Strategies for sustainable coastal management in Asia and the Pacific - perspectives from a regional intiative

The coastal areas in the East Asian and Pacific region have experienced intense development and growth during the past few decades. Rapid growth in economy and population has been accompanied by adverse impacts on environmental quality and living resources in these areas. This has created a challenge for researchers, coastal managers and policy makers to understand both the nature of developmental impacts and the drivers behind them in order to devise effective strategies to respond to the trend of degradation in coastal habitats. Successful strategies have to be designed with due consideration to the socio-economic conditions as well as the state of coastal ecosystems in the region