The role of precautionary principle in environmental protection of coastal area

The purpose –As the environmental law recurrently operates in the areas complicated by high level of scientific uncertainty, the precautionary principle is now emerging as a principle of law establishing whether the development process is sustainable or not. The purpose of this paper is to support the thesis that legal process attached to the application of environmental protection based on precautionary principle requires the responsible public and private power holders to prevent or terminate possible hazardous activity. Design – The special focus is given to reviewing the roots of precautionary principle, the impact of precautionary principle in environmental matters, as well as common procedures for applying and implementing the precautionary principle. The methodology – The methodology of the research includes quality research based on observation, the reports on previous research, examples of good practice and author’s own experience. Approach – The concept of preventive activation of the precautionary principle results in the taking of measures to prevent environmental damage without having to wait until the reality and seriousness of the threats of environmental damage become fully known. Findings – Control of technologies, economic development and regulatory appraisal involve balancing of the cost of being too restrictive in respect of innovation with the hazards and cost of being too permissive, in the situation of scientific uncertainty and ignorance. The precautionary principle requires that the main burden of providing evidence for safety rests on the proponents of a new technology or activity. The originality of this research- The author is urging comprehensive endorsement of precautionary principle in preserving the coastal and marine environment due to the evergrowing significance of protected areas in tourism development. In applying the precautionary principle there must be a proportionality of response or cost effectiveness of margins of error to show that the selected precautionary measure is not unduly costly.