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The use of geotextile sand containers (GSCs) in shoreline protection systems has moderately grown since the first applications in the 1970s and increasingly used as an alternative to natural stone, slag, and concrete. Due to their economical, technical and ecological advantages, the use of geotextiles and geocomposites for filter and drainage functions is increasing worldwide and has a 40 year history already. For coastal protection measures, nonwovens are proven to have long-term resistance against ultraviolet radiation and saltwater. High elongation behavior provides superior properties during loading in coastal protection means, which is determined as being the biggest risk for damaging geotextiles. Such applications require certain functional characteristics in the geotextiles, besides their basic properties, which are required to be engineered by the judicious optimization of the needlepunching process. In this study, the effect of the process parameters including punch density and depth of needle penetration has been investigated on the mechanical (tensile strengths in the machine and cross-machine directions) properties of needlepunched nonwoven geotextiles. These process parameters are then empirically related to the fabric properties by using a multiple regression technique.

Non‐marketable natural coastal resources such as beaches, sand‐dune systems and cliff sides have an economic value deriving not least from the various services which they provide as well as the human demand for consuming some of these services. Coastal defence projects designed to protect the coast against erosion and flooding by the sea have often caused irreversible degradation to coastal natural resources. The main aim of this article is to investigate whether the joint use of cost‐benefit analysis and environmental resource valuation techniques can give any insights toward the sustainable use of the coast. Design/methodology/approach – This paper employs cost‐benefit analysis (CBA) in order to assess the justifiability of carrying out coast protection works in a particular location. This paper also uses contingent valuation methodology (CVM) to estimate the economic values of non‐marketable coastal environmental services. In particular, this paper employs willingness to pay (WTP) technique and try to elicit satisfaction values from beach users by conducting an on‐site questionnaire survey. Findings – his paper argues that there are many advantages in approaching shoreline protection project appraisal both from an environmental as well as an economics point of view. However, when conducting a cost‐benefit analysis the monetary value of environment elicited by contingent valuation techniques has very limited use in it self. It can set the financial budget within which likely coast protection options should be considered but it cannot determine which option is more sustainable. What the decision‐maker needs is to give real meaning to this value by translating it into people's specific preferences and behavioural characteristics. The next step should be setting out pragmatic project characteristics to accommodate the above preferences. Practical implications – Knowledge‐based planning and scheduling as well as informed coastal protection decisions is central to achieving sustainability in the coastal zone. Prior to managing a coastal area, the baseline information needed is the economic value of services that the coastal location in question provides. Originality/value – Generally speaking, the economic value of non‐marketable natural coastal resources such as beaches is closely associated with the way in which society perceives the environment. Both use and non‐use values that are placed upon the environment by individuals have an anthropocentric basis. In this respect, it could be argued that these values often reflect multiple coastal zone uses, conflicts of human interests, levels of environmental education, environmental awareness and environmental appreciation.

Over the past century, the rate of sea level rise (SLR) has increased more than twice the average historical rate and the US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that by 2100 the sea level will increase nearly two feet in many coastal areas. Property owners and municipalities typically respond to SLR by constructing seawalls and similar structures to protect shoreline property (a practice known as “armoring”). The degree to which SLR and armoring threaten key coastal habitats has not been well studied, however. This study, aims to develop an inundation model on behalf of Stratus Consulting to examine anticipated habitat changes in coastal Ocean County, New Jersey.

The model used a geographical information system to map predicted changes in coastal habitats under two alternative SLR scenarios and six different shoreline armoring scenarios. The paper then used information from local experts and the scientific literature to predict changes in the relative abundances of fish and bird species under the different scenarios.

Under all scenarios, the model predicted substantial declines in the areal extent of Spartina marshes and in the annual production of finfish and shrimp. Declines in these marsh‐dependent species would have significant impacts on commercial and recreational fisheries. The study also predicted substantial declines in bird species such as songbirds and dabbling ducks.

