Assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea level rise: a case study at the coastal area of Kema, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

Rapid development in coastal areas due to population growth and infrastructure expansion poses the risk of making these areas vulnerable to changes. This situation occurred in the coastal area of Kema District, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. This area has potential for economic growth, primarily through fisheries capture, infrastructure, and tourism. However, this potential should be supported by a preventive effort addressing physical and human factors influencing the area. The present study try to address the factors, which aimed to determine the condition of 6 factors (geomorphology, tidal range, shoreline changes, sea level rise, man-made structures, and coastal protection structures) and to assess the coastal vulnerability level of the coast based on those parameters using the coastal vulnerability index (CVI). The research was conducted in several stages, including primary data collection, secondary data collection, and data processing. The results showed (1) the CVI for the coastal protection structures was 4.6 (very high vulnerability); for the sea level rise and the tidal range were 4.0 (high vulnerability); the geomorphology and the shoreline changes were 3.2 and 3.0, respectively, (medium vulnerability); and the man-made structures was 1.4 (very low vulnerability); (2) the vulnerability level of the coast was medium. It is concluded that this area was at a moderate level of vulnerability.