and unanimous conclusion to emerge from the meeting was the need for a positive and concerted effort to prevent erosion and collapse of characteristic limestone bedrock cliffs along the Mediterranean coast.

Participants representing municipalities in Alexandropoulos, Kavala, Haifa and Netanya highlighted the pressing need for government action at the national level to tackle the coastal erosion problem. They stressed that their cities desperately need large-scale investments for environmental engineering projects, but that the response from both national and regional authorities generally lags behind. It takes years to draft, approve and carry out regulations to provide financing from the national level, participants said. “Meanwhile, magnificent environmental assets are being eroded away, sometimes even endangering human life.”

"Everyone talks about climate change and the importance of coastline preservation, but in the meantime the beautiful cliffs of the Mediterranean are endangered by government procrastination," argued Prof. Alterman. "Fighting cliff erosion requires significant investments. Mare Nostrum calls on all governments in the region to recognize this shared problem and act quickly."

Participants of the Mare Nostrum workshop came from universities, municipalities and NGOs in Greece, Spain, Malta, Turkey, Israel and Jordan.

Mare Nostrum’s Volos workshop to focus on case studies, cross-border action

The Mare Nostrum project’s first workshop, titled “The Input of Local Knowledge” – to be hosted by the University of Thessaly in Volos, Greece on July 23-25 – will focus on applying Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) across national borders, as well as on laying down the methodology ahead of the upcoming case studies.

The University of Thessaly in Volos

“After sharing information and data on national level in Haifa, it is now time to do the same on local level,” said workshop coordinator Prof. Ioannis Papatheocharis of the University of Thessaly, referring to the project’s opening conference in Haifa in early March. Those preparing case studies will present their study areas on the first day of the workshop, and sketch out a preliminary analytical presentation of each area. 

This will include environmental, socio-economic and demographic data, and legal and institutional factors, as well as existing ICZM policies and instruments, obstacles to their implementation and a brief survey of local stakeholders involved in ICZM in each study area. This will inform discussion on the overall methodology of the case studies illustrating existing practices and impediments to implementation. 

Case studies will include Alexandroupolis, Greece; Aqaba, Jordan; the Grand Harbour Area in Malta; Haifa, Israel; Kavala, Greece; the Marine environment of East Macedonia and Thrace in Greece; and Valencia Port Area in Spain. Topical case studies focusing on a specific aspect over a wider geographical region include one on Public Participation in ICZM in Israel, and another on the Regional Framework on Spatial Planning of East Macedonia and Thrace.

A key aspect of the workshop will be to examine how the proximity of national borders hinders implementation of ICZM on the ground, and how ICZM might be more successfully implemented on the supra-national level.

On the second day of the three-day event bringing together partners from around the Mediterranean basin, Mare Nostrum initiator and coordinator Prof. Rachelle Alterman will present the project’s first report, “Platform of Existing Knowledge on the Implementation Gap in Coastline Management”, and lead discussion on its content. 

The report – to be published on the Mare Nostrum website and in print – will critically evaluate current knowledge on international and national/regional ICZM initiatives and instruments, and will preliminarily assess their applicability to the various Mediterranean legal-institutional contexts, modes of governance and cultural specificities.

Concluding the workshop, there will be discussion of the Mare Nostrum project’s administration and communications, and a detailed presentation on the legal and institutional framework of ICZM as practiced in Greece, given by Prof. Elias Beriatos, Prof. Harry Coccosis, Prof. Paschalis Arvanitidis and Evangelia Balla.

Mare Nostrum brings together representatives from 11 partners: the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the University of Thessaly, the Democritus University of Thrace, the municipalities of Kavala and Alexandroupolis in Greece and Haifa in Israel, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, Port Institute for Studies and Cooperation of the Valencia Region (FEPORTS), Amman Center for Peace and Development, Integrated Resources Management Co Ltd. (IRMCo) and Interteam Content Services. Experts from Italy, Turkey and elsewhere will advise the team.

New US plan paves way for local authorities to prepare coastal and marine spatial plans

The Obama administration released a comprehensive action plan earlier this month for protecting the United States’ lakes, oceans and coastlines. While the announcement was overshadowed by the Boston Marathon bombings, US environmental groups lauded the move as an important step forward.

