Socio-Economic Assessment of the Impact of the Anticipated Sea Level Rise on Peloponnese Coast (Eastern Mediterranean)

Abstract

The 1455 km length of the coastline of the Peloponnese (southern Greece) is characterized by a variety of coastal landforms, mainly as a result of its geodynamic evolution and the prevailing coastal hydrodynamic conditions. In terms of coastal exposure to sea level rise highly vulnerable coasts include all types of depositional formations (beaches, deltas, lagoons), while low/very low vulnerability present rocky coasts with cliffs. The assessment of expected shoreline retreat due to sea level rise (SLR) by 2100 in 15 beach zones, representative of the 192 most touristic beaches in the Peloponnese, corresponds to approximately total loss of 37% (SSP1-2.6), 45% (SSP2-4.5) and 57% (SSP5-8.5). Adaptation to climate change impact could be achieved by applying Article 8 of Protocol 7 of the Barcelona Convention "Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean", which asks for the identification of a zone at least 100 m wide from the higher limit of wave runup). In the case of Peloponnese this zone covers an area of 135 km2, consisting mostly of forests and grasslands (43.5%), cultivated land (30%), followed by wetlands (11.7%), artificial constructions (11.6%) and  beaches/ dunes (3.1%); its integrated economic value in the range of 980 - 1240 Euro/m2.

Keywords: Integrated coastal zone management, beach retreat, coastal land values, Barcelona Protocol