GEOSS Support for Decision-Making in the Coastal Zone: Managing and Mitigating the Impacts of Human Activities and Natural Hazards in the Coastal Zone

A workshop series organized by the GEO Coastal Zone Community of Practice

The Second Regional Workshop in the Workshop Series of the GEO Coastal Zone Community of Practice (CZCP) took place as a part of a broader workshop organized by UNESCO's International Hydrological Program (IHP) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)/GOOS. This workshop address decision support through Earth observations for coastal zone management, water resource management and understanding and adaptation to climate change in Africa. The workshop was organized in partnership with UNEP, GTOS, the African Association for Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE), Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME), Benguela Current Commission (BCC), and the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem (ASCLME).

The workshop focused on two sub-themes: (1) Strengthening Observing Systems Capacity for Managing and Mitigating the Impacts of Human Activities and Coastal Inundation in the African Region; and (2) Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in Africa. Although there were significant difference in the issues addressed in these sub-themes, it was also a goal to identify data and capacity building needs common to both sub-themes.

Sub-Theme 1: Strengthening Observing Systems Capacity for Managing and Mitigating the Impacts of Human Activities and Coastal Inundation in the African Region

The program of the first sub-theme was organized by the CZCP. Under this sub-theme, the regional workshop focused on the specific needs, challenges and capabilities in the coastal zones of the African region. In contrast to the first CZCP Regional Workshop in Athens, this sub-theme provided a first critical assessment of the situation pertaining in tropical coastal countries of the developing world. The Workshop aimed to enlist strong participation from all the coastal countries around Africa. Socio-economic issues were at the heart of this African Regional Workshop. The burgeoning coastal population of Africa both looks to the coast for an improved quality of life through, for example, food and shelter, and is most at risk where the resilience of the coast is weak and becomes a key political issue. The capabilities in ocean observation and forecasting are fairly well-known. New knowledge on coastal vulnerability on the regional and continental scale has also recently become available (http://www.africanmarineatlas.net). However, much less is known about the capabilities in decision-making and coastal zone management, in particular those aspects dealing with the terrestrial issues (runoff, erosion rates, sedimentation, etc.).

Specific objectives of the Sub-Theme 1 included:

• Comparison of scientifically sound scenarios for time-space extent of coastal inundation, storm surge, and erosion processes in the coastal zone and for impacts of coastal flooding on coastal infrastructure; human health risks (exposure to waterborne pathogens); ecosystems (e.g., water quality, habitats, biodiversity); and living resources (organisms and habitats).
• Assessment of present observing system capacities for providing the data and information required to assess changes in susceptibility (risk and resilience) both temporally (annual to decadal scales) and spatially (100 meter to 1 kilometer resolution).
• Determination of observing system requirements for the provision of data and information needed to quantify changes in susceptibility on appropriate time and space scales.
• Assessment of training capacity and gaps in marine sciences, fisheries and coastal resource management
• Promotion of an increased awareness among coastal planners and managers of geospatial patterns of susceptibility and causes of changes in susceptibility, both short term (e.g., coastal engineering) and long term (e.g., changes in sea level).
• Assessment of capacity for evaluating ecosystem services and resource valuation.
• Assessment of the existing policy frameworks for coastal resource management
• Pilot project designs, implementation of which will increase operational capabilities for the sustained provision of data and information on environmental changes across the land-sea interface that affect susceptibility.

Sub-Theme 2: Mitigating the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources in Africa

Sub-Theme 2 was organized by UNESCO's IHP. This part of the meetings focused on National Committees of IHP. More information is available in the Circular Letter 382.