The Management of Beach Carrying Capacity: The case of northern Portugal.

SILVA, C. P., ALVES, F. and ROCHA, R.,, 2007. The Management of Beach Carrying Capacity: The case of northern Portugal. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 50 (Proceedings of the 9th International Coastal Symposium), 135 – 139. Gold Coast, Australia, ISSN 0749.0208 The rapid growth of coastal tourism that has been seen in the last 40 years is frequently described as one of the major reasons for the development of these areas and also as responsible for many current coastal problems. The beaches perform, in this context, a fundamental role where the issues related to planning and management are increasingly more important when it comes to an implementation of a sustainable development philosophy. In these circumstances, concepts such as carrying capacity need to be used in a careful way. In Portugal, where coastal tourism plays a major part for the national economy, the management of beaches is crucial for maintaining their quality and therefore continuing to attract tourists. Since the 1990s, with the application of Coastal Zone Management Plans to the whole Portuguese coast, beach plans are now required. In those plans various parameters are considered, from the type and location of equipment and parking lots, to the definition of beach carrying capacity. This paper explores the results of the implementation of these plans to the beaches of northern Portugal. This part of the coast is very dynamic with high erosion rates. Some of the interventions from the Plans changed part of the characteristics of the beaches making it necessary, in some cases, to re-calculate the carrying capacities that were initially proposed, bringing new challenges to their management. This paper aims to stress the validity of the carrying capacity concept as applied to beaches, taking into account the need to use the concept in a flexible and dynamic way.