Spatial information-based approach for integrated coastal resource management in Asian tsunami-affected countries

Tariful Islam¹and Sugianto Saman²

The coastal area shows high population density with many urban conglomerations and in consequence, rapid population growth. Therefore, an Integrated Coastal Resource Management (ICRM) process is needed to develop and manage human uses of coastal resources following the principles of sustainable development. ICRM must be aimed at maximizing synergistic and complementary interactions and minimizing competitive and antagonistic ones. Coastal tourism can be an abstract component of biodiversity resources (ecotourism).

The catastrophic disaster that occurred on 26 December 2004, devastated the coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Maldives, Malaysia and other countries. Dramatic changes in coastal morphology and bathymetry have been observed. Small changes in coastal morphology and topography will undoubtedly affect surviving mangroves because they have very specialized ecological niches. A systematic and organized process for spatial planning for the coastal area is urgently required before the population returns and reconstruction become well-advanced. To do this, geospatial information systems can be utilized as a decision support system to assist in the decision-making process.

The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how GIS technology and spatial information systems can be used for integrated coastal resource planning and management, and to support rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, thereby contributing to rebuilding livelihoods in Asian tsunami-affected areas.

The first part of the paper provides a definition of the coastal area and a short description of its peculiarities and unique management problems. This is followed by an outline of the importance of GIS technology in coastal area management. Methods and tools for spatial analysis, such as GPS, GIS and RS, and their integration and application to coastal area management are reviewed and documented. Issues related to the use of GIS for efficient data handling and analysis of geographically related data are emphasized.

The second part of the paper describes how GIS technology and spatial information systems could contribute to the development of multisectoral integrated land-use planning for sustainable and equitable natural resource (with reference to land, agriculture, fisheries and forestry) management in Asian tsunami-affected coastal areas. An attempt is made to give an overview of spatial information that can be useful for sustainable land-use planning and how multiple users can deploy it. A number of examples are documented in the literature that describe the use of GIS technology for modelling processes and events within the coastal area. Despite the increasing use of the technology, a detailed review of the literature revealed that multistakeholder-focused use of GIS for developing natural resource-based (especially for agriculture, forestry and fisheries) spatial information and its use in planning is still limited. Hence, a key recommendation of this paper is the need to involve stakeholders from all levels in multisectoral problem identification, finding its linkages or interdependencies and a follow-up strategy for sustainable natural resource management and development using spatial information systems. Additionally, an example of the use of GIS in coastal resource management in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, is presented followed by practical recommendations for coastal planning in tsunami-affected Asian countries.

1. Introduction

1.1 An overview of coastal ecosystems

The coastal area is a rich environment of high biological and physical diversity. Its ecosystem is defined by the interaction of terrestrial and marine habitats such as estuaries, coral reefs, seagrass beds, beaches and dune systems. From a human perspective, the coastal area is a fundamental component of the national economy of many coastal regions. It is used for resource extraction as well as for shipping and tourism activities. Human activity is characterized by competition for land and sea resources, in addition to competition for space and land uses by various stakeholders (Cicin-Sain and Knecht, 1998).

There is no universally accepted definition of the coastal area. However, there is widespread acceptance that it is a natural geographical area engaging a dynamic set of human activities. This encompasses all human activities related to the marine and terrestrial environment on coastal lands, the foreshore and the adjacent sea, including salt marshes and wetlands (Cicin-Sain and Knecht, 1998; Clark, 1996).

Coastal areas are commonly defined as the interface or transition areas between land and sea, including large inland lakes. Coastal areas are diverse in function and form, dynamic, and do not lend themselves well to definition by strict spatial boundaries. However, for the purpose of this paper, the “coastal zone” will mean the area on both sides of the actual land water interface, where both territorial as well as marine environments influence each other. In addition, interaction between various natural processes and human activity is an important factor in the coastal area. Generally, the coastal zone shows high population density with many urban conglomerations and in consequence, rapid population growth. Again, as a consequence, coastal areas are characterized by a high concentration of economic and, in particular, industrial activities with all the resulting problems of resource consumption, waste management and technological risk.

On the coastal waterside, fisheries and aquaculture exploit a generally highly productive system. Very specific (valuable as well as vulnerable) typical coastal ecosystems include estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves and coral reefs. Offshore activities such as oil and gas exploration and drilling are additional forms of exploitation. In addition, the coastal area also receives all water-borne waste, primarily attributable to agriculture (its fertilizers and agrochemicals) and all treated and untreated wastewater the hinterland produces. Therefore, there is an urgent need for intelligent management of coastal areas. To do so an Integrated Coastal Resource Management (ICRM) process is needed to develop and manage human uses of coastal resources following the principles of sustainable development.

1.2 Key sectoral linkages in coastal areas (with reference to tsunami-affected areas)

Agriculture, fisheries and forestry are the key resources in coastal areas and are also significant drivers of the local economy in tsunami-affected areas. They also provide livelihoods for coastal populations, including coastal cities. The coastal resource system is interdependent and inter-related and also has direct and indirect connections with inland resource systems. For instance, production of fish may be dependent on habitats for juveniles provided by mangrove swamps, and the health of a coral reef may be related to the filtering properties of the mangrove ensuring that only clear water reaches the reef. Conversely, a coral reef may die as a result of siltation from soil erosion, perhaps occurring many kilometres upstream, and caused by inappropriate forestry or agricultural practices. Mangroves, coastal dunes and reefs may protect coastal agriculture from erosion or storm surge. Air and water temperatures determine the types of agriculture, forestry and fisheries that are possible and affect productivity, while market characteristics affect their viability.

