PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Bantry Bay is situated on the southern coast of Ireland at the western end of County Cork. Lying on a northeast / southwest axis, it is a natural geographic unit, approximately 48km long and between 4 and 10km wide, with very deep water, capable of taking supertankers to its upper reaches. The Bantry Bay area is home to over 12,000 people living in a variety of communities. It is an area of outstanding scenic landscape. The long, narrow bay is a natural safe harbour at the edge of the Atlantic ocean, sheltered between the mountainous spine of the Beara Peninsula and the gentler slopes of Sheeps Head. Islands are scattered the lenght of the Bay, the three largest of which, Bere, Dursey and Whiddy, are home to distinct communities. Bantry Bay is also home to the State's oil transhipment terminal, one of Irelands largets fishing ports, and has the country highest density of aquaculture units and is one of its businest tourist areas. These diverse attractions, activities and the attendant development potential heightened the demand on the areas space and resources. There are a range of views and aspirations as to how the area should develop and a range of agencies promoting and regulating development in the area, with little or no coordination. Before the LIFE project no Coastal Zone Management legislation existed in Ireland. There was therefore a need to improve the management of the area. Against this background, in January 1997, Cork County Council, in partnership with the Coastal Resources Centre of the National University of Ireland, Cork and the Nautical Enterprise Centre of the Cork Institute of Technology commenced participation in the European Commission LIFE programme.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the project was to develop a consensus-based Integrated Coastal Zone Management strategy for Bantry Bay; through the adoption of a stakeholder's charter, the use of innovative dispute resolution techniques and a community based GIS catalogue of resources. This basic objective was to be achieved through the following focused objectives: The establishment of a stakeholder committee, identification of stakeholder goals and development and implementation of an agreed stakeholder charter. The review of European and National ICZM methodologies, legal frameworks and institutional arrangement at national and local level, established coastal planning, conservation and management techniques, and current activities of regulatory bodies. To catalogue and map the resources of Bantry Bay (using GIS) for the purpose of creating a publicly accessible resource management tool for stakeholder use during the project and to coordinate information needs. The establishment of the operating areas (existing and potential) of various maritime activities with a view to developing a sustainable and safe operational system for the Bay. The introduction of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques to resolve the multi-user conflicts and to train local community leaders in the techniques of consensus building, mediation and dispute resolution. Assimilation of the findings of objectives 1-4 and identification of a preffered approach to ICZM for Bantry Bay. To prepare an ICZM strategy for Bantry Bay, which would be based on the principle of sustainable development and would reflect the aspirations of the stakeholders and would be implemented by regulatory bodies and the stakeholders. To ensure that the final strategy was of high quality, had validity, and embraced best practices of CZM.
RESULTS
The project produced the following outcomes: The production of a Charter, which included a collection of integrated management proposals for the costal zone of Bantry Bay, agreed by the stakeholders. A comprehensive review of the principles and practices of ICZM and a review of legislation, statutory instruments and instititional arrangements for ICZM in Ireland. A publicly accessible GIS was created and made available in the Charter Office, local libraries and on the Internet. The GIS included a range of information relating to administration, topography, infrastructure, coastal structures, nautical features, the environment, planning and land cover data. A comprehensive Maritime Operations Report, which examined the concept of an integrated operational system for the management of maritime activities in Bantry Bay. An ICZM strategy for Bantry Bay, which set out an action programme for each of the Charter proposals. This included a time scale for completion of actions, identification of who should be involved, what actions needed to be carried out jointly, and performance indicators for monitoring the success of implementaion External Quality reports were carried out and a follow-up survey of stakeholders undertaken. The Charter was awarded the National Planning Achievement Award 2000 by the Irish Planning Institute and the National Print Award for Digital Print.The project produced the following outcomes: The production of a Charter, which included a collection of integrated management proposals for the costal zone of Bantry Bay, agreed by the stakeholders. A comprehensive review of the principles and practices of ICZM and a review of legislation, statutory instruments and instititional arrangements for ICZM in Ireland. A publicly accessible GIS was created and made available in the Charter Office, local libraries and on the Internet. The GIS included a range of information relating to administration, topography, infrastructure, coastal structures, nautical features, the environment, planning and land cover data. A comprehensive Maritime Operations Report, which examined the concept of an integrated operational system for the management of maritime activities in Bantry Bay. An ICZM strategy for Bantry Bay, which set out an action programme for each of the Charter proposals. This included a time scale for completion of actions, identification of who should be involved, what actions needed to be carried out jointly, and performance indicators for monitoring the success of implementaion External Quality reports were carried out and a follow-up survey of stakeholders undertaken. The Charter was awarded the National Planning Achievement Award 2000 by the Irish Planning Institute and the National Print Award for Digital Print.
