Restoring and Protecting Marine Habitat The Role of Engineering and Technology (1994) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-8
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Although changes may be gradual or episodic, prodigious cumulative losses have led to great uncertainties over physical and biological dependencies within coastal ecosystems, and coastal development has had profound adverse effects on the functioning of marine habitat and coastal processes. These facts are all the more alarming because marine habitats are critical to the production and replenishment of living marine resources and to the vitality of commercial fisheries, 1
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Civil engineers practicing in the coastal zone are increasingly faced with seemingly contradictory objectives: habitat conversion versus restoration; structural versus nonstructural shore protection, use of dredged material as a resource rather than a waste by-product, and commercial versus ecological values. The engineering profession, in cooperation and collaboration with the scientific community, has a growing opportunity to accommodate these competing objectives.
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Regulators and practitioners are often not sufficiently qualified to guide effective application of habitat protection and restoration technologies. A history of successful projects is necessary for building and sustaining public and private support for more widespread use of habitat protection and restoration technology.
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Existing knowledge and technology provide a strong foundation from which a credible coastal engineering program could be launched to arrest habitat loss and degradation. Existing engineering capabilities are capable of supporting a program to achieve a net gain in high-quality marine habitat acreage through well-planned and well-executed protection and restoration projects, if such a goal were to be established as national policy.
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The criteria should be determined by authorities responsible for approving marine habitat projects in consultation with scientists, engineers, and interested parties. A practical measure of project performance relevant to natural functions may sometimes be obtained by determining how nearly a project mimics an undisturbed natural habitat of the type being restored nearby in the same ecosystem.
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provide incentives rather than disincentives to invest in marine habitat protection and restoration, especially marine sediments, in marine habitat management; · expand options for more effective use of natural resources; · increase the opportunities for pilot, demonstration, and experimental habitat protection and restoration programs and projects; · remove procedural barriers to advancing the state of practice of marine habitat restoration; · improve understanding of the multiple facets of marine habitat management, including physical processes, natural functions of ecosystems, impacts of human origin, and restoration capabilities; and · motivate widespread evaluation, documentation, and publication of lessons learned. Substantial action will be required to effect these changes.
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A systematic, coordinated national program of dedicated research is needed to address · Natural functions in restored or created marine habitats; · Hydrology and hydraulics of marine ecosystems; · Sediment properties that influence the physical and biological performance of restoration projects; Sediment transport by natural energy; Use of dredged material in full and partial restoration; Use of new and innovative dredging equipment for habitat restoration; Habitat utilization by biota in marine ecosystems; Recruitment mechanisms for marine intertidal biota; Structures and functions of artificial reefs; and · Methodologies for economic valuation of marine habitats. The executive branch should designate an appropriate federal agency to convene an interagency committee to develop and coordinate a national research program
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From page 8... ...
8 RESTORING AND PROTECTING MARINE HABITAT that balances research needs, competing agency interests, and available resources. This effort should include representatives of the Departments of the Army, Commerce, and Interior and the EPA.
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