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Most of the world's population lives close to the coast and is highly dependent on coastal resources, which are being exploited at unsustainable rates. These resources are being subject to further pressures associated with population increase and the globalization of coastal resource demand. This is particularly so for the Asia-Pacific region which contains almost two thirds of the world's population and most of the world's coastal megacities. The region has globally important atmospheric and oceanic phenomena, which affect world climate such as the Asian Monsoon and the El-Niño Southern Oscillation phenomena. The Asia-Pacific region also has highly significant marine diversity but over the last few decades, coastal resources such as mangroves, coral reefs and fisheries have experienced large-scale depletion. The need to find appropriate management solutions to these and other coastal issues is made more complex by the need to take account of international scientific predictions for global climate change and sea-level rise which will further impact on these coasts. The idea for this book arose from a meeting of coastal scientists in Kobe, Japan in May 2003. The meeting was organized by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), an inter-governmental network, comprising 21 member countries, for the promotion of global change research and links between science and policy making in the region.
List of contents
Importance of Global Change for Coastal Management in the Asia-Pacific Region.- State of the Environment in the Asia and Pacific Coastal Zones and Effects of Global Change.- Coastal Management in The Asia-Pacific Region.- Catchment-Coast Interactions in the Asia-Pacific Region.- Coastal Evolution in the Asia-Pacific Region.- Human Responses To Coastal Change in the Asia-Pacific Region.- Hot Spots of Population Growth and Urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific Coastal Region.- Pressures On Rural Coasts in the Asia-Pacific Region.- Impacts of Pollutants in the Asia-Pacific Region.- Landscape Variability and the Response of Asian Megadeltas to Environmental Change.- New Directions for Global Change Research Related to Integrated Coastal Management in the Asia-Pacific Region.
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From the reviews:
"There is a clear message that emphasizes the need for understanding of coastal process relationships in an integrated manner, such as physical catchment and coast interactions, and social interactions relating to economics, tourism and cultural values, while also emphasizing the need for participation in coastal management through different levels of the community (local through to national). .... Another strength of Global Change and Integrated Coastal Management is the geographical nature of the content. This book brings together socio-economic, cultural and physical environmental change. This is an advantage over other coastal texts currently available, and globalizes its value to all coastal scientists."
(Martin Shingle, New Zealand Geographer, Vol. 68 (2), 2008)
"Global Change and Integrated Coastal Management is a synthesis of scientific findings from research funded by the Asia-Pacific network for global change research (APN). ... For students of coastal management, the book gives a very good description of ICM methodology and is worth including in studying a range of coastal management methods. ... it does have a wider appeal to students and practitioners of coastal management (globally) for comparative approaches to coastal management concepts." (Martin Single, New Zealand Geographical Society, Vol. 68 (2), 2008)
