Coastal ecosystems: A critical element of risk reduction

The conservation of coastal ecosystems can provide considerable coastal protection benefits, but this role has not been sufficiently accounted for in coastal planning and engineering. Substantial evidence now exists showing how, and under what conditions, ecosystems can play a valuable function in wave and storm surge attenuation, erosion reduction, and in the longer term maintenance of the coastal profile. Both through their capacity for self repair and recovery, and through the often considerable cobenefits they provide, ecosystems can offer notable advantages over traditional engineering approaches in some settings. They can also be combined in "hybrid" engineering designs. We make 10 recommendations to encourage the utilization of existing knowledge and to improve the incorporation of ecosystems into policy, planning and funding for coastal hazard risk reduction

Uniendo ingeniería y ecología: la protección costera basada en ecosistemas

En un contexto de crecientes impactos y riesgos socio-económicos en las costas del planeta, la protección costera basada en ecosistemas surge como un nuevo paradigma que une los principios de protección, sostenibilidad y resiliencia, a la vez que proporciona múltiples beneficios. Este artículo ofrece una perspectiva sobre qué son y cómo se pueden utilizar las defensas naturales en el diseño, planificación y gestión de costas. La política pública muestra un creciente interés por su implementación general y el cuerpo de conocimiento y experiencia alrededor de la también denominada infraestructura ?verde? es creciente, pero aún existen importantes barreras que salvar. Una de ellas es estandarizar su diseño en términos ingenieriles, así como reconocer los aspectos que los diferencian respecto a enfoques tradicionales. La adaptación climática y la reducción de riesgos son áreas en las que su utilización puede ser más significativa, debido a la variedad de servicios que ofrecen. Tanto desde el punto de vista técnico como económico, existen argumentos sólidos para evitar la degradación de los ecosistemas, avanzando su restauración y conservación, como también desde la perspectiva de la defensa de las costas.In a context of increasing socio-economic impacts and risks in the coastal areas of the planet, coastal protection based on ecosystem features becomes a new paradigm that combines the principles of conservation, sustainability and resilience, while providing multiple benefits. This paper provides a perspective on what these are and how they can be used in the design, planning and management of the coastal zones. Policy-makers are calling for further uptake and implementation across the board and the body of knowledge and experience around the socalled ?green? infrastructure is growing, but there are still major barriers for a widespread uptake. One of them is to standardize designs in engineering terms, recognizing the different characteristics compared to traditional engineering solutions. Climate adaptation and risk reduction are areas where its use may be more significant, for the variety of services they offer. Both technically and economically, there are strong arguments to prevent degradation of ecosystems and to advance in their restoration and conservation, as well as from a coastal defense perspective

Coastal flooding by tropical cyclones and sea-level rise

The future impacts of climate change on landfalling tropical cyclones are unclear. Regardless of this uncertainty, flooding by tropical cyclones will increase as a result of accelerated sea-level rise. Under similar rates of rapid sea-level rise during the early Holocene epoch most low-lying sedimentary coastlines were generally much less resilient to storm impacts. Society must learn to live with a rapidly evolving shoreline that is increasingly prone to flooding from tropical cyclones. These impacts can be mitigated partly with adaptive strategies, which include careful stewardship of sediments and reductions in human-induced land subsidence