Pollution from Farming and Harbours Imperils Coastal Habitats: New Report
25 June 2021 (UNEP)* — The plants and animals that live along the world’s coasts are coming under increased pressure from pollution tied to harbours, agriculture, and fish and shrimp farming warns a new report from the International Resource Panel.
However, coastal resources are increasingly facing detrimental impacts from human activities on land. For instance, around 80 per cent of marine pollution originates onshore.
The International Resource Panel’s new report examines numerous land-based sectors and identifies the three that impact coastal resources the most: agriculture, ports and harbours, and aquaculture, which includes fish and shrimp farming.
Agricultural runoff, particularly from chemicals that leach from fertilizer, is a major threat, as are chemical discharges and waste from aquaculture.
Nutrients used in both industries, including nitrogen and phosphorus, and persistent toxins can end up in coastal waters, leading to oxygen depletion and creating marine dead zones.
Meanwhile, the construction and operation of ports alter sediment, turbidity and current patterns, which harms coastal ecosystems, such as seagrass meadows. Invasive species can also be introduced through the ballast water of ships. On top of this, port operations and ship engines create noise pollution and generate substantial pollutants.
As the global demand for food and agriculture is projected to rise and the shipping industry to expand, there is an urgent need to manage the impacts of these land-based activities on coastal resources to ensure the sustainability of nature and the blue economy, the report said.
Historically the management of the ocean has been fragmented by natural, legal and administrative boundaries, the report said. Land and sea are often governed separately and pertinent sectors are not communicating with each other.
Moreover, impacts arising from land-based activities may cross national borders, which creates, even more, governing challenges.
“There are very few, if any, truly effective governance mechanisms that take account of land-ocean interactions,” wrote Izabella Teixeira and Janez Potočnik, Co-Chairs of the International Resources Panel, in the report.
The world needs new governance frameworks that connect land and sea together, and consider the entirety of the impact of land-based stresses, the report urged.
“We’ve got to stop looking at the problem in a fragmented way,” said Fletcher. “Land-based activities in one country may contribute to degradation of coastal resources in another region. “This should now be a global priority.”
An example of integrated land-sea management can be found on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. The landscape has a high-value forest and coastal biodiversity, but also rapidly expanding agricultural production and a growing population. It has experienced extensive degradation of soil, forest, water and biodiversity. The Sustainable Landscapes Programmebrings together various land-sea stakeholders to create action plans that meet food security, biodiversity, water and climate change targets. That maximizes the efficiency of coastal and land resources and minimizes the ecological footprint of export products.
The report said the world needs regional regulatory frameworks that would oblige industries to take into account their impact on coastal resources and local communities. It also said monitoring and evaluation frameworks and decision-support tools are important instruments to ensure the effective governance of coastal resources.
In this way, these can better account for, and ideally reduce, the effects of land-based activities on coastal resources and thereby support the transition to a sustainable blue economy, the report said.
*SOURCE: UNEP. Go to ORIGINAL.