The National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan is based on a policy put together by the Obama administration in 2010. That policy - the countries first-ever for protecting its marine resources - created the National Ocean Council (NOC), a body designed to increase cooperation among the multiple federal agencies working in the field.

President Obama signs the Executive Order for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts & the Great Lakes

In its announcement, the White House emphasized that the new plan would not create any new legal tools or administrative bodies, but noted that it had been put together with the cooperation of a diverse set of stakeholders.

In addition to streamlining the federal bureaucracy, the plan is expected to help administrative bodies share data with each other and with the public, and will facilitate the restoration of coastal habitats.

One aspect of the plan that is of particular interest to us at Mare Nostrum is the opening it creates for local authorities in the US to prepare coastal and marine spatial plans, with the participation of local public and stakeholders. This tracks quite closely with the work we are doing on finding ways to improve implementation of existing laws and frameworks at the local level in the Mediterranean region.

The US government’s move also comes as the European Union is moving forward with its first binding directive on coastal spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management.

Policy tools and Med coast initiatives focus of Mare Nostrum's Kickoff conference

During the three-day Mare Nostrum opening conference, experts from different countries shared experience with various tools and information about laws and initiatives related to the Mediterranean seafront.

“The Mare Nostrum project is different from other ICZM projects in that it focuses on what needs to be done to improve conservation and management and how to carry this out,” explained Mare Nostrum initiator and coordinator Prof. Rachelle Alterman, referring to the EU Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean (ICZM). The Mare Nostrum project “will provide alternative tools for incremental improvement of implementation measures from the bottom-up, with emphasis on action at the local level. Each local government faces its own particular obstacles and impediments,” she noted.

Director of the Priority Action Plan, Regional Activity Center (PAP/RAC) at UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan, Zeljka Skaricic described the Pegaso project to facilitate ICZM implementation among scientists, stakeholders and policy decision-makers in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions by linking scientific knowledge and information required for the sustainable management of both coastal areas and marine environments.

                                  

Former coordinator of COBSEA, the UNEP Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia, Dr. Ellik Adler, said that the program’s experience shows that it is critical to train the planners, government authorities and practitioners. He also stressed the importance of local level action in the absence of funds at higher levels of government.

Speakers related when and how coastal environmental protection legislation was enacted in their countries. Pablo Gorostiza Fryeiro of the Foundation Port Institute of Studies and Cooperation of the Valencian Cummunity (FEPORTS) described Spain’s demolition policy. University of Palermo Prof. Francesco Lo Piccolo said that demolition of illegal development along coasts in Italy has occurred only in rare exceptions. Prof. Fatma Unsal, of Turkey’s Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, stressed that it is “essential” to incorporate ICZM into planning legislation.

PPGIS session at Mare Nostrum Kickoff event

Democritus University of Thrace Prof. Georgios Sylaios described the Coastal Zone Observatory, established as a department within the municipality of Kavala, Greece, which monitors land uses and development pressures, assesses impacts, analyzes legal and administrative obstacles, involves the public and stakeholders through PPGIS and other means, and proposes concrete policy actions.

Mare Nostrum receives €4.3 million EU grant for Med coast preservation

The Mare Nostrum Mediterranean coast conservation project received €4.3 million in funding from the European Union (EU).

The 3-year project will explore new ways of enhancing policy to improve the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of the Mediterranean coastline, in light of the EU Barcelona Convention’s Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean (ICZM).

Mare Nostrum received the EU award through the European Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument - Cross-Border Cooperation in the Mediterranean (ENPI-CBCMED).

“The project’s primary goal is to contribute to bridging the gap between the ideals of coastal zone management and its actual effects on the ground at the local, national and cross-border levels,” said Mare Nostrum initiator and coordinator Prof. Rachelle Alterman of the Israel’s Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Mare Nostrum’s strategy is to identify successes on the ground in handling ostensibly local obstacles to implementation, and using insights gained to inform policy improvements around the Mediterranean basin and create new tools for ICZM, she added.

“Mare Nostrum is different from other ICZM projects in that it focuses on what needs to be done to improve conservation and management and how to carry this out,” Prof. Alterman commented.

