Eco-engineering in the Application of Nature-based Coastal Defense

Abstract

Climate change increases the threat of erosion and flooding along coastlines around the world. Engineering technologies are response to protecting coastal communities and related infrastructure becoming increasingly unsustainable in economic and ecological contexts. This issue has led proposal to restore natural habitats, such as sand shoals, saltwater swamp areas, mangroves, seaweed, coral reefs, and shellfish, to provide coastal protection in lieu of or to complement artificial structures. Often coastal management is faced with eroded coastal problems which require decision on the most suitable mitigation option to implement. In this short review article, the application of eco-engineering in nature-based coastal defense is discussed. The obstacle in taking on the naturebased coastal defences is because of the rigorous assessment of their effectiveness compared to artificial protection structures. The assessment of the latest evidence for the effectiveness of nature-based beach protection versus artificial beach protection and future research needs are discussed in this review. Future projects should evaluate the habitat created or restored for coastal defence for its cost-effectiveness compared to artificial structures under the same environmental conditions. A cost-benefit analysis should consider all ecosystem services provided by nature-based or artificial structures in addition to coastal protection. Research among scientists, coastal managers, and engineers are needed to facilitate the experiments needed to test the value of this coastal protection scheme and to support its use as an alternative to artificial structures. This research is urgently needed because the rapidly changing climate requires new and innovative solutions to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities.