Leadership in working with communities and adaptation to the impacts of sea-level rise: interaction among federal agencies, NGO’s, scientists, and community leaders

Abstract

The emerging concern regarding impacts of sea-level rise amongst the U.S. coastal national parks is the impetus for reaching beyond the jurisdictional limits of the parks to engage the adjacent communities in identifying natural and cultural resources at risk and adaptation strategies to address the concerns. In the first meeting of its kind in the Northeast, the Gateway National Recreation Area of the National Park Service and NOAA's Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve involved seven communities in a workshop on environmental changes affecting the Raritan Bay shoreline. The thrust was to describe the background science on sea-level rise in the immediate area, the dimensions and directions of ecological adjustments in the Park, the impacts to existing infrastructure, and the possible responses in a management context. Scientists from Rutgers University, personnel from the NOAA Coastal Services Center, the local county GIS office, and two NGOs provided assistance and information. The goal was to use the National Park as an example of an approach to understand the conditions that are occurring at the local scale and to identify resources available to the municipal residents and officials. It was an instance of leadership by example in a non-competitive setting.