Development of integrated shoreline management planning: a case study of Keta, Ghana

This paper focuses on the approach for the development of an integrated shoreline management plan for the coast of Keta. Shoreline management provides a large-scale assessment of erosion and flood risks associated with present land use at the backshore of a coast. It then presents a policy framework to reduce risks to people and development in a sustainable manner. The paper reveals that coastal erosion and flood risk is generally greater along the coast of Keta due to the soft geology and extremely low-lying nature of the shoreline and extensive hinterland relating to the Volta delta. It identifies that even one metre sea level rise could submerge large areas at eh backshore affecting communities, land use and environmental quality. The paper recommends the development of storm warning systems, emerging evacuation planning and building of elevated storm surge shelters among others as key measures that should be implemented to manage the flood risk of Keta. Such measures are especially important for the coastal settlers around the Volta delta where the hinterland is so extensive and low-lying that extremely large areas could be flooded in future leaving few safe heavens to which the copulation could retreat. The paper concludes that coastal management problems identified in Keta are experienced in other sections of Ghana’s coastline and similarly, along the coast of many developing countries, so the paper provides a direct practical example on dealing with the issue of shoreline management problems for countries with similar problems. Thus, the shoreline management approach developed for Keta could serve as a guide for wider coverage of entire Ghana’s coastline as well as similar coastlines elsewhere.