Coastal Environment: Management

Explain why coastal enviornment need to be managed [25] 

Coastal Environements around the world influence and impact human activity to those living nearby to these environments. Coastlines are changing through erosional and depositional processes constantly and are also changing through flooding and climate change challenges ogf the modern world. Therefore due to humans living or using these environments ut requires management. In this essay I will look at why they need to be managed through examples such as the Holderness coast, Dutch Deltas and Ainsdale Sand Dunes. 

The Holderness coastline ,located on the North east of the UK, is well known for its seaside tourist destinations and landforms along its coastlines. The strench of coastline is also the fastest eroding coastline in Europe with an average of 2 metres per year eroded away, with some areas suffering as much as 8 metres per year. The coatsline has many settlements along it such as Hornsea, Mappleton and Aldbrough to name a few. Some other settlements are as near as 50 metres away from the cliff line. Prehistoric Roman settlements have also been taken and eroded away from this coastline as shown through evidence and records. Therefore relating to the importance of the area, coastal management is needed. 

Firstly looking at the village of Mappleton, which is to the North East of Hull along the Holderness Coastline, has 50 houses, an old 14th Century church and major access road passing (B1242) through it to access other parts of the coastline. This village is under threat from the eroding coastline with the road and residents living there leads to a need to protect and manage the area. Therefore the council used cost benefit analysis and decided to install 1.5 million pound worth of sea defences such as groynes to build up a beach area in front of the cliffe line for protection from erosion. This has been managed in this way as the counclil found it was more cost effective and cheaper to protect the coastline to keep the major access road rather than re-direct the road when it was claimed by the sea. These defences are needed to secure the future of the settlement and the road. 

Looking at another settlement along the coastline, the vaillege or hamlet of Aldbrough contains much farmland, caravan parks aand few sparsely located houses. This area has suffered an adverse effect of the sea defences of Mappleton leading up to 8 metres of coastline is being eroded away each year. This is called Terminal groyne syndrome as after the last groyne up…