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Coastal management issues cut across sectors — e.g., the aquaculture sector, if not properly zoned, could affect ship navigation routes and tourism sites. The conventional, sectoral management approach, which addresses these challenges separately on a sector-by-sector basis, is typically not sufficient for solving complex problems in coastal areas.

Integration and coordination of various coastal and marine management efforts is the major objective of the integrated coastal management (ICM) approach. ICM addresses the governance of human activities affecting the sustainable use of goods and services generated by coastal and marine ecosystems. This approach overcomes the limitations of conventional sectoral management through the following:

Facilitating better understanding of the uniqueness of the coastal resource system. Through an integrated management approach, ICM reminds the various stakeholders that diverse sectors are involved in ensuring coastal areas’ sustainability, since their collective activities affect the overall ecosystem. In contrast, single-sector management often fails to consider the various impacts of multiple uses of coastal resources.
Integrating ecological, social and economic information. This ensures that management strategies formulated under ICM are responsive to the multiple users and uses of coastal resource systems.
Promoting interdisciplinary approaches and cooperation among users and beneficiaries to address complex development issues. Through coordination, coastal management efforts by various stakeholders are not duplicated or conflicting, ensuring a more efficient and effective management system.

ICM helps local governments to achieve social and economic development targets in a number of areas—pollution reduction and waste management; food security and livelihood management; water use and supply management; habitat protection, restoration and management; and natural and man-made hazard prevention and management.

PEMSEA has facilitated ICM coverage over 17% of the region’s coastline across 12 countries. Our goal is to cover 25% of the region’s coastline under ICM by 2021.

Pollution reduction and waste management in Xiamen, China

The Xiamen waterfront has become a model for ecological and economic success. Three cycles of ICM implementation have provided increased access to the beach and seas for leisure and tourism, cleaner lakes and bays for residential real estate, a venue for industries and a home for rich biodiversity. Every dollar invested in ICM has returned seven dollars in economic benefit to the city.

Food security and livelihood management in Chonburi, Thailand

ICM implementation enabled local communities to take a more active role in marine conservation and food security in Chonburi. With the support of local governments, concerned agencies, research institutions and private sector partners, local fishers and communities were engaged and trained in the protection of berried blue swimming crabs. Starting from a demonstration project in Sriracha Municipality in 2006, conservation of berried blue swimming crabs has been applied in seven additional municipalities and shared with various local governments in Thailand as part of coastal strategy implementation. A study conducted by Kasetsart University in Sriracha found a 94% increase in crab catch per sampling from 2011 to 2012 accompanied by a 16% increase in average crab size.

Water use and supply management in Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia

Through its ICM program, Preah Sihanouk rehabilitated a 5-hectare freshwater reservoir with the assistance of local communities and the UNDP GEF Small Grants Program. Over 5,000 people in the area directly benefited from improved access to potable water for domestic and agricultural use, enhancing their quality of life. The improved availability of water reduced annual expenses for small-scale businesses in the community by an average of 30% of their annual income.

Habitat protection, restoration and management in Batangas, Philippines

Through a province-wide ICM program, 14 coastal municipalities and various stakeholders established a network of marine protected areas to manage and protect fisheries resources, coral reefs, sea grass beds and mangrove forests. From these collaborative efforts, residents have benefited from increased fish catch and abundance and the return of important fish species. A catch monitoring study conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature - Philippines (WWF-Philippines) confirmed the presence of larger and economically important fish species like skip jacks.

Natural and man-made hazard prevention and management in Danang, Vietnam

Faced with increasing impacts from floods, typhoons and coastal erosion, Danang focused its ICM program on measures to strengthen the community’s resilience to climate change including natural buffers against storm surges; improved forecasting, early warning, response and recovery systems; and the construction of multipurpose shelters and model houses designed to withstand typhoon damage. Over 6,500 meters of dike system were strengthened as a barrier against saltwater intrusion from sea level rise, saving more than 400 hectares of agricultural land and doubling its productivity.

