This book examines the integrated sustainable management of coastal water bodies. The main topic of this book is not the ecology according to its accepted meaning, but rather the 'places and people' who survive on the coastal zones of the Mediterranean.

Addressing the links between science and the real world with a sound scientific baseline, Coastal Water Bodies targets researchers of various disciplines whose interest lies in the integrated sustainable management of coastal water bodies. The main topic of this book is not the ecology according to its accepted meaning, but rather the 'places and people' concerned the coastal zones of the Mediterranean that are rich in ecological value and the local people who survive thanks to these environmental resources.

Integration is the joint consideration of different aspects of water uses and values, and new ways of understanding and managing conflicts around water use are needed if people are to benefit from integration. Sustainability of the ecological and socioeconomic environments requires a climate in which conflicts, if they need to exist, are properly managed in a non-destructive manner.

Explores ways to achieve new forms of governance for sustainable development Discusses the conflict between scientific objectivity and socioeconomic subjectivity Provides case studies of socioeconomic valuation of a body of water while integrating multidisciplinary inputs Offers a perspective of natural heritage conservation versus economic development Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Mediterranean Coastal Areas at Risk Between Conservation and Development.- Wetland Socioeconomy: The Case of Lake Maryut (Egypt).- Integration of the Gender Dimension into Socioeconomics Analysis.- Environmental Conflicts and Conflict Management: Some Lessons from the WADI Experience at El Hondo Nature Park (South-Eastern Spain).- Soil Salinisation in the Grosseto Plain (Maremma, Italy): An Environmental and Socio-Economic Analysis of the Impact on the Agro-Ecosystem.- Evolution, Impacts and Management of the Wetlands of the Grosseto Plain, Italy.- The Ombrone Delta and the Two Chief Systems of the World Today: Environmentalist and Economicist.