Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) in Haiti: Opportunities and limitations

The management of coastal resources calls for interdependency, and requires international agreements among nations in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. As related to coastal nations, the sustainable development has been translated into the concept of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). As a result, he implementation of ICZM has become a priority for many developing coastal nations and financial and aid institutions. This paper is an investigation of the difficulties associated with such implementation in the case of Haiti so that the opportunities and limitations of such initiative are identified. The state of the coastal zone management (CZM) in Haiti was portrayed using five dimensions identified in Sorenson and Brandani's approach (1987). Face-to-face and phone interviews with key informants from the different institutions involved in the process were conducted using a snowball technique, and documents review was also realized. The information gathered was analyzed at: (1) a micro level using the Integrated Management Approach (IMA) and (2) a macro level articulated through a Political Ecology Approach (PEA). The study revealed the existence of an inadequate management process and that the implementation of ICZM is limited by the macro-economic instability of the country.