ABSTRACT
The coastal zone represents the interface between land and sea. It extends to include those areas of land and sea where there is interaction and comprises four elements: the land, the seabed, the intertidal zone and the water. Developed from management approaches to deal with rural resources, coastal zone management is an umbrella term which encompasses many methods and modes but with the underlying objective of moving towards a more sustainable use of coastal resources. The advantages of integrated approaches are increasingly recognised but initiatives in the U.K. can only be undertaken through non-statutory, voluntary means. The British Government has confirmed its commitment to a coastal management system based on a sectoral approach, with different management systems operating in different parts of the coastal zone. Like other European countries, the U.K. has a well established, statutory system of town and country planning.
