ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY COASTAL PROTECTION THE ECOPRO PROJECT

摘要

In the battle to preserve land against the ravages of the sea man has created many inappropriate protection structures on the coast. Often the coastline which is being protected is, inherently, in dis-equilibrium with nature. When combined with the increased recreational usage of the coastal zone, the rise in sea level and the increased incidence of storms, accelerated erosion rates are often the result. The Environmentally Friendly Coastal Protection project, or ECOPRO for short, developed a coastal erosion assessment method for the non-specialist. It devised a system for optimising erosion monitoring and developed a guide to select of an appropriate coastal protection response. The project results are contained in the ECOPRO Code of Practice. This 320-page guide explains the steps involved in assessing and monitoring coastal erosion problems, planning protective actions and evaluating their environmental impact. Prepared by the Offshore & Coastal Engineering Unit of Enterprise Ireland, it is the result of four years of work which was supported under the EU LIFE Programme and drew on expertise from Ireland, Northern Ireland and Denmark. This paper presents details of the project and the development of the Code.