Policy issues and management framework of Chinhae Bay, Republic of Korea

By recognizing the rapid degradation of coastal resources and responding to Agenda 21, the Korean government has recently made a series of initiatives to apply the concept of integrated coastal management (ICM) at both national and local levels. In the Marine Development Basic Plan of 1996, the Korean government proposed to establish national mechanism of implementing ICM principles by enacting the Coastal Management Act and developing the National Coastal Management Plan. To support the efforts at national level, an ICM pilot study has been carried out by the Korean Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) since 1994, in one of the most severely impacted estuarine system on the south coast, Chinhae Bay. The main goals of this pilot study are to develop an integrated coastal management model that is implementable in Korean coastal governance system, and to identify area-specific solutions for the sustainable development of coastal resources. This paper reviews major policy issues and the management framework of the Bay and explains the ICM processes adopted to formulate the Chinhae Bay Integrated Management Plan.