The coast of Montenegro

The coastline of Montenegro is 288 km long. Only 20% of the coastal sea, alongside low sandy beaches and accessible rocky shores, is relatively shallow having a sand and gravel bottom, suitable for swimming (3). All natural and artificial beaches make up 25% of the total coastline. Natural beaches are sand, pebble or rock beaches, and artificial ones are either adjusted rocky shores built of concrete or nourished pebble beaches (1).

Vulnerabilities

Coastal erosion was not an issue in the past, but recently erosional changes have been noticed on several beaches (2). These changes started with rapid hinterland urbanization, building of settlements, their protective walls, as well as promenades and city squares immediately adjacent to the coast. These activities caused beach width reduction, which reduced the area for wave energy dissipation. On the landward side, hinterland urbanization cut off the flow of torrents that brought sediments to the beach.

Adaptation strategies

The following protective measures have been proposed (1):

• artificial nourishment of beaches with autochtonous sediment of suitable characteristics along the most threatened sections
• construction of hard permanent structures
• a combination of both

References

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for Montenegro.

1. Pikelj et al. (2013)
2. Petković (2004), in: Pikelj et al. (2013)
3. Ministry for Spatial Planning and Environment of the Republic of Montenegro (2010)