Publication

Abstract : This paper makes an illustrative case for conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of mangrove wetland-based ecosystems in Gujarat amidst the growing crisis of livelihoods facing the coastal communities in the event of climate change induced threats and livelihood security. The empirical analysis contained in the paper is based on the study of the impacts of mangrove restoration activities in the Gulf of Kutch undertaken by the Government of Gujarat under the initiatives of the India–Canada Environment Facility (ICEF) in the initial phase (2000–2005) and the Gujarat Ecology Commission, later on (since 2005). The paper discusses the importance of conservation and restoration of mangrove wetlands in the present context and the global and local initiatives thereon. It then presents the empirical case of the socio-economic and ecological outcomes of the community-based mangrove restoration (CBMR) in Gujarat and its livelihood outcomes. The paper concludes by underlying the major challenges facing the conservation and restoration of mangrove wetlands in the state and the imperatives of policy and institutional interventions in the emerging context of climate change risks and vulnerability of coastal livelihoods. It also brings out the imperative of a better understanding of the dynamics of the ongoing interventionist policies and programmes towards restoration and conservation of mangroves in rest of the Indian states, especially, West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, which are at the forefront of implementing mangrove restoration activities.