US lessons for coastal management in the European Union

The US Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 established a collaborative and voluntary Federal-State Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP) which now co vers over 99 per cent of the nation's coastline. By comparison, in Europe c oastal management initiatives are a relatively recent phenomenon. While the need for integrated coastal zone management is widely recognised, the resp onses on a European scale are largely fragmented. This paper examines key f eatures of the US CZMP and raises the question, would such an approach be a ppropriate and feasible in Europe? The draft Water Framework Directive prov ides one model for a flexible ecosystem-based approach to coastal managemen t. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.