The 11th COP to the Convention on Biological Diversity and beyond Marianne Manuel, Mahima Jaini, Sahir Advani, Aarthi Sridhar Over 160 countries are signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is an agreement dating from 5th June, 1992, that legally binds governments to protect their natural resources. The CDB sets forth guidelines and…
Tracing transformations in fishing technologies in Odisha Arundhati Jagadish, Muralidharan M, Aarthi Sridhar The evolution in fishing technologies, interventions and innovations along the national coastline offers insight not only into the history of India’s fisheries but also a roadmap for the formulation of better marine conservation laws and regulatory frameworks for fisheries management. For instance,…
Support to the National Coastal Protection Campaign Marianne Manuel The NCPC is a national network of fish worker unions and representatives from environmental and social justice-focused organisations including NGOs and legal, research, media and civil society groups. Formed by the National Fishworker Forum (NFF) in 2007 and still under its leadership, the NCPC emerged in…
Islands of Wisdom: community engagement in learning centres Duration 2017 – present Support Wipro Applying Thought in Schools grant (2017 – present) Location Wandoor, South Andaman Island Karishma Modi, Moumita Bhowmick, Aplonia Topno, Naveen Namboothri Numerous studies conducted all over the country find that students in primary school struggle to keep up with curricular requirements.…
Monitoring green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and seagrass meadows in the Lakshadweep Islands. Hariprasath R, Muralidharan M, Kartik Shanker Seagrass meadows in the lagoons of Lakshadweep have decreased greatly due to intense grazing by green turtles. Thalassia and Cymodocea, the two major species of seagrass found in the lagoons have reduced in their cover. This decline…
Communicating information on fisheries subsidies to small-scale fishers in Karnataka Aarthi Sridhar, Arundhati Jagadish, Sajan John The dominant global discourse on subsidies in fisheries focuses primarily on the large-scale mechanised fishing sector. This discourse links fisheries subsidies to a number of adverse impacts such as resource over-exploitation, environmental destruction, and social and economic distortions. In contrast, there…
Representing knowledge: Local ecological knowledge (LEK) and natural resource governance in India Aarthi Sridhar, Meera Oomen India abounds not only in biodiversity but also in communities dependent on natural resources. These communities have forged unique relationships with their specific ecosystems such as forests, oceans, rivers, coasts, etc. over many generations and derived both sustenance and livelihoods…
Minerals from the sea Adam Jadhav, Aarthi Sridhar Recent years have seen a growing national and international interest in extraction of mineral resources from the deep sea. However, scant understanding of deep sea ecosystems make mining in these areas potentially hazardous to both ecologies and traditional fishing livelihoods. Fishing communities face restricted access to fishing grounds…
The emergence of ‘essential’ coastal activities in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu Devayani Khare, Marianne Manuel, Aarthi Sridhar Marine and coastal regions around the world are hotbeds of entrepreneurial activities and competing claims. Here, multiple actors with varying levels of resources and power such as the energy, manufacturing, trade, tourism and industrial lobbies on one hand, and small…
Communicating environmental laws: development of outreach material Aarthi Sridhar, Marianne Manuel India’s environmental laws and policies such as the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (2011), the Environmental Protection Act (1986), the Wildlife Protection Act (1972), the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification (2006) and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers [Recognition of Forest Rights] Act (2006), to name but…