Integrated framework for beach management/ marco integrado para la gestion de playas

Resumen

The subject of this study are changing beach environments in the context of increasing popularity of seaside tourism and rapid urbanization with the main focus on coastal erosion and beach quality issues. The sea and its shores are the main focus for modern holiday tourism, and a well-managed beach is considered to be the main asset of the attractive destination. Beaches are highly valued by societies, as they provide a wide range of ecosystem services, many of which are crucial to human welfare and national economies. Beaches significantly contribute to the economics of coastal region, generating employment and a high percentage of regional incomes. However, the human activities associated with the rapid urbanization and tourism development exert considerable pressures on beach environments and may lead to their degradation. These impacts are exacerbated by predicted increases in storminess and sea-level rise. The need for new sustainable strategies for beach management has been underlined by several Bodies and international coastal policies. The main aim of this research is to develop an integrated approach for adaptive beach management that considers the type of the environment (e.g. natural, cultural and social), and which includes: i) protection of coastal environment and ecosystem and ii) quality improvement (development) for recreational uses, and test it at a global level (EU and Latin America). The developed beach management approach integrates different monitoring methodologies among which are the DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Response) framework; the Systems Approach Framework (SAF); and Beach Quality Index (BQI), which was designed in order to assess the “Environmental Quality” and “Human Welfare and Health” of three types of beaches at different levels of urbanization. The main aim of this research was reached through the three studies that are included in the thesis. The first study reviews the approaches to erosion and beach quality issues in three Southern European countries (Portugal, Spain and Italy) and at six particular study sites: Costa da Caparica and Ria Formosa (Portugal); Huelva and Sitges (Spain); Marina di Massa and Marina di Ravenna (Italy). It discusses the effectiveness of the approaches, and analyses the impacts of applied approaches on environmental quality and human welfare. The overview of the examples of good and bad practices allowed the formulation of management recommendations, which can improve the efficiency of beach management decisions and thereby to contribute to proper onsite management. The second study focuses on coastal erosion issue in Monte Hermoso and Pehuen Co (Argentina), two beaches that are located near the city of Bahía Blanca on the Atlantic coast in the south of the Buenos Aires Province (Argentina). The application of the complementary approaches, the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) and the Systems Approach Framework (SAF) resulted in an analysis of the coastal erosion issue, a better understanding of the interactions between drivers and pressures, as well as the consequent effect on the state of the environment and impacts on human welfare, and finally the identification of possible management responses to mitigate the coastal erosion issue and the responsible authorities. The third study evaluates the quality of three different beaches (urban, urbanised and semi-rural) in Emilia-Romagna (Italy) through the application of the Integrated Beach Quality Index (BQI), which included eight indicators, grouped in to two components (“Environmental Quality and “Human Welfare and Health”). The possible management responses for improving the quality of three individual beaches were proposed and the responsible authorities were identified. The results of the study demonstrated that the composite index is a useful tool for evaluating beach quality, identifying the main strengths and weaknesses of the study areas, and to support the decision making process. Moreover, it can significantly contribute to the development of Beach Management Plans aimed to support an effective management of individual beaches, enhance beach tourism and boost income. The three studies have demonstrated the efficiency of applied beach management approaches to improve the ecological and environmental quality of individual beaches and to enhance their recreational value. The integrated approach intends to be used within the integrated Beach Management Framework aimed to increase a value of beaches for tourism and in long term contribute to the sustainable development of coastal areas. It could be used at a global level, but need to be adapted for the local specifics.