ABSTRACT
In coastal countries, half of the population are estimated to live in coastal zones, with two thirds of the world’s largest cities located on the coast (Reports of the Conference Working Groups, 2001). In many of these countries, large parts of the coastal zone are negatively affected by anthropogenic impacts. These include pollution from local or upland sources, population increase resulting in habitat degradation, multiple resource use conflicts and over-exploitation of resources (Norse, 1993). If these areas are to be restored, enhanced or maintained then management intervention is necessary. To that end, the system of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) was promoted as the approach best suited to addressing this problem. The purpose of ICZM is to ensure that the process of setting objectives, planning and implementation involves as broad a spectrum of interest groups as possible, so that the best possible compromise between different interests is found and a balance is achieved in the overall use of a coastal area (Post and Lundin, 1996).
