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Evolution of Coastal zone health Index (CHI) as a metric to evaluate ICZM implementation efficiency
Date Issued
01-12-2007
Author(s)
Kumar, P. P.Anil
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Abstract
Though it is well established that coastal zones are development sensitive with its variety of resources and multiple stakeholder presence, (Clark.J.R. 1997) there is no holistic metric to measure this sensitivity. This paper encapsulates the outcome of a doctoral level work to evolve a set of indicators named Coastal zone Health Indicators (CHIs) as metric for this purpose. CHI looks upon a coast as composed of its 6 core component environments and coastal zone health is holistically reflected by the value of critical parameters pertaining to specific component environments. CHIs are developed based on an extensive nation wide experts' survey conducted across major coastal cities in India. Though the study is confined to experts chosen from Coastal cities of India, the generic framework it evolves is globally valid. Analytical Hierarchical Processing (AHP) based weightages of parameters as extracted from the expert survey are used in these models. The paper covers the conceptual basis and methodology of developing CHI. With a CHI map in place for a coastal city, constantly monitoring and evaluating CHI variations against set goals provide valuable feedback on the implementation efficiency of ICZM process. It also helps in analysing future landuse allocations for their impacts on the CHI profile. This practice ensures landuse planning to be a meaningful exercise always tested for synergy with ICZM measures and thus ensuring sustainability in the long run.