Calabria coastal management and erosion

The Calabria Regional Council approved new guidelines to help coastal municipalities evaluate beach resource scarcity and manage maritime state concessions for tourism. Vice President Filippo Mancuso stated the measure aims to provide a transparent, scientifically grounded framework for administrative decisions regarding maritime concessions.

Following these guidelines, environmental group Legambiente called for the region to ensure at least 50% of beaches remain available for public use, arguing that current criteria fail to adequately address environmental fragility.

Concurrently, researchers from ENEA, ISPRA, and CNR introduced CoDeC, an algorithm to quantify the economic and environmental impacts of coastal loss. Testing in San Lucido, Calabria, revealed that over 60% of the beach surface has been lost since 1954 due to urbanization and rigid barriers. The study suggested that while hard barriers protect infrastructure, they often shift erosion to adjacent areas, suggesting a need for soft engineering solutions.