“What effect will this decision have on the natural habitat along my coastline 20 years from now?”

It’s a question local councils and planning officials in coastal towns and cities need to ask every time they consider a proposal for local development.

For coastal municipalities, especially, the answer holds lasting consequences for the livelihoods and wellbeing of the next generation of residents, investors and business owners.

Nowhere else is the prosperity of a community so directly linked to the condition of the natural habitat - the beaches, coral reefs, estuaries, mangroves and seagrasses.

After all, it is the splendour of the ocean and beaches, together with the abundance of marine life, which lures hundreds of millions of people to live, work and play along coastlines worldwide. Each of the following enterprises generates income for coastal communities and each depends on the market and non-market services that coastal habitats provide:
• Commercial and recreational fisheries
• Mass coastal tourism
• Community and recreational services
• Ports and shipping
• Nature and adventure tourism

But for how long will coastal habitats serve their communities as a destination for tourists, a source of food and investment, a workplace for jobs and a playground for families?

Above excerpt from: Coastal ecosystems for countless benefits, October 2009, Advisory Paper, The Coral Reef Targeted Research & Capacity Building for Management Program.

Related content: Occheauteal Beach Gets a “Face Lift”; DOST to undertake coral reef restoration in Southern Leyte

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“What effect will this decision have on the natural habitat along my coastline 20 years from now?”

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