Such interactions may be categorized as synergistic, complementary, competitive, or antagonistic. ICRM must be aimed at maximizing synergistic and complementary interactions and minimizing competitive and antagonistic ones. For example, there is complementarity when a forest industry supplies timber for boat building or wood for the smoking of fish or when agricultural by-products are used in the feeding of cultured fish. Two or more activities may be synergistic when their interaction results in an increase in economic activity (or well-being) or environmental benefits greater than the sum of their individual results. For example, tree conservation on land cleared for agriculture not only provides wood and non-wood forest products, stabilizes the soil and generates agricultural products, but also leads to a more rational and complete use of soil fertility and energy, enhances synergetic relations between species, minimizes the risk of pests and diseases and diversifies economic opportunities. In addition, conservation and reforestation of coastal areas of tsunami-affected countries can enhance protection against erosion and storm events and improve livelihoods by increasing the productivity of agricultural and fisheries production systems, as well as through the production of wood and non-wood forest products.

Another important form of coastal land use is recreation, which is often the dominant economic activity in many parts of the coastal area. In many countries the coastal tourism sector is one of the main contributors to the GDP as foreign currency. Coastal tourism can be considered to be an abstract component of biodiversity resources (ecotourism). Zonation and local animal species will attract people to visit an area. In Northern Australia, for instance, mangrove species and crocodiles have become local coastal attractions. In this context, FAO and other agencies could enrich biodiversity in different tsunami-affected countries by rehabilitating coastal areas through reforestation, for example.

Dramatic changes in coastal morphology and bathymetry have been documented: Nearshore shoals may have subsided or been uplifted; reefs have shifted, been exposed or drowned; mangroves have been swept away or buried; and foreshores have been altered by sedimentation and erosion. Small changes in coastal morphology and topography will undoubtedly affect surviving mangroves as they have very specialized ecological niches. Human populations have been relocated and are now moving back to the sites where their former homes were. In short, the tsunami has had a dramatic impact on all aspects of coastal morphology, infrastructure and patterns of habitation, employment and transportation. A systematic and organized process for spatial planning for the coastal zone is urgently required before populations return and reconstruction become well-advanced.

Rapid assessments carried out by different agencies, donors and sister organizations of the UN (inter alia EPA, WFP, FAO and OCHA) immediately after the disaster confirmed that the fisheries sector was the worst hit by the calamity. However, crops and livestock, as well as coastal ecosystems including mangroves and other crop trees also suffered serious damage.

For example, in Indonesia damaged infrastructure included 1.3 million homes and buildings and 120 kilometres of roads and 18 bridges (Bappenas, 2005). Twelve districts of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) Province (Aceh Besar, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Barat, Nagan Raya, Simeulue Island, Aceh Barat Daya, Aceh Selatan, Bireuen, Pidie, Aceh Utara, Aceh Timur and Sabang Island) and the Nias Islands of North Sumatra Province were affected. Generally, the damage to the northern tip and western coast of NAD was more severe than the eastern coast and the Nias Islands.

Some implications of the disaster for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the productive sector involve:

• pursuing labor-intensive solutions in order to provide employment and immediate income for those who lost their jobs;
• reviving the thousands of small and informal enterprises through local procurement of goods and services, provision of microcredit, other appropriate financial services and training;
• concentrating on re-establishing a functioning marketing system for agricultural products and livestock in order to stimulate demand; and
• consider the trade-offs between restoring the previous shrimp and fish-farming activities and the need for coastal and ecosystem protection provided by mangrove forests.

The immediate priority of each country affected by the tsunami was to attend to the emergency, followed by efforts to rehabilitate and reconstruct. The main objectives of the latter are to ensure that agriculture-, fisheries- and forestry-based livelihoods are protected, rehabilitated and enhanced in a sustainable manner. To fulfill this objective an approach like ICRM provides an opportunity to build back better livelihoods in the tsunami-affected areas.

In order to support the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities, a geographic information system (GIS), relevant digital maps, and geospatial data have to be prepared as planning tools. Various types of information can also be extracted by interpreting high-resolution satellite images acquired before and after the tsunami event. These combined efforts will help to generate valuable information which will be useful for any kind of planning purpose in post-tsunami coastal areas.

In addition, there are key issues that are relevant to the use of spatial information systems for ICRM. Although there are currently detailed onshore maps (topography) and offshore charts (bathymetry) of tsunami-affected coastal areas of Asian countries, there are no standardized uniform geospatial products — either maps or charts — that integrate the two. Differences in scale, resolution, mapping conventions and reference data (horizontal and vertical frames of reference for mapping) prohibit the dovetailing of existing on- and offshore data. This lack of accurate coastal area maps is a serious impediment for coastal managers. Further, the lack of standardization and coordination of coastal zone data has led government agencies, the research community and the private sector to generate new data and maps for almost all new studies and initiatives, in some cases duplicating efforts. Standard data collection procedures and, most importantly, how this spatial information system can be used in participatory land-use planning and sustainable development, are also absent.

Recognizing this situation, it is imperative to develop a geospatial framework for the coastal area that identifies needs and makes recommendations in three areas:

• producing on-/offshore maps;
• improving coordination among coastal mappers; and
• increas ing data collection.

This will enable the development of spatial planning tools (e.g. participatory land-use planning [PLUP] for agricultural development) to support post-rehabilitation reconstruction and development work in tsunami-affected coastal areas.

1.4 An overview of technological support to rehabilitation and reconstruction

Geospatial information remains a key element in disaster management and follow-up rehabilitation and reconstruction in all Asian countries affected by the tsunami. Investments, both in planning and preparedness, affect the ability of agencies and aid organizations to respond, especially when time is critical. The enormity and the reach of the tsunami event illustrate the challenges of data acquisition, integration and sharing across jurisdictions and varying data systems. Interoperability remains a vital issue that is amplified by social and political differences. In spite of optimum efforts, the full potential of GIS was not realized in this event. Ideally, in best practice, GIS should be used in both phases of emergency management, i.e. response–recovery and rehabilitation–reconstruction.

