Preliminary Diagnosis of Integrated Coastal Management in Colombia

Over the years, a growing number of coastal areas around the world have been affected by the mismanagement and misuse of their natural resources, which has attracted the interest of countries to implement strategies that modify public policies to create actions with a sectoral focus towards the coastal zone, with achieving sustainable use of the seas and coasts. Colombia, being a megadiverse country due to the large number of coastal ecosystems that make it up, has been affected by environmental problems such as pollution, loss of biodiversity and damage to ecosystems due to construction and infrastructure. Due to the above, the objective of this research is to carry out a preliminary diagnosis, supported by a search for documents associated with integrated coastal management through the Google Scholar platform, in such a way that allows us, taking as a guide the decalogue of Barragán (2012), to know the current situation of the coastal areas of the Republic of Colombia. In the results we find that Colombia has policies that aim to implement the sustainable use of coastal resources, however, it does not have regulations that have Integrated Coastal Management as their main theme, which causes the competencies and institutions interested in contributing to the protection of natural resources do not have adequate legal support. On the other hand, relevant advances were found in terms of instruments related to Integrated Coastal Management as well as in education and sustainability, since initiatives for education and training have been implemented. Important advances have also been found in the knowledge and distribution of information in digital media. There are several universities that offer master’s and doctoral degrees with a focus on coastal management, but unfortunately the offer is not enough. Likewise, there are not enough financial resources for the implementation of integrated management, and although citizen participation is incipient, it is becoming more and more organized. Keywords: Politics, coastal zone, environmental problems, natural resources, Colombia.