The Kosrae Shoreline Management Plan – Repositioning for Resilience

Last March 21^st , The Kosrae Shoreline Management Plan, was officially presented to Kosrae Governor Honorable Lyndon H. Jackson. During the closing ceremonies of the 4^th FSM Environmental Conference, Mr. Fenno Brunken of the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), gave the Governor the document. The new Plan is a revised and updated version of the original one prepared in the year 2000.

On July 2012, a group of consultants came to Kosrae for this project. The consultants were Mr. Douglas Ramsay, a coastal engineer at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand; Dr. Arthur Webb, a coastal process advisor with SOPAC and Mr. Fenno Brunken , a CC advisor with GIZ. They met wih the Governor and different stakeholders.

 

During April 2013, Mr. Ramsay came to Kosrae and met with the Governor, his Cabinet, the State Legisature, representatives of the housing and utilities, the engineers and the general public in the five villages. He presented the varied impacts of coastal erosion and some adaptation strategies to make us more resilient to the expected changes in the futures. Sea walls are temporary solutions, a best alternative will be moving inland. Extreme changes are not expected in two generations, but we should nonetheless begin preparing now.

 

The consultants suggested the rehabilitation and improvement of the existing farm roads as an alternative to the threatened coastal road. These roads will be climate proofed with the guidelines to be developed from the FSM PACC Pilot Road Project. Mr. Ramsay based his analysis of the Kosrae’s coastal erosion by his extensive experience on the island from 1998 – 2000, while working for Kosare Resource Management Authority (KIRMA). He prepared the Original Kosrae Shoreline Management Plan of the year 2000.

 

This Management Plan was funded by the German Technical Cooperation Agency, GIZ and SPC North Pacific.

 

 

To download a copy of the Kosrae Shoreline Management Plan, please go to kosraecoast.com