Living with the Oceans 2017 - 5 Coasts - A Vital Habitat Under Pressure

> For millennia, people have utilized the world’s coastal areas. Coasts provide a space for trading, supply resources and underpin fisheries. It is no surprise that societies have always struggled to gain maritime supremacy. Now, however, humankind is exploiting coastal regions to such a degree that these areas are no longer able to render all of the ecosystem services that people value and need so much. Coastal areas are degraded particularly by construction and pollution.