Mare Nostrum brings together representatives from 11 partners: the Technion, the University of Thessaly, the Democritus University of Thrace, the municipalities of Kavala and Alexandroupolis in Greece and Haifa in Israel, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, Port Institute for Studies and Cooperation of the Valencia Region (FEPORTS), Amman Center for Peace and Development, Integrated Resources Management Co Ltd. (IRMCo) and Interteam Content Services. Experts from Italy, Turkey and elsewhere will advise the team.

In its first year, Mare Nostrum will conduct baseline research and data collection, compile case studies and develop communications tools. In 2014 the partners will design and implement participatory GIS, develop a policy Toolkit, and hold workshops with local stakeholders and a think tank conference.

In the last year of the grant cycle, Mare Nostrum plans to implement a pilot involving stakeholders, and draft model legislation for cross-national use. Mare Nostrum participants will also examine the feasibility of establishing a Mediterranean ICZM Action Forum to interface with relevant bodies globally and allow the project to continue to evolve thereafter.

Mare Nostrum partners explore Israel's coastline

Representatives of Mare Nostrum partner organizations spent the first day of the project's “kickoff meeting” touring Israel's coastline from north to south, in what project head Prof. Rachelle Alterman described as the “first-ever” tour of Israel's coastline focused on law, spatial planning and regulation.

Rosh Hanikra 

Israel's coastline extends some 200 km, from Rosh Hanikra on the border with Lebanon in the north to Gaza in the south. In that relatively limited area, multiple uses compete for space, with some 150 km either already built or planned for use. Approximately three-quarters of Israel's fast-growing population lives in urban areas along the coast, making cities and other residential areas a major contributor to development pressure along the Mediterranean. Military installations, infrastructure, nature preserves and other uses make up the rest.

The day began in the north, at Rosh Hanikra. Conference participants took a cable car down to the grottoes underneath the border, where a ranger from Israel's Nature and Parks Authority described the challenges of protecting that part of Israel's marine environment. Current and proposed regulations for “protected areas” were discussed, as well as the implications for marine flora and fauna of military activities and recent discoveries of natural gas deposits.

Heading south, the members heard from Nir Papai, of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), about the struggle for the Beztet beach (similar to the more famous  Palmahim beach near Ashkelon). There, environmentalists managed to roll back developers' plans for resort construction.

In Haifa, the group heard back-to-back presentations by the COO of the Israel Ports Authority Dov Frohlinger and planners from the Kishon Stream Authority. While the two organizations' offices are located in the same compound, where the Kishon estuary meets the Haifa port and marina, they are locked in a conflict over plans to expand the port. The port's management wants to use the banks of the stream, beyond the 10 meters on each bank protected by law, for storage of shipping containers, while the Stream Authority is pushing for that area to become a public park.  An interim compromise has been reached for widening the protected zone, but the issue is still before the national planning authorities.

Ela Alexandri of SPNI discussed some of the environmental issues and conflicts along the City of Haifa’s coastline. These include a conflict over plans to electrify the train, whose tracks divide the city from its seafront; civic activists and city hall have proposed an alternative plan to move the train underground so as to enable a pedestrian connection to the seafront.  Later in the week, head city planner Ariel Waterman would tell the group that Haifa's connection with the sea is the most pressing planning issue on the city's agenda and that city hall has been making great efforts to convince the Ports Authority to open at least part of its premises to the public.

The next stop on the tour was Netanya, where chief planner Paul Vital took the group on a bus tour of some of the coastal city's new neighborhoods. He spoke about the city's efforts to clean up a massive garbage dump, built right on the coastline, and replace it with public green spaces and limited real estate. Vital also showed the group around a memorial for Red Army veterans, built inside a coastal park and inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Vital, who was born in Greece, chatted with the group's large Greek delegation in their native tongue.

 Paul Vital tells Mare Nostrum reps about future plans for the coastal city

The final stop of the tour was in Herzliya, where Prof. Alterman spoke about the city's marina, approved in the 1990s with “vacation apartments,” a quasi-legal designation invented to soften the prohibition on building apartments adjacent to the coastline. Over the years, the question of vacation apartments has been repeatedly challenged in the courts, but it remains something of a gray area. This and similar legal loopholes which facilitate development on the coast were familiar to many of the project’s partners.