Analysis of the Adequacy of the Santa Catarina Coastal State Plan of Management to the Relevant Topics for Integrated Coastal Management

Abstract

Initiatives that aim to improve coastal zone management are abundant, both in Brazil and internationally. In this context, the State Plan for Coastal Management of Santa Catarina state (PEGC/SC, in Portuguese) is an important instrument for coastal management in Santa Catarina, since it proposes programs, goals and action plans, intending to organize the uses and activities observed in the state coastal zone. However, even with the structured PEGC/SC, it can be observed that the decline on environmental quality and conflicts of use and occupation still persist, being frequent problems: loss of biodiversity, reduction of critical habitat area, fragmentation of ecosystems, natural landscapes diversity reduction, coastline erosion, difficulty in accessing public areas, among other problems. Therefore, the analysis of the PEGC/SC appears as a necessary step to make it possible to identify the fragilities of this management tool and to point out alternatives to the verified problems. This work analyzed the PEGC/SC verifying the attendance of its goals in relation to topics considered relevant for the coastal management. It was concluded that PEGC/SC addresses most of the issues relevant to coastal management, despite its fragility. These weaknesses could be minimized by the real implementation of the existing PEGC/SC proposals. Alongside with the addition of three other goals to the plan, such as: Encouraging the clear declaration of public policy for coastal management in Santa Catarina; Establishment of continuing training programs for coastal managers and technicians; and Incentive to the production and organization of knowledge and information of interest for coastal management.