Sea level rise, the increasing frequency of storm surges and high rainfalls, due to climate change, are already causing significant physical and socio-economic damage to many States in the Caribbean region. In Guyana for example, 90% of the population live along the coastal plains, which are one meter below mean sea level. With such physiography and rainfall exceeding 2200 mm per year, prolonged inundation has led to major flooding of urban and agricultural lands. The current coastal and river defense infrastructure is unable to cope with the rising tides and flood inundation. Other countries in the region experience flooding of coastal villages and towns during tropical storms and hurricanes. Erosion of steeper hillsides leads to loss of life, destruction of housing, and washing out of coastal infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.

The high cost of building and maintaining traditional engineered coastal infrastructure is prohibitive for most governments. In this paper we propose a re-think of coastal flood protection, using the concept of Wholescapes, connecting land, sea and people. Terrestrial, aquatic and coastal ecosystems should not be viewed independently. Rather, the interconnectedness between coastal, marine, urban, and rural ecosystems should be considered in an integrated manner. This will allow for more resilient bioengineered flood mitigation measures, and understanding of the social, cultural, financial and environmental tradeoffs.