Coastal erosion in Cyprus

One of the most fragile and sensitive to human interference natural systems, is definitely the coastal system. The coastal zone is a dynamic system, where several complicate parameters co-exist and interact: natural, social, financial etc. The intensive use and exploitation of our coasts results in several problems such as coastal erosion, deterioration of amenity beaches, degradation of water and morphological quality etc.

Coastal erosion is a very important problem: the 25% of European coastline is under erosion due to human activities. This problem should be treated within the concept of Integrated Coastal Zone Management. It is evident that the fragmented approach in solving coastal problems creates more problems. Coastal Zone should be treated as a system and all parameters should be considered and evaluated. Coastal erosion needs a policy perspective, proactive and integrated approaches, not just engineering solutions.

The article describes the main human activities that created coastal erosion in Cyprus and discusses the major impacts that coastal erosion and the erosion-protection mitigation measures have on the environment.

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