The convergence of technology and scientific awareness heralds a new era of geospatial data handling and products that, for the first time, may allow us to address some of the key challenges faced by those charged with understanding and managing the coastal area. Recognizing these technological advances, the critical importance of the coastal area to the well-being of nations and the fundamental role that mapping and charting plays in understanding and managing the coastal area will be required to provide an independent assessment of national coastal area mapping and charting activities and needs in different tsunami-affected countries of Asia.

1.5 Rationale for developing an integrated approach for coastal resource management

Almost 80 percent of the world's population lives within 100 kilometres from the coastline, therefore, increasing pressure on this limited space will result in increasing degradation of the coastal environment. Problems in coastal areas include water pollution, shoreline erosion, flooding, salt intrusion, land subsidence and the degradation of coral reefs and mangrove forests. The damage by the 2004 tsunami was huge, partly due to bad land-use planning and management. Tsunami hazards can be mitigated by avoiding or minimizing the exposure of people and property through better land-use planning. Land-use and site planning should be emphasized in keeping new development areas out of hazard zones.

Coastal resource management includes a wide array of management practices that include: land-use planning; legal, administrative and institutional execution; boundary demarcation on the ground; inspection and control of adherence to decisions; solution of land tenure issues; settling of water rights; issuing of concessions for plant, animal and mineral extraction (for example wood and non-wood forest products, fishery resources, hunting, peat); and safeguarding of the rights of different interest groups (such as traditional and indigenous people, women, landless people).

Land-use and site planning for tsunami-affected areas relate to coastal resource management (CRM). CRM is too complex to be handled by traditional sectoral planning and management. To be effective, planning for integrated coastal resource management (ICRM) must be coordinated between sectoral implementing agencies along with the full participation of all stakeholders at all levels, i.e. in implementation and decision-making processes. A balanced management perspective is needed in which intersectoral relationships are fully understood, trade-offs are recognized and anticipated, benefits and alternatives are critically assessed, appropriate management interventions are identified and implemented, and necessary institutional and organizational arrangements are worked out. Participation at all levels should be ensured, discussed and agreed upon. This is the essence of ICRM.

ICRM can provide an overview of the coastal landscape and its natural development, both now and in the future: All subsequent rehabilitation work will depend on this. The overview must be established before strategic planning of the coastal zone can be initiated in the form of a traditional coastal zone management plan. This can be approached by providing the basis for the location of roads, railways, bridges and dwelling areas in the coastal areas of Asian tsunami-affected countries. Planning and relocation is best addressed within the framework of ICRM, which can improve the basis for spatial planning, reconstruction and protection of people and infrastructure and ecosystems in the coastal regions. In addition, there is also a good opportunity to establish better conditions than those that prevailed before the tsunami. Taking all of these factors into consideration, this spatial planning of the ICRM effort should be considered for current rehabilitation processes. ICRM can be the pre-assessment of the need for technical aspects of coastal rehabilitation through integration with many sectors and stakeholders, land conditions and suitability for post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction work.

Integrated management of the complex problem in the coastal area can only be achieved by means of spatial information systems developed by using local knowledge, expert knowledge, GIS and remote sensing (RS) techniques and inputs. RS covers all techniques related to the analysis and use of data from satellites and aerial sources. Analysis of RS data can provide an important input to the GIS environment. In its application to coastal planning, GIS can portray boundaries and deal with enormous differences in scale, especially when working with one map. This map will become a powerful tool for local communities, facilitators/extension workers, researchers and decision-makers in terms of identifying location-specific problems, analysing relevant causes and finding options or possible solutions for sustainable ICRM.

It has been reported (Smith et al., 1987; Tariful and Harun, 2004) that the combined use of GIS and other spatial attributes will offer unique possibilities for interpretation of location-specific data sets derived from various aspects such as soil type, nutrient status, land-use pattern, cropping pattern and crop yields. This combined analysis will generate spatial and digital databases and information, which will be useful to the involved community, extensionists, researchers, policy-makers and so forth. It is useful information, as well, for policy-makers in the extrapolation of results and in the identification of research and further development priorities on natural resource management at regional or village levels. Moreover, GIS-based integrated assessment of local knowledge and analytical results on coastal natural resource management would help to develop a rational decision support system for sustainable natural resource management and development in tsunami-affected coastal areas. More specifically, GIS-based integrated assessment, combined with spatial modelling and analysis, may provide an efficient way of filtering out areas that are most probably unsuitable for fish ponds, seaweed and fish cage culture, but suitable for coastal reforestation. For example, conflict between different land uses in the affected coastal areas has not been addressed since the tsunami struck, especially in the west coast areas of Naggroe Aceh Darusalam, Indonesia.

To solve conflicts or find optimal solutions, the integration of recent tools such as GIS, GPS and RS with data management, data analysis and modelling is required. In this paper, the state of the art of GIS technology and its applications in coastal area management are presented. Hence, this paper attempts to identify how GIS technology can support post-rehabilitation reconstruction and development efforts, as well as integrated coastal resource planning and management in tsunami-affected coastal areas.

2. Spatial information technology for coastal resource management

Spatial information technology can be used as a decision support system for decision-making. Typically, such a system includes spatial data relevant to the decisions, analytical tools to process the data in meaningful ways for decision-making and output or display functions. Spatial information technologies include three major types: GPS, RS (airborne and satellite) and GIS.

These three categories are related and often employed in an integrated fashion; RS images and GPS data serve as input into GIS, and aerial and satellite images are often verified or “ground-truthed” with GPS coordinates. Further, many spatial data are now available in distributed and Web-based databases. Thus, the developments in spatial information technologies cannot be separated from the general trends in information and communication technology.

