MANAGING

Man and nature’s response to changing shorelines with the highest tidal ranges in the world was the subject of a Winston Churchill Fellowship during 2006-08. The research compared current approaches to managing the Severn Estuary in the UK with other coastlines experiencing the highest tidal ranges in the world: the Bay of Fundy in Canada and the Penzhinskaya Guba in Far East Russia. The three estuaries share dynamic tides but extreme differences in culture, population density and resource use. With very different levels of development, the study explored the evolution of estuaries in relation to current management issues: i) Public awareness and marketing the tide for tourism; ii) Land use management in response to flood risk; iii) Opportunities for renewable energy using tidal power. People live near estuaries for resources, trade and leisure – but need to co-exist with the rich natural environment. The potential for conflict between man and nature is high around developed estuaries like the Severn Estuary. The contrast between resource utilisation around the Severn Estuary occupied by over 3 million people, compared to the Bay of Fundy with less than 1 % of the population and less than 0.1 % of the population around the remote Russian estuary, posed useful questions about sustainable resource use and management