 
The following projects are currently underway:
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The following projects are currently underway:
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 Integrated
Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
'This is a continuous
process with the general aim of implementing sustainable development in
coastal zones and maintaining their diversity. To this end it aims, by
more effective management, to establish and maintain (sustainable) levels
of use, development and activity in coastal zones, and eventually to improve
the state of the coastal environment.' (European Commission 1996)
Beaches
and Sand Dunes
Dunes are accumulations of sand blown from the beach by the wind. The unusual conditions that prevail within dunes (e.g. sandy substrate, low nutrient levels, and variable soil drainage/disturbance regimes) combine to produce a unique ecosystem. Dunes also provide an important natural defence against coastal erosion. It is not uncommon for storms to erode the seaward edge of dunes but in doing so, the sand that is released onto the beach acts to reduce the impact of the storm. In the weeks and months that follow, sand is gradually returned to the beach and the dune reforms as sand is blown onto it. 
Sand
Dune Conservation and Management
Globally, sand dunes are fast disappearing
– the result of the large range of human activities concentrated at the
coast. Dunes in Donegal are generally less developed, and are of international
importance for wildlife. However, they area now under threat from intensive
recreation
The LIFE Project
Management plans produced by the LIFE project
are to be based on an understanding of natural processes and current uses.
An ongoing programme of interdisciplinary scientific assessment is being
carried out at each site. This can be split into three related areas: geomorphology,
ecology and human utilisation. Coastal landforms and physical processes
are being studied by historical analysis, mathematical modelling and topographic
survey.
The management plans will attempt to strike
a balance between utilisation and conservation of the beach and dune systems.
The plans must also be acceptable to land owners, tenants, beach users,
and organizations with an
Implementation began with awareness-raising
at a number of levels (e.g. interpretation boards, articles in the news
media, scientific presentations, inter-governmental meetings). It continues
with the production of a brochure, newsletters, regular web-site updates
and public meetings. The project has also contributed to the recently launched
draft Coastal Zone Management Policy for Ireland, and participates fully
in meetings of the European ICZM demonstration programme. The management
plans will be implemented in 1999 and 2000 using LIFE project resources,
and by seeking additional funds at regional, national and international
levels. It is envisaged that beach/dune plans will be reviewed within the
framework and time-scale of the Donegal Development Plan. The project also
plans to produce a good practice guide for community-based sustainable
coastal management.
The
Demonstration Sites
Management plans are currently being prepared for the following beaches in County Donegal
Rossnowlagh (Belalt Strand)
Contacts:
If you would like to participate in this project by providing information, comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact us: Dr J.A.G.(Andrew) Cooper
(email: jag.cooper@ulst.ac.uk),
LIFE Project Leader, Coastal Research Group, School of Environmental Studies,
Coleraine, BT52 1SA. N. Ireland.
You can also send submissions, comments,
questions, etc to us at life@ulst.ac.uk
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Work by the Coastal Research Group involves repeat topographic profiling, sediment sampling and analysis, analysis of historical changes, digital air photography and wave modelling in order to interpret observed changes in tidal flat morphology in advance of sea wall strengthening. The research being undertaken here by Dr Fatima Navas, Dr Andrew Cooper and Dr Derek Jackson is supported by the Rivers Agency of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (NI) For further information see STRANGFORD LOUGH SEA DEFENCES PROJECT TOP
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Environmental management studies have shown that frequently the perceived environment is more important than the actual environment when practical management is involved. For this reason, the role of perceptions of beach users and managers is critical in the management process. A study is being undertaken in conjunction with the Irish beach and dune management project described above, to assess the perceptions of beach users, managers and local residents, in relation to coastal zone management in County Donegal. This study began with an assessment of the patterns of beach use and is progressing with questionnaire-based assessment of different group’s responses to management issues. This project is being undertaken by Elaine Atkinson under the supervision of Andrew Cooper and Dave Eastwood.