2.1 GPS

GPS is a satellite-based navigation system consisting of a network of 24 satellites, which send out continuous signals. Terrestrially, a GPS receiver compares the time a signal was transmitted with the time it was received. This time difference gives the distance of the satellite. By adding distance measurements from two more satellites, the position of the receiver’s latitude/longitude can be triangulated. A fourth satellite allows for determining a three-dimensional “fix”, which includes altitude (Larijani, 1998; Poole, 1995a).The accuracy of a GPS position depends on a number of variables.

GPS has been used for quite some time in aerial and maritime navigation, and like many other electronic technologies, a gradual miniaturization of components has allowed GPS receivers to become very small and affordable. As a result, uses of the technology have proliferated and now include, inter alia, various forms of civilian and military navigation, mapping and surveying, habitat inventories and wildlife tracking, and participatory land-use planning (Larijani, 1998).

2.2 Remote sensing

RS covers all techniques related to the analysis and use of data from satellites (such as Meteosat, NOAA-AVHRR, Landsat, MOS-1, SPOT, ERS-1 and Soyuz) and of aerial photographs. RS can be extremely useful for assessing and monitoring the condition of coastal areas, particularly in archipelagos where conventional survey techniques are usually difficult and expensive. RS can also provide information on such topics as water quality in bays and estuaries, giving a better understanding of the ecology and biology in such areas. The traditional collection of biophysical parametres in coastal areas (especially by ground- or sea-based systems) is expensive and time-consuming and the information available to key users is often incomplete and inadequate. Furthermore, the information available at present is not adequate to permit a well-defined, geographic approach to managing the coastal environment or to distinguish between the impact of increased human activity and other impacts such as climate change. Analysis of RS data can provide an important input to GIS.

2.3 GIS

The definitions of GIS are numerous, but a useful one describes a database system in which most of the data are spatially indexed and upon which a set of procedures operates in order to answer queries about the spatial entities in the database. Thus, it is an information system whose relation basis is coordinate data of the form X, Y, Z; a concept familiar to the surveyor. GIS provides a structured framework for the acquisition, storage, retrieval, analysis and display of data with some common spatial or georeferenced perspectives (Parker, 1988; DOE, 1987; Burrough, 1986). The function of an information system is to improve a user’s ability to make decisions in research, planning and management; GIS is, therefore, essentially a management tool. One can distinguish five general functions in GIS: input; manipulation; management; query and analysis; and visualization (Johnson, 1997). GIS has become an integral tool in a number of applications, including environmental management, coastal management, land-use planning, spatial planning and conservation.

2.3.1 GIS technology and coastal resource management

Accurately determining the length of the coastline is important for coastal resource management in the following areas: shoreline classification; erosion monitoring; biological resource mapping; and habitat assessment, as well as planning and responding to natural (for example, storm surges) and human-induced (for example, oil spills) disasters. Coastal zone management, by definition, is spatial management. Georeferenced spatial data are map data in a digital form; this means that each of the earth’s features that are stored as spatial data has a unique geographic reference such as latitude and longitude. The increasing use of spatial data and GIS by organizations and researchers is helpful in addressing planning and management issues in coastal areas. There are many different forms of GIS in use today and they tend to differ in certain aspects such as: how they link geographic locations with information concerning them; the accuracy with which they specify geographic locations; the level of analysis they perform; the way they present information graphically; and most importantly, how this spatial information is communicated and understood by all stakeholders, especially ordinary map-users.

2.3.2 Why GIS for ICRM?

Globally, coastlines are undergoing rapid development and firm management policies have to be established. However, for any shore management to be effective, the policies need to be based on informed decision-making. This, in turn, requires ready access to appropriate, reliable and timely data and information in a suitable form for the task at hand. As much of this information and data is likely to have spatial components, GIS can contribute significantly to coastal management in a number of ways:

• It can handle much larger databases and integrate and synthesize data from a much wider range of relevant criteria than might be achieved through manual methods.
• GIS encourages the development and use of standards for coastal data definition, collection and storage, which promotes compatibility of data and processing techniques between projects and departments, as well as ensuring consistency of approach at any one site over time.
• The use of a shared database (especially if the access is provided via a data network) also facilitates the updating of records, and the provision of a common set of data to the many different departments or offices that might typically be involved in the management of a single stretch of coast.
• It provides efficient data storage and retrieval facilities.
• GIS can model, test and compare alternate management scenarios before a proposed strategy is imposed on the real-world system.

2.3.3 Some aspects of accuracy in GIS

Map accuracy is a relatively minor issue in cartography and map-users are rarely aware of the problem. But when the same map is digitized and inputted to GIS, the mode of use changes. The new uses extend well beyond the domain for which the original map was intended and designed. Therefore, accuracy in GIS requires consideration of both object- and field-oriented views of geographic variations. Moreover, the technology used to make measurements in GIS (digital computers) is inherently more precise than in conventional map analysis. Some of the other factors that also must be considered are:

• the type of spatial data;
• the scale and resolution of the spatial data;
• the type of map projection;
• the measuring unit;
• horizontal and vertical data for geographic coordinates; and
• metadata

3. Information requirements for CRM

In order to be of any value, information products from CRM should correspond with the actual requirements of the various user communities. But what are these information requirements? Given the number of potential users of coastal area data and information, what are the main areas of common interest and corresponding information requirements? The information required for achieving effective management of the coastal area is disaggregated hereunder.

3.1 Data required for coastal area information

Sources of coastal information data: As indicated already, spatial and attribute data are inputted into a GIS. A wide variety of data sources exist for spatial and attribute data.

