Journal of Environmental Protection, 2018, 9, 1171-1184 http://www.scirp.org/journal/jep ISSN Online: 2152-2219 ISSN Print: 2152-2197 DOI: 10.4236/jep.2018.911073 Oct. 26, 2018 1171 Journal of Environmental Protection Development of an Integrated Coastal Vulnerability Index for the Ivorian Coast in West Africa René A. Tano 1 , Angora Aman 2* , Elisée Toualy 2 , Yves K. Kouadio 2 , Bouo Bella Djézia François-Xavier 1 , Kwasi Appeaning Addo 3 1 Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Physics, Nangui Abrogoua University, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire 2 Climate Tropical Team, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics and Fluid Mechanics, Felix Houphouet Boigny University of Cocody, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire 3 Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana Abstract This study assesses the vulnerable state of the 566-km Ivorian coastal area using the physical (geomorphology, coastal slope, coastal retreat rate, relative sea level rise and wave/Tide energy) and socio-economic (coastal population density, harbor, airport, road, land use and protected area) factors as indica- tors. This enabled an Integrated Coastal Vulnerability Index to be determined for the Ivorian coastal zone. This Index could be defined as the weighted av- erage of indexes based on physical and socio-economic factors. The study re- vealed that vulnerability of the western and the eastern coastlines of Cote d’Ivoire are strongly influenced by human activities, while physical forcing affects significantly the vulnerability of the central section. The relative vul- nerability of the different sections depends also strongly on the geomorphol- ogy, wave energy, coastal population density and land use factors. The west and central sections of the coastline are more resilient than the eastern sec- tion when integrating physical and socio-economic factors. The Integrated Coastal Vulnerability Index, based on physical and socio-economic factors, appears to be more appropriate for coastal vulnerability assessment. These results could be useful in the development of adaptation strategies to increase the resilience of this coastal area and then extended for West Africa Coastal Areas Management. Keywords Integrated Coastal Vulnerability Index, Ivorian Coast, Socio-Economic Pressure, Physical Forcing How to cite this paper: Tano, R.A., Aman, A., Toualy, E., Kouadio, Y.K., François- Xavier, B.B.D. and Addo, K.A. (2018) De- velopment of an Integrated Coastal Vulne- rability Index for the Ivorian Coast in West Africa. Journal of Environmental Protec- tion, 9, 1171-1184. https://doi.org/10.4236/jep.2018.911073 Received: September 2, 2018 Accepted: October 23, 2018 Published: October 26, 2018 Copyright © 2018 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access