PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
In 2004, EUROSION estimated that 20% of the European coasts are subject to erosion and the cost of combating this impact could rise to 5 billion euros by 2020 (from 1990). It concluded that coastal resilience could be improved through better sediment management and the preservation of wild coastal areas large enough to ensure natural coastal dynamics. But the shoreline is often considered as having no specific limits and ecosystem-based solutions are still not well known or implemented. Local stakeholders are used to resisting coastal processes with hard engineering solutions based on the shoreline stability and systematic land planning. Alternatives for flexible shoreline management have proven possible based on the presence of a natural or agricultural land in shore and the ability to relocate some of the activities. As a consequence, areas of transition between the sea and the coastal defences, that actas buffers for coastal risks, have progressively disappeared with an increased risk of marine submersion and erosion.
OBJECTIVES
The general objective of the LIFE Ad'Apto project was to demonstrate that ecosystems and natural coastal habitats should be included in flexible coastal management plans to improve climate change adaptation in coastal areas.
More specifically, the project aimed to:
- Increase understanding of the shoreline's dynamics and the necessity to adapt to it, rather than resist it;
- Demonstrate concrete and effective actions implemented on a wide range of local situations covering various geographical contexts that are representative of the ecosystems and of the maritime regions of Europe (including overseas);
- Define the role of natural areas in managing natural risks, improving environmental quality and promoting economical balance, with a view to organising an efficient sea-land interface adapted to climate change;
- Develop methodological tools for initiating and evaluating solutions for coastal area adaptation based on ecosystems; and
- Improve knowledge of these solutions to boost their recognition at a local, national and international level.
RESULTS
The main objective of the project was to support the development of adaptive management strategies based on restoration of natural habitats and ecosystems to better mitigate the impacts of climate change in coastal areas (sea level rise and submersion especially).
To this aim, securing strategic land, implementing a diversity of restoration works and involving local stakeholders were foreseen to prepare 10 pilot territories for a future reconnection of a part of their land to the sea while improving the role of the local natural habitats for climate change effects mitigation. Transfer of knowledge was also foreseen from the most advanced sites (i.e. with an adaptation strategy already defined) to the less advanced ones.
The main outputs of the project have been the following:
- Securing about 155 ha of land to ensure a sustainable management of coastal areas in the future while facilitating reconnection to the sea;
- Designing adaptation scenarios for the 10 project sites in partnership with local stakeholders; these strategies have generally been included within local management plans in order to ensure their implementation in the future;
- Strong improvement of knowledge of the local stakeholders, users of the sea and inhabitants on the risks linked to climate change in coastal areas and on the most probable evolution of these areas in the future thanks to the huge conciliation work carried out during the project;
- Developing a large range of excellent awareness-raising and communication tools (at least 128) to continue sensitisation in the future;
- Developing methodological approaches for biodiversity, landscape evolution and social perception monitoring to continue analysing the evolution of the reconnected areas in the future;
- Restoration of 5 km of natural land and sea interface and reduction of potential risks for 6 400 persons.
The support given by the beneficiaries to the local stakeholders in the Baie de Lancieux (Ploubalay) and in the Marais de Moëze following unexpected breaches in the first rank dikes during the project had a strong demonstration value. This is the same with, for example, the huge work done to accompany the reconnection to the sea of the Terrains François in the Orne estuary or the building of the second row dyke in Baie d’Authie.
Numerous project activities are expected to be continued in the future in the frame of new or already ongoing projects (e.g. LIFE Ad’Apto and INTERREG project MANABAS) but also in the frame of the new Contrat d'Objectif of the CB in which one of the aims is to replicate project activities for the design of adaptive management plans in 20 new sites within the CdL jurisdiction. The monitoring protocols developed during the project have also been integrated as available tools to support the implementation of the local management plans designed or updated during the project.
