Sustaining Caribbean Coastal Areas

Population, Health, and

Coastal Resource Management

Roger-Mark De Souza

Population Reference Bureau

The Case of Small Islands

“Small island developing States … are ecologically fragile and vulnerable. Their small size, limited resources, geographic dispersion and isolation from markets, place them at a disadvantage economically and prevent economies of scale. For SIDS the ocean and coastal environment is of strategic importance and constitutes a valuable development resource.”

- Agenda 21, Chapter 7, para 17.124

Some Key Points…

• Role of population dynamics

• Health impacts in coastal areas

• Management strategies

• Lessons from community based project

What Are Coastal Zones?

• Coastlines 120 miles wide

• From low-tide mark inland and extending seaward

• Includes ecosystems near shore:barrier islands, mangrove swamps, salt

marshes, seagrass beds, coral reefs

• Includes marine fisheries

Importance of Coastal Zones

• Provide region with food and materials for new medicines

• Protect coastal settlements from storm damage

• Generate income from tourism

• Fragile and vulnerable biodiversity

Importance for Caribbean

• Steep slopes and rapid changes in topography create small, scattered ecosystems

• Small size of ecosystems• Concentration of population and activities in

small areas intensifies stress conditions• High frequency and variety of natural disasters• Close coupling of terrestrial, coastal and

marine systems results in fast-spreading impacts among systems

Human Causes of Change in Coastal Zones

Population Dynamics

Technological Change

Political-Economic

Institutions

Attitudes and Beliefs

Economic Growth

Population, Health, and Coasts

Size

Composition

Distribution

Human Health Perspective

Environmental Health Perspective

Population Balancing Equation

Pt+1= Pt + (Births - Deaths) + (Inmig. - Outmig.)

Natural Increase Net Migration

Population Doubled in 50 yearsThousands

Migration Trends

• Net migration usually more significant than natural increase

• High emigration rates — safety valve

• Usually a significant return flow • Trinidad and Tobago — 85 percent to 98

percent

Distribution and Composition

• 60 percent of the Caribbean population lives less than 100 kilometers from a coast

• 30 percent of the population is under age 15

• 7 percent is over age 65

Future Population Trends

• Declining fertility

• Declining mortality

• Increasing life expectancy

• Low population growth

Population in 2010

• Stable or decreasing population under 25• Increase by about 13 percent of population

25-64• Labor force population = 65 percent of

population• Greatest increase in 45-64 year old group• People 65+ will constitute 10 percent of

total population

Population Pressures

• All capital cities in insular Caribbean are on coasts

• Coastal areas identified with principal industrial complexes, trade centers, and resort tourism enclaves

Impacts on Coastal Zones

• Residence in coastal zone• Sewage and waste disposal• Clearance of mangroves and littoral

forest for human habitation• Increased pressure on local fisheries• Erosion, siltation, floods, storms

• Increasing development fueled by remittances

Temporary Populations…

“The region is moving from the production and sale of primary materials such as sugar, cotton, and fruits to the sale of tourism services based on sun, sand, and sea.”

— State of the Environment Report, UNEP

Tourism

• 100 million tourists visit Caribbean each year• Is about 12 percent of LAC’s gross domestic

product• Concentrated along the coasts• 43 percent of combined gross domestic product

of Caribbean and one third of export revenues• For 2005, scuba-diving tourism could generate

some US$1.2 billion in income

Impacts of Tourism

• 70,000 tons of waste are generated • Increasing popularity of yacht and cruise ship

destination produces more waste• Inadequate collection systems in ports to deal

with solid waste produced by visitors• Havana Bay has concentrations of 70 micromoles per

liter of nitrogen from ammonia and between 0.7 and 2.5 micromoles per liter of phosphorus, causing eutrophication of certain areas

Types of Pollutants

• Toxic chemicals

• Sewage

• Agricultural nutrients

• Nonbiodegradable litter

• Sediments

• Pollution from maritime transport and oil production and pollution

Sediments and Pollution

• Sediment load in coastal waters more than 10 million tons per year

• Excessive fertilizer use furthered algal population growth and eutrophication in coastal lagoons

• Between 80 percent and 90 percent waste waters discharged without treatment

• Region’s mangrove ecosystems are being affected • Up to 65 percent of Mexico’s mangroves lost

Some Positive Trends

• Islands with fewer people and little fishing pressure have reefs in good shape• Bonaire, Cayman, Turks and Caicos,

parts of Bahamas

• Sometimes diving tourism promoted awareness of reef conservation

Two-thirds of Reefs at Risk

• Most reefs off Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Dominica, Barbados highly threatened

• All reefs of Lesser Antilles are at risk

Source: World Resources Institute

30%

37% 33%

Low Low

High High

MediumMedium

Ecosystem Health

• Fisheries depletion from bycatch• Negative ecosystem impacts from types of

fishing gear and blast fishing• Exploitation and loss of food supply• Poor management• Exotic species• Loss of marine fauna • Unhealthy coastal habitat

Major Causes of Disease

• Sewage from untreated or poorly treated domestic waste• Bathing in or ingesting sewage-contaminated water

can cause ear, eye, and skin infections, cholera, infectious hepatitis, pneumonia

• Children under age 5 are particularly affected

• Chemicals and heavy metals caused by runoff of pesticides and industrial effluents that become stored in seafood• Most dangerous are ones like mercury that persist in

marine environment and accumulate in food chain

Current Coastal Management

• Independent stand-alone coastal manage-ment units (legislation)

• Coastal zone divisions (large, comprehen-sive management agencies)

• Fragmented management systems (piecemeal regulation and legislation)

• Implied recognition of• vulnerability of coastal zone to sea level rise• need for regulation of pollutants

Integrated Coastal Management

• Management of coastal zone as a whole in relation to local, regional, national, and international goals

• Considers community needs and relevant practices in given locality • fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, manufacturing

industry, waste disposal, and tourism

• Balance between competing uses of water and natural resources, hoping for long-term environmental health and productivity

Key Elements of ICM

• Multiple stakeholders• Strong scientific foundation• Early public participation• Community and local management• Networking at regional and national levels• Capacity building• Strong extension services• Reliable data and indicators to measure

success

Ideas to ponder — How to…

• Manage coastal issues in an integrated way

• Address population factors and human needs

• Educate public and raise awareness• Involve communities in protection and

management• Create social and economic incentives