Assessing the Application Potential of Selected Ecosystem-Based, Low-Regret Coastal Protection Measures

Abstract

Climate change and subsequent processes triggered by climate change demand novel assessments and protection schemes in coastal environments, as frequency and intensity of extreme events as well as mean sea water levels are expected to rise. Most often, conventional coastal engineering approaches are solely built for protection purposes, but often come with negative side-effects to the coastal environment and communities. During the last decade, new concepts in coastal engineering have started emerging. Several technical measures with an ecosystem-based design have been developed and, in some places, already implemented over the last decade. These low-regret measures, for instance green belts, coir fibers and porous submerged structures, reveal their full potential as stand-alone coastal protection or when used in combination with each other. They are believed – and in some cases documented – to be a better alternative or potential complement to conventional “hard” coastal engineering protection. Concrete examples are taken from the densely populated coastal area of Jakarta Utara (North Jakarta) and the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD), showing benefits and further opportunities, but also challenges for applied low-regret coastal protection measures and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction. An assessment of the application potential of three “soft” protection measures is given and discussed.