Instead of top-down approaches, the project piloted mangrove conservation through a co-management agreement between local communities and authorities. Under the partnership agreement, resource user groups have the right to use natural resources sustainably on a defined area of state-owned land (protection forest) and the responsibility for sustainably managing and protecting those resources.
The project focused on getting the marginalised local population on board with the process and enabling to participate actively (recognition justice). For this, it was important to obtain acceptance of all stakeholders to pilot the co-management process. The other two major aspects of climate justice the project focused on were: (1) how to organise the process with different stakeholders (procedural justice) and (2) how to distribute the benefits and burdens or restrictions of co-management and find a balance between the protective function of the mangroves and production benefits (distributive justice). These resulted in a better collaboration between the local people and authorities. It also led to an increase in the area of mangrove forest which, in turn, protected protects the coast more effectively from erosion, flooding and storms, whilst increasing income from sustainable use of mangrove forest resources and from fishery.
- Environmental awareness-raising, a shared understanding of the agreement and effective communication between stakeholders are prerequisites for successful implementation of co-management.
- A participatory process involving all stakeholders can ensure a transparent, fair and informed decision-making.
- The co-management board is the core decision-making structure, with responsibility for overall steering and conflict resolution
- Addressing justice issues through co-management helps achieve a balance between improving the livelihoods of poor local people, whilst maintaining and enhancing the protection function of the mangrove forest.
- To address justice issues, it is necessary to address the underlying socio-economic and political causes of vulnerability. These include poor governance, inequitable resource control and access, limited access to basic services and information and discrimination.
- Empowerment of all vulnerable groups is essential for promoting a rights-based approach. Awareness raising, capacity development, meaningful participation in decision-making and the establishment of benefit-sharing mechanisms are therefore important features of justice-based EbA projects.
- Sustainable mangrove conservation also requires enabling conditions, such as grounding mangrove conservation projects in local knowledge and leadership.
- To sustain the co-management approach requires that power sharing as well as decision-making processes and structures be institutionalised in laws, decrees and standard operating procedures of the institutions involved.