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About 60 percent of the global
population lives within roughly 100 kilometres of the shore.
This means that about 3.4 billion people rely heavily on marine
habitats and resources for food, building materials, building
sites, and agricultural and recreational areas. Many also
use coastal areas as a dumping ground for sewage, garbage,
and toxic wastes. Much of the remaining population is concentrated
along rivers and other waterways. Their habits affect downstream
marine habitats because sediments and pollutants are washed
into coastal waters.
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Pressures on marine ecosystems
include coastal population density and continued population
growth, which are accompanied by increased consumer demand
for marine products, increased waste disposal, rapid alteration
of coastal habitats, uncontrolled industrial pollution, inadequate
institutional structures for managing marine resources, lack
of property rights and management regimes within international
waters, and lack of understanding and awareness of marine
ecosystem processes and the effects of human actions on marine
biodiversity.
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