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by the socio-economic system that has super-imposed itself upon the natural lagoon
system. It requires measurements of and accountability for the values that the lagoon
ecosystem provides to the SES that affects it.
has compiled a series of
papers on rethinking sustainability in terms of institutional roles and many other
societal considerations.
Harris
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8.2
IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM AND NEED
FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
Since early times, human settlement of coastal zones and utilization of these highly
productive natural resource areas have created rural and urban landscapes reflecting
cultures centered on trade and largely oriented toward the use of these special
ecological systems. Agricultural development, urbanization, and associated indus-
trial developments continue to modify and impact the coastal zones globally. It is
no wonder that we find today that in most NATO coastal countries the vast majority
of the population lives within a 50-km coastal band.
This has resulted in direct and
indirect impacts that have considerably reduced the ability of these ecosystems to
meet an ever-increasing demand for their use and development. Human population
impacts have upset the delicate ecological balance and have resulted in the compro-
mised health and productivity of both the ecological and economic systems no longer
best serving the people of the area.
It is ironic that the values provided by the lagoon systems that have been the
basis for human habitation and development are those values that have been most
significantly impacted as a result of habitation. If coastal zones are going to continue
to meet competing interests, an integrated, balanced management approach must be
defined and implemented for the long term. The management approach must consider
not only the broad interests for use and development (demand), but also the natural
resource limits for delivery of goods and services (supply) and consequences of
overutilization. Decisions about lagoon management should be based upon the best
available scientific ecological and economic information and should be made with the
best tools and processes available.
Just as the decade of the 1970s was considered the foundation of modern envi-
ronmentalism, the 1980s were recognized as the emergence and framing of the concept
of sustainable development. The World Conservation Strategy (WCS) launched by
the IUCN in 1983 not only presented the popular definition of sustainable develop-
ment, but also concluded that existing decision-making structures and institutional
arrangements, both national and international, were inadequate to meet the demands
of sustainable development.
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Numerous multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) resulted, and the
multilateral fund encouraged participation of developing countries.
The 1990s
were then considered the decade for implementing sustainable development as the
trend toward gobalization accelerated. The 1992 UNCED Rio Earth Summit pro-
duced major advancements in the implementation and application of sustainable
development. Agenda 21 provided a blueprint for the environment and development
into the 21st century and resulted in several major conventions and agreements.
The Global Environmental Facility (GEF), created in 1991, and the Commission
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