The results of the study can help local stakeholders and decision‐makers plan responses to SLR. Conventional armoring responses could result in substantial and irreversible losses of coastal habitats and the species dependent on these habitats.

Climate change is a global threat to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In an increasingly urbanized world, homeowners play an important role in climate adaptation and environmental sustainability through decisions to landscape and manage their residential properties.

In this chapter, we review the potential impacts of climate change on environmental sustainability in urban ecosystems and highlight the role of urban and suburban residents in conserving biodiversity. We focus extensively on the interactions of homeowners and residential landscapes in urban coastal and desert environments.

Understanding how human-environment interactions are linked with a changing climate is especially relevant for coastal and desert cities in the United States, which are already experiencing visible impacts of climate change. In fact, many homeowners are already making decisions in response to environmental change, and these decisions will ultimately shape the future structure, function and sustainability of these critically important ecosystems.

Considering the close relationship between biodiversity and the health and well-being of human societies, understanding how climate change and other social motivations affect the landscaping decisions of urban residents will be critical for predicting and enhancing sustainability in these social-ecological systems.

The public’s traditional right to enjoy the shore was unchallenged until the twentieth century. The population shift to coastal areas and the subsequent development of coastal lands by private parties has brought both public and private interests into bitter conflict over this prime real estate. The US Federal Government has encouraged public access but has left its implementation to the states. In turn, lack of funds and staff has forced the states to rely heavily on individuals and citizen action groups to find, open, maintain and publicize access. This bibliography identifies sources that can help interested individuals and action groups increase public coastal access while preserving the rights of private property owners.

This chapter highlights ecosystem-based adaptation in coastal Bangladesh aimed at securing climate and disaster-resilient environment for safer life and livelihood for vulnerable communities in the face of changing climate. Development intervention based on the opportunities offered by the nature and adaptation management plan from the perspective of vulnerability analysis can make a substantive difference in enhancing resilience. Engagement of broad-based stakeholders at vertical and horizontal levels in building adaptive capacity can be linked through both at the policy and institutional levels as well as at ecosystem levels for effective results. Innovation in convergence of disaster risk reduction and adaptation through fish, fruit, and forest as a part of livelihood integrated into the coastal afforestation ensure better livelihood in a safer coastal habitats. Such forest-based adaptive livelihood and carbon sequestration help land development that is promising to offset the sea level rise due to higher rate of siltation. Climate resilient habitat is another innovative initiative that protects the households, and their livelihood is protected by eco-engineering structures and green defense to make it safer from cyclone and tidal surge.

Climate change poses diverse, often fundamental, challenges to livelihoods of island peoples. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that these challenges must be better understood before effective and sustainable adaptation is possible.

Understanding past livelihood impacts from climate change can help design and operationalize future interventions. In addition, globalization has had uneven effects on island countries/jurisdictions, producing situations especially in archipelagoes where there are significant differences between core and peripheral communities. This approach overcomes the problems that have characterized many recent interventions for climate-change adaptation in island contexts which have resulted in uneven and at best only marginal livelihood improvements in preparedness for future climate change.

Island contexts have a range of unique vulnerability and resilience characteristics that help explain recent and proposed responses to climate change. These include the sensitivity of coastal fringes to climate-environmental changes: and in island societies, the comparatively high degrees of social coherence, closeness to nature and spirituality that are uncommon in western contexts.

Enhanced understanding of island environmental and social contexts, as well as insights from past climate impacts and peripherality, all contribute to more effective and sustainable future interventions for adaptation.

The need for more effective and sustainable adaptation in island contexts is becoming ever more exigent as the pace of twenty-first-century climate change increases.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the vulnerability of Florida’s coastal destinations to climate change and the costs of the adaptation measures required to cope with the impacts of climate change in a range of current and future scenarios.

The paper illustrates a range of current and projected climate change scenarios in Florida, the challenges the state is already experiencing in dealing with the impacts of climate change and some of the measures adopted to date in three particularly vulnerable coastal destinations, namely Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach and Sarasota.

