A system dynamic based DSS for sustainable coral reef management in Kenting coastal zone, Taiwan

Kenting is located at the southern end of Taiwan, and is famous for its abundant marine resources, especially diverse coral species. This beautiful coastal zone attracts millions of tourists every year. However, growing human activities and increasing land reclamation pressure have resulted in negative impact to the coral reef ecosystem. Thus, exploring an integrated approach for sustainable coral reef management is urgently needed. The current study adopts the integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) concept and develops a system dynamic (SD) based decision support system (DSS). The SD model, built as a DSS to facilitate scenario analysis, can solve the complex coastal zone management problem. Four subsystems, socio-economic, environmental, biological, and management, join with the SD model configuration for integrated assessment of the particular problem. The model identifies four critical management strategy variables, including land development, wastewater treatment, local fish consumption rate, and entrance fee collection, and presents users with a user-friendly DSS interface. Several scenario analyses are conducted and presented in this paper. Decision makers can also fine tune DSS variables and evaluate preferable scenarios through simulations. Sustainable management strategies for the coral reef ecosystem can hopefully be developed using the DSS and implemented in the near future.