Coastal zone management
Sustainable management
Many of our management programmes relate to the coastal zone, a crucial and complex area due to the resources the zone holds, the extreme pressures upon it, and its environmental importance and vulnerability.
Cefas provides advice and practical solutions for assessing and managing the environmental effects of human activities in the coastal zone. We support policy makers and enforcement agencies with their development and enforcement of legislation to achieve a sustainable balance between conservation and exploitation.
Modelling for the future
Computer models are key to understanding and predicting the combined effects of multiple human activities on the coastal zone. We apply models to assess the effects of wide ranging influences such as fishing, dredging, pollution and coastal constructions. We integrate Geographical Information Systems (GIS), remote-sensing techniques and use an ecosystem approach to produce management tools for the costal zone.
Wide-ranging expertise
We monitor the activities impacting on coastal zones, assess their combined environmental effects and provide advice to minimise environmental impacts. Activities include:
- Effluent discharge
- Dredging and dredge disposal
- Oil and gas exploration and production
- Offshore wind energy development
- Impact of fishing
- Impact of fish farming
- Coastal construction
- Aggregate extraction
- Agricultural run-off
