In addition, there are issues concerning trade-offs arising from policy decisions between conservation and the economic benefits drived from resource use. The diversified livelihood patterns of coastal communities are hampered by factors such as declining resource bases, competition, poor resource extraction methods and others. Rapid population growth is an intervening variable and, as illustrated in Chapter 1, population densities are increasing at a rapid rate in the coastal zone of the WIO region (World Bank 2012, UNEP 2011). It is estimated that over 60 per cent of the total population of Sub-Saharan African coastal states live within 100 km of the coast and derive their livelihood from the coastal and marine environment. Heightened competition for resources, which has been influenced by societal dynamics and neoliberal economic policies, has increased the rate of exploitation of resources, thereby challenging management effectiveness. For example, intensification in coastal infrastructural development (see Chapter 29) and economic investment along the coast, magnified recently by the oil and gas industry (see Chapter 26), are impinging on both fragile ecosystems and human livelihood sources (UNEP 2012).