| Project Detail |
Marine coastal areas are among the world’s most productive ecosystems. In India, they sustain the livelihoods of over 20 million people across nine coastal states and four union territories. These coastal ecosystems have come under immense pressure from various human activities such as over-exploitation, pollution and degradation. In many regions they have reached a critical condition, with insufficient conservation measures in place to counter the increasingly serious challenges. Meanwhile, the adverse impact of climate change on coastal ecosystems is very likely to grow. It is therefore necessary to establish protected areas and promote better conservation measures. Objective The conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity have improved in the pilot protected areas, while taking into consideration the livelihoods of the local population. Approach The project contributes to the protection of biodiversity by promoting participatory approaches to the management of existing coastal and marine protected areas, and supporting the creation of new protected areas in the future. By involving stakeholders at local, state and national levels, it is expected to make a significant contribution to the conservation of areas rich in biodiversity, without compromising the resource use and livelihood options of the local population. The project will work to achieve three specific outputs. It will design and introduce participatory management approaches for a number of existing and planned conservation areas. It will develop and strengthening capacities in selected states and of key stakeholders at the national level, in order to support the sustainable management of conservation areas It will ensure that relevant players in the fields of business, science, politics and civil society are aware of the importance of conserving biodiversity in coastal and marine areas. Results achieved so far The project will be implemented in five coastal states, namely Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The pilot sites have been chosen following a selection process that took into consideration the preferences expressed by state representatives as well as advice on conservation issues provided by the scientific community. A number of studies have been commissioned to obtain valuable information for the preparation of site-specific activities. These studies covered topics such as good practices in natural resources management in India or the use of traditional knowledge. They were also used to ascertain the needs for capacity development in sectors that deal with the management of protected areas (forest and fisheries departments) and the information sector (media). At workshops held in the states, existing problems in the pilot areas have been identified, as well as the requisite resources and potential partners for implementing the activities. On a visit to Germany, a delegation of high-ranking representatives of Indian scientific institutions assess ways in which Indo-German cooperation in areas of coastal and marine research could be intensified. With support from the project, India was able to showcase its efforts in coastal and marine conservation at an international conference on marine protected areas, held in France. |
