?Many places are experiencing an increased risk of coastal erosion and flooding. Describe how you would design a programme of fieldwork and research to investigate the effectiveness of coastal management schemes. Write as though you did it. Where did you do it? What specific fieldwork/ research did you do? What websites did you look at? Why did you do each technique in your investigation? What were you hoping it would tell you? In order to fully investigate the effectiveness of coastal management schemes, you need to carry out both primary and secondary data. There is a range of ways that this can be done.
Primary data or fieldwork is broken down into sections that address particular factors that show the effectiveness of coastal management schemes. In my investigation I went to Swanage. Here I carried out a series of techniques to measure the effectiveness of its coastal management schemes. Risk assessments are done to see the levels of danger or risk a place is at. The higher the risk, the less effective the management scheme. To do this, I filled in a table to describe factors such as the general slope angle of the location, evidence of slumping and if a protection method had already been put in place there.
I then scored each factor out of 10 (1 being low risk, 10 being high).
The totals could then be compared to other areas within Swanage Bay. I then carried out a Bi-polar Environmental Impact Assessment of each type of defence at Swanage, which consisted of making judgements using criteria. Criteria included vulnerability to erosion, accessibility to the beach, aesthetic value and level of maintenance. The score was made was between -3 and 3 (-3 being negative and 3 being positive).
The Essay on Examine the value of sustainable and intergrated approaches to coastal management
Sustainable approaches to coastal management are usually soft engineering, they are defences which copy or work alongside natural systems and processes, this means ecosystems remain playing a key role. An example of sustainable coastal management would be at Barton on sea where they use managed retreat at the caravan site, Sustainable approaches are good because they are natural, cheap, ...
The scores were then added to make a total which can be used to compare with other areas.
In order to obtain evidence from the public, I carried out a bi-polar analysis of the public opinion, in which I asked members of the public a series of questions that would help indicate as to how effective Swanage’s coastal management schemes are. Scored from -2 to 2, the public rated factors such as the maintenance and appearance of a certain scheme. These results are important because is the scheme was truly effective, it would not only be helping the beach from eroding, but also satisfy the opinion of the public and those who use the beach on a regular basis.
Questionnaires were also done to extend upon the results from the public opinion. Finally I took a series of photographs and sketches to remember what the area looked like when I was not there and also to compare them to what Swanage Bay looks like now and what it used to look like years ago before management schemes were put in place. As secondary data, I researched Swanage using the internet for extra information and insight to the area. I used the following sites; http://www. rgs.
org/OurWork/Schools/Fieldwork+and+local+learning/Planning+your+fieldtrip/Fieldwork+locations/Jurassic+Coast+of+Dorset+and+East+Devon/Swanage+-+Coastal+management. htm – Royal Geography Society webpage and http://www. virtual-swanage. co. uk/ – a tourist site for Swanage. These websites told me about exactly when and where the sea defences were put in place, and some history of the area. Using all of these methods, you would be able to have a clear idea of the effectiveness of coastal management schemes used at Swanage Bay.
