An interdisciplinary approach to the identification and prioritization of environmental risks in northern industrial coastal areas of the Persian Gulf

Sustainable coastal ecosystem management in the future calls for interdisciplinary elements, including vulnerability indicators and risk assessment. Prioritization, as an emerging concept in this vein, has been just now integrated into coastal ecosystem management and its relevant research, and even tapped as a vital tool for land management. Against this background, the present study aims to delineate an easy-to-implement approach for the identification and prioritization of vulnerable areas, in view of the diversity of coastal plant species and communities, as well as their vulnerability to the potential risks of habitat fragmentation, exposure to hazardous and noxious substances, and oil spills. This guideline further seeks to provide a practical methodology for risk management under ordinary and extraordinary conditions, which is then applied in a fully industrialized area in the northern coast of the Persian Gulf. In relation to the risks researched in this area, 10% of the coasts in the study area are at the high or very high risks of habitat fragmentation. In terms of exposure to hazardous and noxious substances, 11% of the coasts surveyed are subjected to high or very high risks, and 21% of them are encountering the high or very high risks of oil spills.