Manejo De Zonas Costeras

Ocean & Coastal Management 21 (1993) 311-337

Building Capacity for Integrated Coastal Management in Developing Countries

B r i a n R. C r a w f o r d , J. S t a n l e y C o b b & A b i g a i l F r i e d m a n Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, USA

ABSTRACT The need for building human and institutional capacity has been identified in Agenda21 of the UNCED conference as well as by a number of international environmental institutions as essential for integrated coastal management (ICM) and sustainable development in developing coastal states. There is a growing need for coastal management practitioners and organizations with expertise in planning and implementation for ICM. The application of strategies for institutional developmentand building human capacity in coastal management and other fields shows that short-term intensive training efforts and longterm institutional strengthening programs are appropriate to address the issues and needs of ICM. An overview of the experience of the URI/USAID International Coastal Resources Management Program in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Ecuador presents lessons learned for strengtheningICM efforts in developing countries.

INTRODUCTION The Earth Summit in Rio adopted a broad strategy for integrated m a n a g e m e n t and sustainable development of coastal and marine areas ~ as part of Chapter 17 of A g e n d a 21. M a n a g e m e n t related activities call for, among other things, each coastal state to implement integrated coastal and marine m a n a g e m e n t and sustainabledevelopment plans and programs. A basic assumption outlined in the introductory text is that 311 Ocean & Coastal Management 0964-5691/93/$06.00 © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Northern Ireland

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Brian R. Crawford, J. Stanley Cobb, Abigail Friedman

success in achieving this ambitious agenda in developing countries will depend on the allocation of ampleresources, successful technology transfer and the development of sustainable institutions. We address the third of these requisites in this paper. Institutional development is defined by IsraeF as 'the process of improving an institution's ability to make effective use of the human and financial resources available.' Consistent with a decision of the Preparatory Committee, all program areas of Chapter17 address institution building and place importance on human resource development as a major means of achieving successful implementation? The need for capacity-building efforts to augment national and regional capabilities for human, institutional and capital investments was identified as one of ten principles guiding the United Nations' responsiveness to environmental issues. 4 Capacitybuilding clearly will be required to achieve the mandates of Agenda 21. There is a small but rapidly growing number of international assistance organizations, including the US Agency for International Development, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Environment Programme's Oceans and Coastal Areas/Programme Activity Centre, for whom national capacity buildingfor integrated coastal management (ICM) has become important. For instance, in its forthcoming Environment Strategy ~ USAID highlighted the need for coastal management in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean regions as a priority, and viewed strengthening human and institutional capacity as a strategic approach for intervention. Many international assistance projects contain two main components:infrastructure development and institutional development. In the context of coastal management, this generally would mean technical assistance in the development and implementation of management plans and perhaps the provision of funds for physical development (beach stabilization, wastewater treatment, etc.), as well as assistance designed to improve those organizations playing roles in the...