Although tourism is the number one industry in Florida, the state holds a particularly vulnerable position with respect to climate change. The vacuum of political will to address these issues at the state level is thus of particular concern given the vulnerable position of Florida’s coastal areas. With nearly 10 percent of its land area lying at less than one meter above the present sea level, adaptation is especially urgent in Florida. The local government of Florida’s cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach and Sarasota are not willing to surrender to sea level rise (SLR). However, without a strong political will to address climate change at the state and federal levels, the costs of adapting to an escalating SLR are becoming progressively unsustainable.

This illustrative case study paper provides a contemporary synthesis of the implications for Florida’s coastal tourism destinations of rising sea levels and those adaptation strategies deemed appropriate in the search for their longer-term sustainability.

Commercial entities have recently expressed growing interest in commercialising indigenous knowledge (IK) due to its enormous economic and intrinsic value. As this happens, custodial communities must not be disadvantaged in the process. This paper aims to understand the legal framework of the commercialisation of IK to identify the opportunities and factors impeding or affecting the commercialisation of indigenous knowledge in Kenya.

The study used a qualitative research approach. An extensive exploratory literature review of existing legal instruments was done to establish the progress and gaps for commercialising indigenous knowledge in Kenya.

The study shows that the legal framework of IK in Kenya is inadequate. There are no well-established frameworks and policies to protect IK in Kenya, and thus, host communities are subjected to exploitation. The diversity of tribes and communities makes it challenging to have a clear framework, mainly because IK is a devolved function. The study identifies the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Act 2016, The National Museums and Heritage Act 2006 and the Natural Products Industry as the key milestones towards commercialisation of IK, while inadequate documentation of IK, communal ownership and inadequate legislation were identified as the main impediments to commercialisation of IK in Kenya.

Owing to the diverse cultures and tribal communities in Kenya, the research could not access all the literature on all traditional IK in Kenya, and very few case studies have been conducted in Kenya.

The gaps identified in the legal framework can form a basis for legislation, policy change, actions and research needed to improve the commercialisation of IK.

The paper underscores the importance of balancing economic empowerment with preserving cultural integrity and protecting indigenous rights in commercialisation.

Taiwan is located between the world's largest landmass, the continent of Asia, and its largest ocean, the Pacific Ocean. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the island of Taiwan, giving it a subtropical and tropical oceanic climate. High temperatures and rainfall and strong winds characterize the climate. Because of Taiwan's position in the Asian monsoon region, its climate is greatly influenced by monsoons as well as by its own complicated topography. The annual mean temperatures in the lowlands are 22–25°C, and the monthly mean temperature exceeds 20°C for eight months starting with April each year. The period from June to August is the hottest season with mean temperatures of 27–29°C. Temperatures are cooler between November and March; in most places, the coldest monthly mean temperature is above 15°C. The climate is mild rather than cold and temperatures only fall dramatically when a cold front affects the region. Average annual rainfall in the lowlands of Taiwan is in the range of 1,600–2,500mm. Due to the influences of topography and the monsoon climate, the rainfall differs greatly with different areas and seasons. In mountainous areas, average rainfall may exceed 4,000mm/yr. Rainfall is generally higher in mountainous areas than in lowland areas, higher in the east than in the west, and higher on windward slopes than on the leeward side. The northeast monsoon prevails during the winter; this is the rainy season in the north though rainfall is not intense. But the same winter period is the dry season in the south. During the summer, the southwest monsoon prevails, often giving rise to convective thunderstorms and bringing intense and copious rainfall. With added downpours brought by typhoons, this season often accounts for over 50% of annual rainfall in the south so that central and southern regions often suffer greatly. Relative humidity on the island of Taiwan, surrounded by ocean, is high, usually measuring in the range of 78–85%. In the north, relative humidity is higher during winter than during summer. The situation in the south is the opposite. Over the past 100 years, the rainfall in the north has increased, while the rainfall in the south has decreased. The trend is not as consistent as that of the temperature change (Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan), 2002).