Coastal Resilience
Coastal Resilience is a planning approach being used by leaders in a number of places around the country and around the world. It is the use of best available science to develop maps and planning materials to help local communities and resource managers make informed and effective planning decisions to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of their communities.
It is a set of methods and approaches to be more thoughtful about identifying which communities are at risk, which neighborhoods, which schools and which elder care facilities, identifying which areas are perhaps unsuitable for future growth -- those low-lying areas subjected to flooding, as well as areas that are threatened by future storms and increasing sea levels, and continued improvement between emergency management and ongoing longer-term conservation and development planning.
This planning also includes the use and enhancement of natural barriers and natural system conservation, which is one of the best tools we have for reducing the impact of hurricanes. Wetlands such as salt marshes have tremendous ability to slow down storm surges and deflect the energy of waves away from vulnerable coastlines. If we can continue to promote and restore and enable these marshes to exist, we're essentially getting this defense or green infrastructure at a very low cost.
Coastal resilience.org is a website with tools, resources and materials being used by a number of communities as they implement these approaches.
The purpose is to provide communities, planners, businesses, and officials with easy access to information on projected changes in sea level and coastal storm impacts in order to assist in coastal planning and management decisions.
Stakeholders can consult Coastal Resilience whenever faced with tough choices about people and nature in the face of reasonable future flood scenarios along our coastlines.
For ease of use, critical coastal information is accessible through interactive decision support tools. These tools are designed to help stakeholders explore ranges of flooding scenarios from sea level rise and storm surge, analyze the potential ecological, social, and economic impacts of each scenario at local to regional scales, and provide progressive solutions to address current issues. Because this information is web-based, it can be used by anyone, including those who live, work, or invest near the coast.
By comparing the social, economic, and ecological conditions under future coastal hazard scenarios, stakeholders and decision-makers can better understand their options and prepare more complete analysis of trade-offs, thus improving decisions and coastal management.
MEDIA
"Irene a cause to plan ahead" , article from ctpost.com
MATERIALS FROM THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
Marshes on the Move, A Manager’s Guide to Understanding and Using Model Results Depicting Potential Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Coastal Wetlands. October 2011. From The Nature Conservancy Global Marine Team & NOAA National Ocean Service Coastal Services Center.
Link to document: Marshes on the Move
