Delta Life 8

DELTARES, OCTOBER 2017 19 4 6 9 8 5 7 Coastal erosion also affects the natural system. More than a third of the man- grove forests in the world have already disappeared. Andmore than half have been lost in areas such as India, the Philippines and Vietnam. In North, Central and South America, mangrove forests are disappearing faster than the rainforests. Studies estimate that 6,000 to 17,000 square kilometres of land will be lost between now and the end of this century, forcingmillions of people to emigrate, and that the costs will rise to between 300 and 1000 billion dollars. When we talk about erosion, we think of crumbling cliffs but it is mainly the small number of sandy (five to ten percent of the total coastline) andmuddy coasts (ten to fifteen percent) that are affected by erosion. It is these areas with soft coasts that are very suitable for human habitation. More information: alessio.giardino@deltares.nl dirkjan.walstra@deltares.nl Solutions: return sediment to the systemand pump sand onto the shore. Increasingly, people are opting for sustainable building with nature. Deltares has acquired a lot of knowledge in coastal protection projects worldwide. About two thirds of the world's population live less than 60 kilometres away froma coast. Sixteen of the 23 cities withmore than 2.5million inhabitants are in coastal areas. When human use increases as the coast shrinks, we call that coastal squeeze. Coastal erosion is often a dormant problem that suddenly becomes visible after a storm. The natural balance may have been disturbed for decades. A healthy coast is a buffer that provides protection during storms and high tides.