Browsing by Author "Whitehead, Aidan John"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemGreen Coastal Protection and Flood Defence Options for Western Indian Ocean Countries(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-11) Whitehead, Aidan John; Theron, Andre KarlENGLISH ABSTRACT: Traditionally engineers have resorted to hard or grey infrastructure to defend vulnerable coastlines against the forces of coastal processes. However, there is growing interest and awareness in more sustainable or soft coastal defence approaches that work with the forces generated by coastal processes to achieve the same levels of coastal protection and gain the benefits of ecosystem services that hard infrastructure does not offer. Countries bordering and within the Western Indian Ocean have a large collective coastal population of about sixty million people. These countries are also among the most under-resourced and most at risk to the effects of climate change and sea-level rise in the world. This study intended to investigate and propose green coastal protection infrastructure options that could be adopted in countries in the Western Indian Ocean. A literature review was completed to understand the spectrum of coastal protection infrastructure including grey or hard infrastructure, eco-friendly infrastructure, hybrid infrastructure, and green or soft infrastructure. The advantages and disadvantages of each coastal protection type were discussed. Furthermore, the study explored a few examples of each coastal protection type. Literature was also sourced on ways to quantitatively evaluate the vulnerability of coastlines in the Western Indian Ocean using variables that are easily obtainable for countries that may not have detailed coastal surveys or historical records of coastal data. Finally, quantitative comparative evaluation methods of coastal infrastructure were investigated to account for the ecosystem services provided by soft infrastructure which are often ignored in traditional evaluation approaches. The information from the literature review informed the proposal of green and hybrid infrastructure strategies that could be adopted in countries in the Western Indian Ocean. Case studies were conducted in three Western Indian Ocean Countries to illustrate how green coastal infrastructure can be incorporated into coastal defence strategies. The case studies investigated were Mon Choisy, Albion, and Case Noyale in Mauritius, Ponta Gea and Praia Nova in Beria, Mozambique, and Richards Bay in South Africa.