Coastal dunes vulnerability assessment to impacts of overtourismravenna coast, italy

Resumen

There are different-nature factors that may favour coastal modifications in the Ravenna coastal region. Both natural and human-induced processes dictate coastal changes and have a marked impact on the area. The Ravenna coast is one of the most important tourist destinations in Italy and its tourism industry contributes significantly to the Gross Nation Product (GNP). Wide, sandy beaches are of a national heritage and major attraction for beach visitors and public interest in beach recreation is great. However, this unique coastal environment is extremely fragile and affected by the phenomena of shoreline retreat at a great extent (Bertoni et al., 2005). However, the region has one of the most threatened coastlines in Europe (Eurosion, 2004). Beach erosion has direct consequences for Ravenna tourist-based economy, which depends on the attraction of sandy beaches. Over the last years, beaches of Ravenna coast have experienced large modifications, in some place narrowing or even completely lost, threatening tourism and other developments as well as nature. In many places, the combined effect of present human activities and natural coastal processes has created a narrow coastal zone. This `coastal squeeze' is a manifestation of inability of the coast to sustain present development pressures on the area. Despite many attempts to stabilise the coastline against erosional processes by establishing engineering frontage along the coast and several nourishment projects, the problem of coastal retreat in the area yet stands. Coastal dune systems are highly threatened environments (Garcia Mora et al., 2001; Ergin and Williams 2010), yet they provide fundamental ecosystem services to coasts, acting, for example, like a natural protective barrier against severe natural hazards. As the result of an excessive exploitation of natural resources and services that they offer, rapid population growth, as well as urban and industrial development, many coastal dune ecosystems are nowadays being seriously altered int the Ravenna coastal region, some of them irreversibly affected (Sytnik and Stecchi, 2014). Combining analyses in the context of existing knowledge of controlling processes in the coastal zone of Ravenna, an integrated explanation for patterns of major coastal changes related to both dune and shoreline features was proposed in the study. The primary goal of the study was to assess the changes driven by both natural and anthropogenic activities and utilise a relatively simple, objective method to identify those parts of the coast at the most risk of coastal retreat.