Coastal areas are easily accessible, making them
centers of human activity, where people live and derive
their recreation and means of livelihood. Industrialization
and urbanization are recent phenomena and
consequences of human activity looking for economic
development, which is leading to serious degradation of
the ecosystems, especially pollution and habitat
encroachment along the coast of Samsun. Population
increases, together with rural and urban activities, directly
affect the availability and quality of natural resources, but
also induce secondary effects that must be evaluated
from a regional view (Sekhar, 2005; Ayad, 2005).
Moreover, substantial changes are taking place in the
coastal landscape as a result of rapid urbanization. A
series of environmental and resource problems have
emerged owing to rapid urban development, including
encroachment of agricultural land, land reclamation, silt
deposition in rivers and severe flooding.