3.2 Sources of spatial data

The most common general sources for spatial data are:

• hardcopy maps;
• aerial photographs;
• remotely-sensed imagery;
• point data samples from surveys; and
• existing digital data files

3.3 Sources of attribute data

Attribute data have an even wider variety of data sources. Any textual or tabular data that can be referenced to geographic features, for example, a point, line, or area, can be inputted into a GIS. Attribute data are usually entered by typing or via a bulk loading utility of the Data Base Management System (DBMS) software. ASCII format is the de facto standard for the transfer and conversion of attribute information.

4. Application areas for GIS vis-à-vis ICRM

Given the diversity of tasks facing coastal managers and also the range of data-processing functions that may exist in a typical GIS, there are potentially multiple application areas for coastal GIS technology. However, from this plethora of applications, a few generic areas with special emphasis on integrated land-use planning can be identified.

4.1 Coastal resource survey and management

The continuing expansion of the human population increases pressure on the shore for living space, recreation and a host of other purposes. At the same time, the oceans and coastal waters of the world are also important hunting grounds for a wide range of valuable economic resources. As these resources gradually become depleted, there is a corresponding increase in the need to explore conservation measures. GIS has considerable potential to assist. A few examples are:

• Within the leisure and recreation sectors, GIS has been used to assist in the development of new or improved infrastructure, including the development of new shore-based facilities such as marinas, and the management of recreation activities in areas containing fragile coastal dune systems.
• In the fishing and aquaculture industries, GIS may be used to find optimal locations for fish farms via analysis of salinity, bathymetry, shelter, land uses, proximity to other facilities, etc.
• In the agriculture sector, GIS can be used for a range of situation analyses — land suitability, land capability, land-use planning, cropping pattern, crop monitoring etc.
• GIS is also a major technology within the mining and oil exploration industries, where it is harnessed to assist in the discovery, assessment and exploration of new mineral wealth.

4.2 Coastal change monitoring and analysis

The coastal area is highly dynamic, and the scientist or manager increasingly requires access to technologies that can represent these dynamics, particularly to evaluate and deal appropriately with changes in the geometry of the shore. Two main divisions of coastal change analysis may be recognized: monitoring and simulation modelling. GIS has been applied to coastlines in order to keep track of a wide range of natural and human-induced changes, including:

• changes in the extent and ecology of wetlands;
• analysis of erosion and shoreline changes;
• assessment of potential and actual flood hazard and damage;
• the silting up of harbours and the effectiveness and impacts of mitigation efforts such as dredging;
• monitoring the changes of land use in the coastal hinterlands, in particular the growing urbanization of the coastal fringe; and
• monitoring the behavior of oil spillages in coastal environments.

4.3 Modelling coastal processes

While monitoring can help to identify and evaluate changes that are taking place on the shore, effective management of the coastal area occasionally requires intervention and manipulation of the processes, controls, feedback and inter-relationships at work along, within and across the shore, in order to arrive at more desirable results. Modelling and simulation of coastal phenomena are extremely valuable techniques for assessing the effectiveness and likely impacts of such intervention.

A number of examples are documented in the literature that describe the use of GIS technology for modelling processes and events within the coastal zone. Typical applications include the use of GIS for assessing the threat of a rise in the sea-level on the coast of Maine and the likely responses of coastal sand dunes to such a rise. Modelling of oil spills with a view to minimizing their environmental impacts, modelling possible impacts of dredge spoil dumping, modelling for multiple use of estuarine waters and assessment of possible sites for aquaculture development are other important applications.

4.4 GIS for coastal decision-making and policy formulation

By combining rapid data retrieval with analytical and modelling functions, GIS can respond rapidly and flexibly to ad hoc “what if” questions. Thus, a well-designed coastal area information system could be a significant decision support tool to aid the development of integrated and sustainable coastal resource management strategies.

4.5 Use of spatial information in integrated land-use planning (ILUP) for ICRM

Uncontrolled/unplanned land use is taking place throughout developing countries and the tsunami-affected coastal areas are no different; rather, it is worse in some places where accelerated development has been taking place. Thus, forest or land clearing and degradation is an ongoing process and the speed of clearing is increasing. For example, there is a strong link between road improvement, waterways and forest clearance. Such development has an enormous impact on the quality of the remaining natural resources (land, forest, fishery, agriculture), particularly where these resources are related to each other. Therefore, such conditions also affect the livelihoods of many communities; their dependencies on these resources remain strong. Secure and sufficient access to land and resources is crucial to raise income and provide livelihood options for those who depend on them on a daily basis, especially where alternative options are very limited or do not exist.

4.6 Effective use of maps (and spatial information) in ILUP and natural resource management

The use of maps (and spatial information) in natural resource management and land-use planning is essential to improving the sustainable and equitable use of land and natural resources through participatory community and local level planning and investment. Factors which lead to effective community-based land-use planning and natural resource management include:

• clear legal status of the land and resource-use rights for individuals and communities;
• stakeholders having a strong awareness of their reliance on land and natural resources for subsistence and economic development, both in the short and long term; and
• the availability of information on the current status and trends of resources, resource use and communities.

Maps and participatory mapping processes can be used to support all of these factors, as illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3. How maps and mapping processes can facilitate effective land-use planning and natural resource management

For example, in Cambodia, land-use maps have been used to support various community-based natural resources and environmental management (NREM) and land-use planning initiatives. One example comes from Ratanakiri Province, where ethnic minority communities are in danger of losing their traditional lands to outside immigrants or investors. In this situation, detailed mapping of village land and boundaries has helped communities to protect their land from encroachment, as well as to advocate for legal recognition of their communal land-use system. In Krola, a coastal village, the community mapped 12 main land-use types and developed regulations for each area. These regulations provide a clear vision for protection and development of the community’s resources, and have strengthened community solidarity (Krola NRM Committee, 2002).

