Human geography is related to people and the way people interact with their surroundings. Examples of this would be the movement of people, the management of areas where people live.
Coastal management schemes are very important because a large amount of the worlds population live and work on the coast, coastlines can be a very important way for an area to boost their economy; usually through tourism.
There are two types of coastal management one is soft engineering which is ways of managing the coast with out using structural techniques. This is things’ such as beach nourishment, changing the erosive ability of waves, by building a submerged barrier. Two is hard engineering, which is using structural techniques. These are things such as sea walls, groynes and revetments. Other hard engineering techniques are things such as the dumping of boulders and sub surface drainage
When deciding what coastal management scheme to put in place whether it a sea wall or an area to hold flood water, the people undertaking the project must look at possible solutions that would be best in relation to physical factors the chosen scheme will be the best scheme to limit or stop the thing that is occurring. They are likely to take into account the rock type in the area the height of land, shape of the land and the cause of the problem. Possible and reasonable solutions would be put forward and the best solution in relation to the physical geography is likely to be put in place. On top of the physical considerations come the human considerations these are things such as are they going to cause unsightly views is it going to cause conflict between local people and the local government. Human Factors that effect whether a coastal management scheme is put into place would be things such as, how many people will it be protecting, what type of properties will it be protecting, (the more expensive properties that are in the area the more likely it is that the area will have a coastal management scheme put in place.)
I believe that it is important for all coastal management schemes to be appropriately assessed through a cost benefit analysis, but also through a local
Examples of coastal management schemes are; the land reclamation scheme “Zuider Zee” in Holland. The groynes put in place at Bournemouth in the south east of England to combat long shore drift.
An example of a localized coastal management scheme is the management of Hayle Sand Dunes which borders St Ives bay on the North coast of Cornwall.
The problems that the sand dunes are facing is, trampling of the dunes by tourist and other visitors to the area, uncontrolled parking has damaged the edge area or the dunes, litter from visitors and also dog fouling. To add to this holiday parks have been built on the dunes, which increases dune use and dune deprivation. Decline in the number of various plant species in the area.
What is being done to overcome the problem, restoration of the dunes by the replanting of some plant species, planting maram grass, which holds the dunes place as they have a good rooting system, fencing of areas to stop people using them and establishing footpaths. This has been done by laying duck boards to slow down erosion problem produced by users of the dunes. Increasing the number of car parks and the improvement of existing car parks. Rotating the use of the car parks.
The contingency plan is to educate people about the possible effects of inappropriate use of the dunes. This is being done through guided walks, sign posting of areas and information leaflets for the public.
This has not caused conflict between local people but has cost them money. It is helping to preserve the area and is a suitable management strategy in respect of physical and human means. This is the balance that all management strategies for the coast should achieve.