Coastal zone management is management of the natural and socio-economic resources of coastal systems for economically sustainable development. it is a highly integrated process that requires all involved parties to co-operate to allow manageable natural resources of that particular region.

The coastal waters of the Southeast Asian countries have some of the world's richest ecosystems that support diversity of marine life. These in turn economically benefited the population that largely dependent on the resources derived from the coastal waters. Large destruction of these resources such as mangrove forests and marine life causes serious degradation that affect the economic life of the coastal inhabitants. Some asean nations have formulated regulatory measures for their coastal resources management such as the issuance of permits for fishing and mangrove harvesting. Unfortunately, most of these measures are not proven effective due to enforcement failure and lack of the community support.

Brunei Darussalam considers the sustainable development of its coastal zone a priority. The water of Brunei Darussalam do not generally suffers serious pollution but increasing industrialisation, urbanisation and introduction of more intensive agricultural practices could add significantly to existing pollution levels.

the coastal resources of Brunei Darussalam are diverse. at present, the management of many of these resources such as fisheries, beaches, mangroves, estuaries, parks and wildlife are unisectoral (government agencies such as fisheries department, forestry department, marine department, land department). There are resources outside their responsibilities that are more or less being exploited. At the same time, more than one government agency manages a single resource so conflict and duplications of functions can take place. because of the diverse attributes of these coastal resources and since major portion of the social and economic activities are in the coastal areas, its management needs to be integrated with whatever development arises within a particular coastal resource.