Assessing Sustainable Developments in a Coastal Region: the Garolim Bay in the West Coast of Korea

The Garolim Bay is a semi-enclosed bay located in the west coast of Korea and has a spring tidal range over 6 m. It is well known for vast tidal flats and healthy ecosystems that supports high productive and diverse marine lives. Due to its large tidal range it was considered favorable site for the construction of tidal power plant and went through controversies over decades. Local fishermen depending on their livelihood over generations strongly opposed the construction, so did the most environmental groups. They argued that construction of the tidal barrage at the entrance of the bay will reduce the tidal range resulting in increase of mud content of bottom sediments and disruption of marine lives. On the other hand, the power generation industry and some local residents supported the construction arguing that the tidal power is renewable energy and contributes to reduction of CO2 emission along with economic benefits from tourists' sightseeing of the tidal power plant. The application of the tidal power plant construction at the Garolim Bay was not approved by the Korean government due to the concerns of environmental impacts on the marine lives of the Garolim Bay region. This study briefly reviews developments associated with the tidal power plant construction in the Garolim Bay and considers how to approach the assessment of the sustainable development of the coastal region of the Garolim Bay in accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 with appropriate goals, targets and monitoring indicators. It will be of keen interests to policy makers of central and local governments as well as local residents to monitor and find out the benefits pursuing SDG in the Garolim Bay where conflicts of interests among stakeholders persisted, and may exemplify the case for other regions of similar situations.