ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades there have been significant improvements in the methodologies used to undertake Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) in the coastal zone. This chapter provides a description of key coastal landforms, processes and habitats, and summarises relevant legislation and policy. In the context of the pressures faced in the coastal zone, it sets out proposed approaches to scoping environmental investigations, and coastal ecology and geomorphological surveys and studies. It considers typical impacts that arise in the coastal zone, their sources and nature, and methods of impact prediction, as well as options for impact mitigation and the purpose of and approaches to monitoring. Coastal geomorphology is the study of coastal landforms, and in particular their nature, origin, development processes and material composition. A coastal sediment cell includes the beach above the highest tides, windblown sand, and any sediment within the surf zone and out to the depth where sediment is not disturbed during fair weather conditions.
