The UK’s coastal environment supports a great diversity of habitats and species. The coastal area is also of considerable social and economic importance, and coastal communities, industries, recreational users and wildlife all compete for space at the coast. Inland activities also have an influence on the coast e.g. fertiliser and pesticide runoff from the surrounding land, or direct chemical discharges into rivers. Development and use of the coastal zone has largely been managed on a sectoral basis, without any overall vision or co-ordinated planning and management of coastal activities. This has resulted in tremendous pressure on coastal resources, conflict between users making demands on the coastal environment, and encroachment on space available for wildlife.
 
To manage the competing and conflicting pressures and achieve sustainable management of the coastal zone, a system of better co-ordination, integrated planning and management of activities in line with conservation objectives is needed.
 
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is the management tool through which the conflicts of interest between environmental, social and economic needs can be addressed.

MCS was influential in defining the concept of ICZM in the late 1980s, including the publication of the first Coastal Directory in 1988 and has since promoted and supported its practical implementation at a UK and European level.
 
An EU Recommendation on ICZM was adopted in 2002 which puts an obligation on each Member State to develop a national ICZM strategy.  In the UK, each devolved country is developing its own strategy. 
 
MCS aims to ensure that ICZM is:

• strategic and tiered, so that regional and local initiatives do not conflict with national priorities for conservation and sustainable use;
• inclusive and involves all relevant bodies and individuals; and
• adequately resourced to underpin the long-term future of regional ICZM initiatives.

A 'Sea View' briefing paper on coastal zone management will be published later in the year.