Grounding the SHIELD Model for Tropical Coastal Environments

Abstract

Customizing environmental assessments to the particularities of the type of environment is crucial for implementing the precautionary principle. This paper uses the SHIELD model (Susceptibility to Human Interventions for Environmental Licensing Determination) in the context of geomorphology for the effective management of coastal environments. This paper describes the customization of the SHIELD model for tropical coastal environments as a way of validating a specific kind of environment. The assessment translates expert knowledge into technical criteria for the environmental control of human interventions through fuzzy logic computations. This assessment identified 21 geomorphological processes across six categories. Moreover, computation of the parameters resulted in a database of susceptibility measures for 4524 interactions. These quantitative results could guide future environmental impact studies of coastal environments, considering licensing instrument requirements. The SHIELD model approach, illustrated here on tropical coastal environments, offers a technical alternative for improving the environmental control of anthropogenic impacts from a geomorphological perspective.