The coastal resources management program in Brunei Darussalam

Brunei Darussalam has successfully formulated an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Plan and developed several site-specific action plans that have contributed positively to coastal resources management (CRM). Brunei Darussalam’s stable economy, largely based on oil and gas, small population, and its low reliance on living coastal resources for the past couple of decades, have made it unique in a region known for large populations dependent on living coastal resources. However, some aspects of Brunei Darussalam’s approach to developing its CRM plans could be useful to other countries, particularly to those still in the process of initiating integrated CRM. The establishment a National Committee on Environment (NCE) chaired by the Minister of Development in 1993 with its own Secretariat – the Environment Unit, the development of a Red Tide Action Plan, artificial reef development using redundant oil rigs and a Coastal Sensitivity Environmental Map to assist the Oil Spill Contingency Plan, are among the positive contributions to CRM. This paper discusses some of the strategies that were useful in the development of the ICZM plans.