PLUP methods for the Cambodian situation have been developed over the last few years. The use of maps is integral to the planning process, starting with the use of sketch maps to facilitate the initial situational analysis, then detailed delineation of the current land-use and land tenure situation, and finally a future land-use plan and map, linked to regulations governing the planned use and allocation of land and resources (Rock, 2001). PLUP is being used in a number of locations around Cambodia, ranging from communities living in protected areas to coastal villages. Government departments have been using PLUP to support village and commune planning within the Commune and Community-Based Natural Resources and Environmental Management (CCB-NREM) project.

4.6.1 Maps for supporting ILUP

Mapping activities at the ILUP level are very detailed, with extensive participation by members of the local community, and field checking of all important resources and land uses. Recent aerial photographs are an essential tool in this process. ILUP map outputs include:

• sketch maps from situational analysis;
• present land-use/cover map;
• future land-use map (related to village regulations and plans); and
• preliminary land tenure maps.

When such detailed maps are created in neighbouring villages, they can be combined to update subnational level maps.

4.6.2 Spatial information for sustainable land-use planning and management

When adopting the multilevel stakeholder approach to sustainable land management, the various dimensions of sustainability have to be weighed against one another in a negotiated, i.e. participatory, approach that does not discriminate against or favor particular actor categories. For example, scientific information must be coupled with indigenous knowledge to offer a better basis for decision-making in the negotiation processes. Here, GIS and maps may serve as appropriate tools to facilitate communication in the negotiation processes.

It can also be noted that besides the use of participatory rural appraisal data/information, created and available maps are a valuable source of information. For example, the use of rectified aerial photographs (ortho photos) placed in a map coordinate system function as a basis (base map) to enable villagers to interpret and map aspects of their land resources. Aerial photographs/maps in land-use planning are effective tools (Mueller Son La, 2003) and can be used in many ways, such as:

• subdistrict/village boundary delineation, mediatation in and solving prevailing boundary conflicts;
• accurately scaled information for official management approval in land-use decision-making between different villages and between villages and state entities;
• a starting point for participatory problem analysis and future land-use planning;
• creating a common understanding among local land users and administrative authorities on spatial distribution and status of resources and resource use;
• acquiring accurate large-scale spatial data on the basis of local knowledge;
• defining land uses and land tenure;
• identifying and accurately locating natural resources, their distribution, use and tenure;
• facilitating communication between facilitator teams and villagers (maps are mobile);
• impact monitoring for rural development investment;
• contour lines or shade effects can be added to give a third dimension (upstream–downstream linkages);
• helping to identify problems (including size), describing the causes and finding solutions (including time frame) within their respective administrative boundaries, e.g. a PCS map (see Figure 4);
• helping to show prioritized activities/projects and for monitoring purposes (e.g. activity map);
• thematic maps (soil, climate etc.) as sources of information on land suitability.
• identifying areas for multipurpose development opportunities (e.g. zonation map); and
• historical maps give explanations about land use in the past.

4.6.3 Importance of ILUP for ICRM

Forest degradation, land clearance, land grabbing and illegal land transactions (including economic concessions) are a few of the land issues that should be addressed to afford equity and balanced opportunities for populations now and in the future. Moreover, it is obvious that productive land is not always productive; for example, it can lie vacant due to land speculation, which negatively affects the national economy. Traditionally, rice is the main crop produced on agricultural land in Asia. Production differs from province to province and remains very low in some regions. Ownership and access to land and natural resources are crucial elements for poverty reduction. Land resource assessments based on land suitability can provide opportunities for land users/planners to manage land for optimum purposes or make land suitable for a certain purpose. This requires matching of the condition of the land (climate, soil, vegetation) with the requirements of the purpose. The options considered can be limited by cultural and socio-economic factors, or extended by incentives such as irrigation/drainage possibilities. If the limitations and options are known, the land user/planner can then calculate the benefit in the short and long term. The decision on what to do with the land should fit within a framework of sustainable land-use planning and management, which does not always equate with the highest productivity.

Figure 4. A PCS map (CCB-NREM project of Seila)

The land suitability analysis is an important part of the land-use planning process. It also gives an overview of the NREM situation related to forestry, fisheries, land and agriculture based on the existing information at subnational or provincial levels in coastal areas.

4.6.4 Land suitability: An overview for determining potential use under current and future conditions

The management of natural resources is a cross-boundary issue that should be emphasized in all planning processes within a multisectoral approach (administrative and geographical). Land suitability is part of the land-use planning methodology and defines possible options for future land use and helps to describe these interactions (policies, institutional and information arrangement).

The matching process of the different conditions and requirements can vary, depending on the purpose and level of detail of the land-use plan and by the amount and quality of information that has been collected (Table 1). On the plot level, the simplest way is to ask the people who live under similar conditions how they manage their land and information can be shared about yields and financial return. Often, in the beginning, facilitators still need to bring the different parties together to overcome any cultural barriers. In practice these analyses (assessments) are not done for large areas; they are time consuming, costly and require good technical skills. Especially in those areas identified for a change of resource use, more detailed land capability assessment or resource assessment (for example agricultural potential, water availability, forest regrowth) is needed.

Table 1. Matching administrative and ecological boundaries for planning an overview (adapted from FAO 1996; Ignas 2004)

The larger the scale, the more detailed the plan, and better commitment of the communities to follow up is guaranteed. On the other hand, on a smaller scale more detail in the definition of the parametres is needed. For detailed studies suitable for agriculture/forest planning, work maps may have a scale of 1:20 000; consequently, the smallest land segment that could be mapped for evaluation measures is approximately four hectares. The organization and availability of land-use information is crucial for proper decision-making.

4.6.5 An approach for supporting the suitability and implementation of a strategy for land-use planning

This approach provides for different level (national, provincial, district, subdistrict) maps, analyses and an overview sheet about the past/present NREM situation; it gives possible options for future activity based on existing information. A GIS system can provide support to national and provincial levels. For other levels the approach is the same, only the accuracy is higher. The system should be user friendly and adaptable to new knowledge and information.