The role of property rights and patterns of land holding have potentially profound influences on coastal zone management. It is however clear that many property owners do not fully exercise these rights for a variety of reasons and others either do not know what rights they have, or assume rights to which they are not entitled. In the absence of certainty regarding property rights, a vacuum exists in which strength of public opinion, variations in character among property right holders, and financial constraints (which limit access to the courts for many individuals and groups) provide serious barriers to coastal management. This is being investigated at four sites in Northern Ireland: Portstewart strand, Giants Causeway, Strangford Lough and Dundrum Bay by Eric Bann under the supervision of Andrew Cooper and with the support of a Quota award from the Department of Education (NI)
Reference: Cooper, J.A.G. & McLaughlin, S. (1998) Contemporary multidisciplinary approaches to coastal classification and risk analysis. Journal of Coastal Research, 14: 512-524. TOP
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The approach has involved primary data collection at over 300 estuaries around the South African coast. This has required water quality measurements in each estuary, fish community sampling, appraisal of estuarine aesthetics and geomorphological data collection. As a first step this information has been compiled into a database, which in many instances contains the first information collected on the estuary. Data conversion is then undertaken using an indexing approach. A geomorphological classification of estuaries is produced, based upon the morphology and dynamics of each system. Estuaries of similar shape and dynamics are then assumed to contain similar habitats and consequently similar faunal assemblages. This permits the construction of a potential versus actual fish assemblage comparison for each estuary within a group, and a consequent assessment of its health based upon the fish assemblage. Water quality data are similarly simplified using rating curves to reduce the information to a common scale. Data are then aggregated to produce indices of suitability for human contact, suitability for aquatic life and trophic status. Aesthetic data are collected which assess the deviation from a natural state which the estuary presently displays. This requires assessment of various levels of human impact on the water surface, the floodplain and the area visible from the floodplain. This index of “naturalness” provides a more objective assessment of status than other measures based on landscape preferences. The index information is portrayed as a series of simple icons that can be used at the national, regional and sub-regional scale to manage the estuarine resource. Map- South Africa
References: Cooper, J.A.G., Harrison, T.D. & Ramm, A.E.L. 1994. The estuarine Health Index: a new approach to scientific information transfer. Ocean & Shoreline Management, 25: 103-141. Cooper, J.A.G., Harrison, T.D. & Ramm, A.E.L. 1995. The role of estuaries in large marine ecosystems: examples from the Natal coast, South Africa. In: Okemwa, E. & Sherman, K. (eds) Large Marine Ecosystems, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. TOP
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The replacement of the natural coastline with tourism-related structures over the last 50 years has had a large impact on the morphodynamical sensitivity of the littoral system. Changes in erosional and depositional sequences induced by human pressure on the physical environment are susceptible to quantitative analysis. The methods used to establish a characterisation of past and present morphodanimic conditions in Costa del Sol relate numerical simulation of wave-induced processes, climate and computerised analysis of sediment yield from coastal streams. SEE FURTHER INFORMATION. 
Coastal Research Group
The legal framework for CZM in Ireland is very complex incorporating local, national and international measures. It is structured on a sectoral basis, has a strong land-sea divide and in a lot of cases is in need of revision. The foreshore, which is the area between the high and low tide marks, is defined by statute in the Foreshore Act 1933. This means the definition will exist until this act is replaced or amended. Brady Shipman Martin in their draft Coastal Zone Management Policy for Ireland (1997) have called for its revision. The Mean High Water Mark (MHWM) is the terrestrial limit separating County Council jurisdiction from Department of the Marine & Natural Resources jurisdiction. In law, the definitive boundary between these institutions is the county boundary, or MHWM, as marked on the current Ordnance Survey map (Crosbie, 1994). The law cannot adequately take the natural changes in water marks into account. Consequently the situation exists where new land is formed but its legal position is uncertain - a potential conflict area for inhabitants and coastal managers alike. This was found to be the case in the University of Ulster Coleraine/Donegal County Council's LIFE/ICZM project for Irish beaches and dunes (McKenna et al., 2000). Conversely the situation exists where erosion has caused the High Water Mark to move seaward - again a source of legal uncertainty. These uncertainties mean that effective management of the coastal zone is made very difficult for local authorities (O'Hagan et al, 2001). Local authorities have no particular expertise or training in managing the coastal zone and, in a lot of cases, do not know what powers are available to them. This again makes effective management difficult. This project will examine the current management of dynamic elements of the coast. Specifically it will ask whether current legal and institutional arrangements are suitable to the reality of a dynamic environmental system. Subsequently a new and responsive approach to coastal zone management will be designed to take these issues into account. References:
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and
inappropriate uses, such as overgrazing, dumping and sand extraction. These
actions can destroy fragile dune flora and fauna, and potentially can lead
to the loss of the system as a natural coastal defence. It is vital for
future generations that these areas are managed correctly.
All published
maps and aerial photographs are being used to trace the development of
each system from the 1830s to the present. This is performed by overlaying
images using a computerised rectification system (ARC-INFO). Modelling
of wave dynamics (HISWA) using bathymetric data from Admiralty Charts will
simulate the effect of storms on the beach and dune systems. Topographic
and seasonal variations in beach and dune profiles are being studied using
Global Positioning System (GPS) techniques. The biodiversity of dune plant,
beetle and bird communities is also being surveyed along the profiles.
The ecology and management of the dune systems will also be described at
the macro-scale by habitat mapping (using Natura 2000 categories). Beach
utilisation is being studied by questionnaire and observational surveys
in 1997 and 1998 in order to understand the factors that lead people to
visit the beaches, and to describe and interpret the ways people behave
once they are there. Assessing the distribution of visitors, vehicles and
activities is of great importance, both in describing current pressures
and in zoning uses in future management plans. This process will be aided
by the installation of remote video cameras linked to the Internet (coming
soon!).
interest in the coastal zone. A fundamental aspect of the project is the
participation of coastal communities at every stage of the process. This
is to ensure the widest possible support, and to diffuse potential conflicts.
Regular public meetings are being held at each site to obtain information,
and to canvass opinion on proposed strategies prior to the implementation
of the plans. In addition, experiences (both positive and negative) of
long-term management of Atlantic dune systems by the National Trust in
Northern Ireland will be used to inform the decision-making process.
