Coastal erosion driven Land-Sea Interactions in Maritime Spatial Planning - a case of Bulgaria

Human activities and natural processes interact with each other in complex ways along the land-sea interface. In order to promote sustainable use of coastal and marine resources, Land-Sea Interactions (LSI) should be taken into account when developing and implementing Marine/Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) as required by the MSP Directive (2014/89/EU). Coastal erosion is one of the critical land-sea interaction issues for the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, in particular in its northern part. Erosion can have negative impacts both on marine and coastal environments and on human activities (natural resources, ecosystem services and loss of habitats, with consequent environmental fragmentation, and loss of biodiversity, as well as of landscaping and environmental heritage, impacts on tourism, transport infrastructure, etc.). The present paper provides a detailed investigation with specific focus on coastal erosion driven Land-Sea Interactions as a case study in the Shabla Municipality, North Bulgarian Black Sea coast, where the highest rates of the cliff erosion occur. The study uses the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 5.0, a GIS extension tool for the analysis of shoreline movement (at sandy beaches – erosion/accretion) and cliff retreat (at rocky coasts). The most erosion-prone coastal segments along the cliff coast in the study area were identified (coastal erosion hot spot areas). Through this specific analysis, the paper aims to increase the knowledge and understanding of coastal erosion driven Land-Sea Interactions issues in Shabla Municipality using the best available data, and to utilise the best obtained results in coastal management and Maritime Spatial Planning, towards mitigation measures of coastal erosion impacts. This approach and the tested protocols are also applicable to other coastal change assessments in Bulgaria.