These analyses can also be done within watersheds, protected areas or any predefined boundary. The provincial level can take the lead role and provide a coordinator for watershed and master planning. The role involves bringing different multistakeholder/multisectoral parties together reviewing planning/analyses and monitoring/evaluation regularly. The district level is ideal for bringing provincial and subdistrict/village level (councillors) together and discussing (situational analysis) and planning future activities (planning, implementation, monitoring/evaluation). At the local level, during the PLUP process (starting at the village level) land can be identified for change (for example agriculture, social land concession) or resource use (such as community forestry, community fisheries). Especially in these areas, more detailed land capability assessment or resource assessment (for example agricultural potential, water availability) is needed. In practice, these assessments have not taken place for large areas; they are time consuming, costly and require good technical skills. Aspatial data are collected using PRA tools and can be linked to spatial information.

4.6.6 Land suitability approach

The starting point of this approach is land (demand-driven) or the requirement of the crop/tree (market-driven). The first matching will be made considering the biophysical condition of the land (such as slope, soil, climate, land use). This provides a long list of options (Figure 5). These options require additional requirements/conditions/limitations, which leave a short list of options that still need to undergo an environmental impact assessment, especially when infrastructure is involved (roads, canals). At the national level, existing information can be used at local levels and the same approach can use different names and indicators for the same meaning. The information sources from local and national levels should be linked for updating and improving the approach. The provincial level is the appropriate level to do this. What are the limitations and what are the options? This is a dynamic process and should be done regularly when new information is provided.

Figure 5. Relational diagram for the land suitability approach (adapted from Ignas 2004)

4.6.7 How land suitability assessment can help to improve local/regional planning

Land suitability assessment is of enormous importance for the local land-use planning process. Although this assessment can be made at the local level (using local knowledge), support from the district/provincial level is necessary to provide communities with options such as crop/tree diversification, water accessibility (through irrigation) and use of communal ponds (establishing a community fisheries committee). A broader overview is needed to “map out” these possibilities so more communities/districts can be involved in the decision-making process. Technical knowledge for conducting proper assessments is generally lacking at the provincial/subnational level and should be available to provide the needed skills for the planning and implementation phase of the programme.

Some of the NREM issues at the local level include:

• land and forest degradation;
• pollution;
• forest clearance;
• low soil fertility;
• fish harvest decline;
• increasing land conflicts;
• right to use resources;
• fragmentation of wildlife habitat;
• excessive fishing in coastal and inland fish areas;
• destruction of flooded forest for fuel and agriculture;
• destruction of mangrove forest;
• weakening of river bends; and
• land grabbing and land security.

Some solutions defined as activities in a local/regional plan:

• soil conservation;
• agroforestry;
• community forestry/fishery;
• proper fertilizer use;
• small-scale ecotourism activities controlling forest fires;
• regeneration of mangrove forest;
• sustainable exploitation of non-wood forest products;
• promoting improved use of fuel resources (e.g. fuel-efficient stoves);
• improved management of communal grazing lands;
• manufacture of value-added forest products (e.g. basket weaving with rattan); and
• garbage collection and waste recycling and the use of compost.

Likewise, for inland conditions, the NREM situation in coastal areas (area and status of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, water, land) is location/local specific and also depends on how people use the available data. Problems related to use of the resources could be location or locally specific (for example poor soil, degraded forest); the causes of these problems can be local or national. Solutions can be found in spatial information-based planning, awareness raising, capacity building, education, locally accepted rules and regulations and law enforcement, as well as activities which provide benefits in the short, medium and long terms. Thus, land suitability assessment is essential for the planning of sustainable development, natural resource management and environmental protection.

4.6.8 Use of spatial information for coastal area management in Banda Aceh

Banda Aceh and its vicinity exemplify how spatial information can be helpful in land suitability analysis and spatial planning. Kota Banda Aceh is situated on an extensive low coastal plain between the two main coastal mountain ranges at the northern tip of Aceh Province. The eastern half of the district is coastal beach ridges and swales and the western half is coalescent estuarine/riverine plains. The plain extends 42 kilometres inland, with a small indentation at a point where the two coastal mountain ranges merge to become a single range. At the head of the valley the elevations are 100 metres.

A large area (4 409.6 hectares) has been mapped as damaged by the tsunami. Mangroves were present before the tsunami with 90.3 hectares mapped in the western side of the district; all were destroyed by the tsunami.

Tambak (fishpond) suitability analysis: this district had one of the largest areas of 3 443.7 hectares mapped as potentially suitable for tambak development, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Tambak suitability mapping for Banda Aceh and surroundings using GIS

Figures 6 and 7 visualize how GIS technology can be used to identify different locations of interest and for spatial planning. Figure 6 shows 13 districts (pink) of Aceh Province affected by the 2004 tsunami. Red lines depict the four special priority districts for resettlement. Figure 7 illustrates coastline changes and the extent of tsunami damage over the Banda Aceh area (non-affected = green; damaged = pink; coastline lost = blue).

Figure 8 shows the current trend of post-tsunami population movement (red arrows) for resettlement. However, it is a likely scenario that this trend might again change soon towards coastal areas (yellow arrows) and thereby, many unplanned development activities and natural resource extraction might transpire if sound spatial planning is not considered right away. Figure 9 shows how current population numbers and potential resettlement land by Desa, along with other factors like infrastructure, economic development and future population, can be used for appropriate spatial planning. Figure 10 illustrates options for resettlement considering land suitability in Banda Aceh. Areas in red are unsuitable for settlement or are already under use. Green areas are suitable or can be used for resettlement purposes. Figure 11 depicts how reef habitat mapping can be done using GIS and satellite imagery.

