Sustainable coastal management

What makes a defence sustainable?

Sustainable defences accommodate, copy or work alongside natural systems: beach nourishment, beach profiling and dune stabilisation are the specification's examples. They:

• keep sediment moving through the cell, so do not starve other places;
• can be adjusted as sea level rises, rather than being overtopped;
• often create or protect habitat (dunes, marshes);
• have lower long-term costs than replacing concrete.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) manages a whole stretch of coast (often a sediment cell) with all stakeholders, balancing economic, social and environmental needs over the long term (Getting Started Guide).

Case study: Bacton to Walcott sandscaping, Norfolk (2019)

After the 2013 North Sea surge caused up to 10 m of cliff loss at Bacton Gas Terminal (which processes up to one-third of UK gas demand), North Norfolk District Council led the UK's first sandscaping scheme, based on a Dutch idea (NNDC):

• About 1.8 million m3 of sand placed in 2019 along about 5.7 km of coast, at an estimated cost of 17 to 22 million pounds (The Engineer).
• Funded by a partnership: the council, Shell UK, Perenco UK, the Environment Agency, Norfolk County Council and others, including the local community.
• Natural processes spread the sand along the coast, feeding beaches; waves now break further offshore.
• By June 2021 the area had lost about 247,000 m3 since construction, as expected: the sand moves, and some benefits reached Happisburgh.
• Issues: windblown sand in the first 18 months; benefits are temporary; who should pay in future?

Future threats and local conflict

Management must cope with more frequent storms and rising sea levels (NASA: about 10 cm since 1993). Long-term plans such as Shoreline Management Plans look ahead to 2055 and 2105. Sustainable choices such as managed realignment (letting the sea flood farmland to create salt marsh that absorbs wave energy) are cheaper than holding every line, but:

• people whose land or homes are given up become losers;
• compensation is limited;
• house values and insurance fall in areas without defences;
• communities may feel ignored by distant decision-makers.

So sustainability involves social as well as environmental and economic aims.

Worked example

Bacton sandscaping placed about 1.8 million m3 of sand along about 5.7 km. Calculate the average volume per metre of coast.

1. Volume = 1.8 x 1,000,000 = 1,800,000 m3.
2. Length = 5.7 x 1,000 = 5,700 m.
3. Volume per metre = 1,800,000 / 5,700 = 316 m3 per metre (to the nearest whole number).

Answer: About 316 m3 of sand per metre of coast.

Check yourself

1. Using the figures 1.8 million m3 and 5.7 km, what is the volume per metre of coast? Give your answer to the nearest whole number.
   Show answer

   316 m3. 1,800,000 / 5,700 = 316 m3 per metre.

2. By June 2021 the Bacton project area had lost about 247,000 m3 of the 1.8 million m3 placed. What percentage is that? Give your answer to 1 decimal place.
   Show answer

   13.7 %. 247,000 / 1,800,000 x 100 = 13.7%.

3. Integrated Coastal Zone Management aims to
   • protect one house at a time
   • replace all soft engineering with concrete
   • manage a whole stretch of coast with all stakeholders over the long term
   • stop all development on coasts
   Show answer

   manage a whole stretch of coast with all stakeholders over the long term. It is holistic and long term.

4. Managed realignment is often considered sustainable because
   • it builds higher sea walls
   • new salt marsh absorbs wave energy and adapts to sea-level rise
   • it costs nothing to anyone
   • it stops all erosion permanently
   Show answer

   new salt marsh absorbs wave energy and adapts to sea-level rise. The marsh is a natural, self-maintaining defence.

5. Why was the Bacton sandscaping scheme funded partly by energy companies?
   • They wanted to build hotels there
   • It created a new oil field
   • The government banned public funding
   • It protects a gas terminal handling up to a third of UK gas demand
   Show answer

   It protects a gas terminal handling up to a third of UK gas demand. The terminal is critical infrastructure and its operators benefit.

6. Explain why sustainable coastal management can still lead to local conflict.
   Show answer

   Approaches such as managed realignment or no new defences mean some homes, farmland or businesses are given up to the sea with limited compensation, so those residents lose out and oppose the plan even if it is cheaper and better for the environment overall.. Who loses, what, and their response.

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Sources

• Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Level in Geography specification, Issue 3 (September 2025)
• North Norfolk District Council: Bacton to Walcott sandscaping scheme
• The Engineer: Council approves plans for 22m pound sandscape project (2018)
• Pearson IAL Geography Getting Started Guide
• GOV.UK: Shoreline management plans (updated 28 January 2025)
• NASA (2025): NASA analysis shows unexpected amount of sea level rise in 2024

Last updated 8 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.