Spotlight on Scania Coastal Protection Measures

To prevent effects of erosion along the coast, the County board of the province of Scania (Länsstyrelsen Skåne, Sweden) has developed a planning tool, The North Sea Region Programme said in their latest announcement. 

This allows the planning of exploitation near the coast and coastal protection.

In the Building with Nature project, the County Board investigated the coast to find locations suitable for planned retreat and ecosystem-based solutions to address the problems with erosion.

The County Board quantified the amount of sand between the coastline and buildings or infrastructure along sandy beaches in Scania.

A large amount of sand between the coastline and buildings and infrastructure could work as a natural protection for the buildings and infrastructure.

Retreat areas

By quantifying the volumes of sand, protection by the sand could be estimated.

Later on, the County Board identified parts of the sand coast where buildings and infrastructure were missing at least 300 meters inland from the coastline.

These areas without infrastructure may serve as retreat areas where the coastline can fluctuate naturally.

The results of the research are available in the report ‘Inventory of coastal areas‘.