(Source for maps 8–10: ARRIS: Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Information System)

5. Summary and conclusion

The paper has demonstrated how GIS technology and spatial information can support post-rehabilitation reconstruction and development efforts, as well as integrated coastal resource planning and management in Asian tsunami-affected coastal areas.

Coastal area environmental and resource management problems are complex and multidisciplinary in nature. They involve the need to forecast future states of complex systems that are often undergoing structural change and subject to sometimes erratic human intervention. This in turn requires the integration of quantitative science and engineering components with sociopolitical, regulatory and economic considerations. The information has to be directly useful for decision-making processes involving a broad range of actors. Another way of organizing the various approaches to management information systems and spatial analysis decision support is in terms of broad application areas and conceptual frameworks such as EIA, risk assessment, or policy analysis.

The management of natural resources requires the integration of often very large volumes of disparate information from numerous sources and the coupling of this information with efficient tools for assessment and evaluation that allow broad, interactive participation in the planning, assessment and decision-making process, and effective methods for communicating results and findings to a wide audience. Information technology, in particular the integration of database management systems, GIS, RS and image processing, simulation and multicriteria optimization models, expert systems and computer graphics, provide some of the tools for effective decision support in natural resource management.

Poorly managed economic development in coastal areas is likely to create serious problems related to water pollution, degradation of critical habitats, depletion of natural resource stocks and other impacts. Interaction among land uses in coastal areas may be categorized as being synergistic, complementary, competitive, or antagonistic. One solution to this problem is the ICRM approach. ICRM must be aimed at maximizing synergistic and complementary interactions and minimizing competitive and antagonistic ones. In this context appropriate policy and strategy are essential for successful implementation of the ICRM approach.

However, sound policies require sound information. Lack of information can be a contributory factor to policy failure. Frequently, in developing countries, as in many tsunami-affected countries, information is lacking, especially in such areas as renewable resources and, more particularly, apropos the status of renewable resources (especially fisheries), natural resource dynamics, land-use and tenure patterns, institutional, social and cultural conditions and levels of investment in coastal areas. Similarly, environmental monitoring, for example of water quality, is often inadequate. Perfect information will never be available even in the most advanced countries; for example, it is often extremely difficult to determine if a decline in fish catches in a particular area is caused by the effect of habitat sedimentation, overfishing, natural factors or all three. However, a good flow of information will provide a better basis for policy decisions.

ICRM is an inherently and increasingly complex task. To provide formal yet practical decision support requires a new approach, which supports a more open and participatory decision-making process. A new human–technology paradigm is needed where the emphasis is no longer on finding an optimal solution to a well-defined problem, but rather to support the various phases of problem definition and the solution process. Problem owners and various actors in the decision-making process have a central role; supporting their respective tasks requires human–technology interfaces that are easy to use and easy to understand. The paradigm of the thematic map offered by GIS is a powerful tool in this respect. The map provides a familiar, visually attractive and easy-to-interpret framework that well-integrates other, often more abstract information.

Bringing coastal land-use planning in line with local demands for socio-economic development and natural conditions is one of the first measures to ensure sound management and sustainable use of natural resources. Also, it can help to enhance the quality of life. Land-use rights need to be granted on a long-term basis to farmers, to facilitate investments in production. Land-use planning that responds to people’s wishes and local development trends provides an important basis for the implementation of regional economic developments plans. To make such plan, spatial information employing a participatory cost-effective approach, needs to be developed and used in sustainable natural resource planning and management.

Finally, it can be concluded that ICRM is designed to manage human uses of coastal resources following the principles of sustainable development. Consequently, ICRM should address and manage the social, economic and ecological implications of such uses for present and future generations. The role of ICRM is not to replace single-sector resource management institutional work. Rather, it is to reduce conflicts and coordinate all coastal aspects of sector mandates by addressing their inherent legal, institutional and land–water interface issues.

5.1 Key lessons learned from the GIS perspective

• The database should be already in place and well-coordinated.
• The imagery, maps and database should be kept up to date.
• The spatial information should be available in the public domain for sharing.
• Country-based sociopolitical issues should be handled with care when implementing action, especially for recovery and rebuilding phases.
• Build capacity among communities and facilitators at subnational levels in spatial materials.
• Government, private and local agencies, as well as international (e.g. OCHA, FAO, UNEP, WFP, UNDP) organizations, should collaborate closely in reconstruction activities and employ GIS.
• International, national and local agencies should go beyond investing in crucial life support and invest in GIS for spatial planning.

6. Recommendations

GIS and spatial information should be viewed as an opportunity for the coastal community to advance in the field of coastal area and resource management. The ultimate objective of GIS-based spatial information systems for natural resource management is, or should be, to improve planning and decision-making processes by providing useful and scientifically sound information to the actors involved, including public officials, planners and scientists as well as the general public. This information must be:

• Timely in relation to the dynamics of the decision problem; depending on the nature of the problem (planning, training, operational management), it may be better for operational forecasting rather than real-time performance.
• Accurate in relation to the information requirements; this requires the use of cutting edge tools, methods and models, and the necessary input data.
• Directly understandable and useful; this implies that the output of any formal, numerical method can be presented in a format that is directly and reliably understandable, graphically and symbolically and in multimedia formats rather than purely textual and numerical form.
• Easily obtainable, i.e. inexpensive in relation to the problems’ implied cost, which in the case of coastal area management may be considerable.

GIS technology should be applied to create spatial information and used in spatial planning, which should be carried out step-wise. Some basic steps in spatial planning for post-tsunami coastal areas are proposed in Table 3.

Table 3. Recommended spatial planning activities for tsunami-affected coastal areas

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¹ Land Use Planning (LUP) & GIS Advisor, CCB-NREM Project, Seila Task Force Secretariat, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

² National Consultant, FAO, RSCU Banda Aceh, Indonesia and a Senior Lecturer at Syiah Kuala University.