Integrated coastal zone management and the Great Lakes

Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) has developed over the last several years as a major international initiative resulting from the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The concept is based on an attempt to develop an uniform management framework for a comprehensive approach to all the sectoral activities that effect the coastal zone. The development of Great Lakes coastal (or shoreline) management plans by the US state governments and the province of Ontario largely fail to address the range of issues and mechanisms considered as essential components of ICZM. The preparation of management plans needs to reflect a stronger attempt to develop a broader ecosystem approach with linkages to human activities and impacts and address the variety of urban and rural land use concerns characteristic of the Great Lakes shoreline.