KARIM BELHADJALI

KARIM BELHADJALI

Deputy Chief, Planning and Research Division, CPRA

2017 Coastal Master Plan

Thursday, September 8 @ 12:50 pm – 1:40 pm

1 HSW

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OUTLINE

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) is charged with coordinating restoration and protection investments through the development and implementation of Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast, which is updated every five years. As coastal areas across the nation face increasing threats from flooding, land loss and sea level rise, there is a great need to advance long-term coastal planning and adaptation strategies. Using a science-based and stakeholder-informed decision-making process, the master plan seeks to create a more sustainable coastal Louisiana and enable communities to adapt to a changing landscape. The Plan is a 50-year protection and restoration strategy with two ambitious goals: to restore Louisiana’s wetlands and to provide flood protection for coastal citizens. This session will step through the master plan’s process by providing an overview of key elements of the 2017 Master Plan, including the Flood Risk and Resilience Program and CPRA’s Flood Risk and Resilience Data Viewer.

BIOGRAPHY

Karim Belhadjali specializes in the long-term planning of complex coastal ecosystem restoration and storm flood risk reduction projects, in adaptation to various scenarios of climate change. He is the program manager for the preparation of the State of Louisiana’s Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast. The master plan identifies specific projects and policies to be implemented over 50 years, to increase the resilience of coastal communities and ecosystem over the coming decades. Karim also directs the research program within CPRA, to address critical knowledge gaps, develop and improve comprehensive, integrated conceptual and forecasting models; and develop tools and data to support technical assessment of program and project performance against integrated objectives and goals. He has been engaged with the state’s coastal restoration and protection program since 2000, serving as the lead ecologist for the state on a dozen large scale wetland restoration projects constructed with federal partners.

Prior to his current position, he served in the US Peace Corps as the Marine Fisheries Advisor to the government of Tuvalu, Central Pacific.  He formulated fisheries policy including regulatory reform and fisheries management plans, to protect and conserve the marine resources of Tuvalu.