Investors must consider the level of risk in their assessment of potential investments. Aside from project-specific risk, the setting for an investment — including considerations like ease of doing business, available infrastructure, rule of law, and local management and enforcement capacity— can have a significant impact on overall investment risk. Proper governance is critical for establishing an enabling environment for investment in ICM sectors, such as ecotourism, energy, sustainable fisheries, coastal habitat restoration, climate resilience, marine pollution reduction, access to fresh water and others.

Governments must providee effective policies and regulatory regimes to establish stable governance and provide assurances of acceptable levels of risk to potential investors. At the national level, coastal and ocean policies can seek to achieve a wide range of objectives including establishment of institutional mechanisms, promotion of science and technology and advocacy for new development paradigms such as coastal use zoning. In a review of 12 countries implementing the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA), a total of 255 national ICM-related policies have been developed and implemented across the region governing habitats, oceans, food security and livelihood, pollution reduction, hazards, water resources, and disaster risk reduction and sustainable development.

National and Local Alignment for Establishing Effective Coastal Governance

The Philippines demonstrates one example of effective coastal governance, where Executive Order No. 533 adopts integrated coastal management as a national strategy to ensure the sustainable development of the country’s coastal and marine environment and resources. Implementation of ICM programs under EO 533 includes consideration of investment opportunities and sustainable financing mechanisms. Importantly, the implementation of coastal sustainable development strategies at the local level are aligned with the tenets of the Philippines’ national strategy for integrated coastal management. Such local strategies, which include concrete, cross-sector actions to effectively manage resources, provide a stable foundation for developing investments in coastal and marine areas. For example, the Provinical Government of Bataan has developed a Sustainable Development Strategy and Coastal Land and Sea-Use Zoning Plan that are aligned with national policies and regional efforts through the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA).

A significant need exists for investment capital and expertise to scale up integrated management of coastal and marine areas. ICM investments are those that consider environmental and social impacts and build the long-term ecological, social and economic health of coastal and marine ecosystems and communities. 

A number of mechanisms exist for ICM investment including traditional debt or equity investments, structured public-private partnership (PPP), impact investments and innovative new approaches such as green bonds, payments for ecosystem services, biodiversity offsets and revolving loan funds.

PEMSEA has identified ten investment categories that governments in the region have identified as areas of need and opportunity:

1. ICM Development and Implementation
2. Coastal Transport
3. Ecotourism / Sustainable Tourism
4. Energy
5. Enterprise & Livelihood Development
6. Fisheries & Food Security
7. Habitat Protection, Restoration & Management
8. Natural / Man-made Hazard Prevention & Management
9. Pollution Reduction & Waste Management
10. Water Use & Supply Management

What are the potential investment gaps in your local coastal and marine areas? Where could investment benefit the ecological and economic health of your area? Take a simple rapid assessment to learn more about types of ICM investments and where you might consider investing. You may wish to review the assessment ahead of time and/or complete it with a team.

Investments in ICM projects can come from a number of sources, including international development organizations, commercial finance institutions, corporations and private investors. To date, the track record for investment in coastal and marine conservation remains almost exclusively with program-related investment (PRI) through development organizations, foundations and public institutions. However, a handful of investment-related initiatives are looking to develop viable models that can generate financial return from improved coastal and marine ecosystem services.

For non-grant funding, investors will expect a financial return on their investment or repayment of debt with interest. However, some “impact investors” may also consider the environmental and social impact of their investments, and may be willing to sacrifice some level of financial return for postive impact.

Aligning ICM Project Intent with Investor Expectations

Are you seeking funding or investment for an ICM project? Research shows that there is no shortage of investment capital available. The challenge investors express is in identifying quality, investible projects that meet their expdectation for both financial and environmental and social return, within an acceptable level of risk.

The SEA Knowledge Bank can assess the investment-readiness of specific projects and provide feedback on how favorable a project may look to investors. Through this questionnaire, project owners can develop a better understanding of what investors expect across several important dimensions, along with the type of funding your organization is likely fit to pursue along with examples of such funding/investing organizations in the region.

If you believe that your project is potentially investible based on the rapid assessment and you would like to submit it to PEMSEA for evaluation, fill out and submit the form below. Please be sure to provide your contact details so that someone from PEMSEA can get back to you. If you have any questions about the form, please contact PEMSEA.