Exploring Other Sandy Shores: Introduction To International Cases

The Sand Motor has attracted attention from inside the Netherlands and from far outside. As described on Page 138, hundreds of international delegations have visited the Sand Motor since 2011, to learn more about its workings and to see it for themselves. In addition, several organizations and policy actors have approached the NatureCoast research team with specific questions about their own local coastal erosion problems. The four cases that will be described in the following pages, from Bacton (United Kingdom), Scania (Sweden), Negril (Jamaica) and Lima (Peru), could not be more different from each other. Not only is the morphology different, but the political climate, main economic activities and the actual importance of sandy beaches differs in each case. However, representatives from each of these locations contacted us about their eroding sandy beaches, to learn from our experiences, and to see if a solution like the Sand Motor, with the same underlying principles, would work in their case. In the following pages, we will describe the key challenge for each case, characterize the physical conditions and the local governance system, and look into possible ways forward. But first, we will highlight some overall observations and lessons learnt.