Terry Healy Coastal Project Award 2024 - official winners
Terry Healy Coastal Project Award 2024 - official winners
The Terry Healy Coastal Project Award acknowledges the achievement of a project which has made a significant contribution to New Zealand's coastal and marine environment. The award is intended to commend a coastal project for its overall commitment to excellence working within the coastal zone and promoting the New Zealand Coastal Society (NZCS) vision and values.
This year winner is:
“Aotearoa’s Coastal Change Dataset”
from the University of Auckland and Resilience to Nature’s Challenges – National Science Challenge
Effective planning for coastal adaptation to sea-level rise (SLR) requires understanding the impacts of SLR on the coast, which despite being uncertain, is vital for informed adaptation decision-making. To anticipate the physical response of coastlines to SLR, historical coastal change baselines (e.g. erosion rates) are essential. Coastal erosion poses an increasing threat necessitating coastal defences and potential relocation of communities. Up until August 2024, when Aotearoa’s coastal change dataset was released, Aotearoa lacked a relevant national coastal change dataset. Hence, it was impossible to comprehensively report on coastal erosion at a national scale.
Addressing this gap, this ambitious five-year project, sought to develop a national coastal change dataset that quantifies coastal change rates and patterns, and highlights erosion hotspots in Aotearoa. The team has meticulously mapped local-scale historical coastal change rates (erosion and accretion) nationwide, utilising aerial photographs and high-resolution satellite imagery. This effort provides coastal change patterns and rates spanning the past 80 years across 80% of Aotearoa’s coast at 10 m increments. Analysis reveals a legacy of complex coastal change across Aotearoa, revealing shifts from historical accretion to erosion, accelerating erosion, and areas of remarkable stability despite sea-level rise. By establishing this national baseline, we enable a deeper understanding of erosion drivers and facilitate projections of future coastal change. The dataset is publicly available at https://coastalchange.nz/ . It represents a significant advancement in New Zealand’s data quality and availability. It will transform coastal management by providing essential historical information to address present and future impacts of erosion and sea-level rise. Stakeholder engagement confirms the dataset represents a step-change in Aotearoa’s coastal adaptation and management.
Congratulations!
(Megan Tuck and Mark Dickson pictured with Sam Morgan, NZCS Co-Chair (centre)