Local | PANORAMA

Construction of Integrated mangrove fish ponds

Pond Construction (© MSSRF)

In the identified saline affected area, fish ponds where constructed with an innovative approach. Normally, fish ponds will have only four earthern bunds to hold water. In this model, apart from these four outer bunds, inner bunds are also created and the ponds look like a mitochandria. The inner bunds are created to provide more space for mangrove plantation. The water spread area is used for fish culture. Thus, in this system, nearly 60% to 70% is given for fish culture and nearly 40% is given for mangrove plantation. To create inner bunds a lot soil was dug from the pond and this makes the pond floor lower than the tidal level. As a result, tidal water enters the sysem during the high tide and drains out during the low tide by gravitation. Any amount of water can be kept in the system by placing tidal water inlet and outlet at appropirate hight. Due to regular tidal flushing, this systems requires no energy for pumping water in and out of the pond. Due to regular flushing by tides, no chemical treatement is necessary to maintain water quality. Since tidal water brings a lot of food, there is only a minium requirement for artificial feed. Thus, this system of fish farming is environment friendly.

Successful construction and implementation depends on:

Acceptance of communities for brackish-water adapted fish species for cultivation as traditionally bred and conceivably preferred species are no longer economically viable
Engagement and participation of village people to construct infrastructure and to plant mangrove seedlings
Training in aquaculture for fish farmers
Technical and capacity development support
Village mangrove nursery

The selection of families done by the community to pilot the cultivation of brackish-water adapted fish species proofed successful as they established a model that will be replicated by other families in the community, and elsewhere.

The area selected for fish ponds and bunds should be carefully designed as to designate the major part (60-70% of the area selected) for fish, crab or shrimp farming without jeopardizing an effective regulation of the water spread by bunds (covering 30-40% of the area selected).

Fish ponds that are subject to tidal flow need to be protected against cyclones, storm surges and particularly sea water inundations that are likely to increase due to climate change induced sea level raise.

The combined systems of mangroves and halophytes proofed successful. The use of tidal flow makes redundant chemical additives and feed, thus reducing operational costs substantially.

Implementation

Local

Village Level Institutions

Training at Rajiv Gandhi Center for aquaculture (© MSSRF)

Gender and socially balanced village management committees are established in the target community which are governed by agreed rules. They develop regulations and micro plans for all activities and are responsible for their implementation. They try to consider the concerns and priorities of different stakeholders. Training allows them to also take into consideration new climate change findings.

Conditions for adoption elsewhere:

No existing conflicts between hamlets
Detailed knowledge on the socio-economic composition of the community including scheduled caste and tribes
Resources to provide the necessary training of community members

Approaches taken to not only engage villagers but also to jointly establish village management committees substantially contributed to build trust, confidence and partnership between the community and the implementing organisation. The village management committee is a useful vehicle to share experiences and to spread good practices within and external to the community. It also acts as a catalyst for village people’s commitment to engage in the implementation of the project and to take responsibility for its success. Its gendered composition ensures that men and women participate in discussions and decision making. The training provided for the community and the village committee developed capacity to better understand how to adapt to deteriorating natural conditions, and to prepare for climate change consequences. The village committee acquired competence to act as advocates in other communities.

Situation Analysis and Vulnerability Assessment

Mangrove Saplings (© MSSRF)

Participatory rural appraisals help to draw a picture of both the socio-economic and environmental situation and the major concerns. Geographical assessments and the use of geographical information systems help to identify the project area and risk zones that are affected most by climate change impacts like sea level rise and salinity.

Conditions for adoption elsewhere:

Information on current and predicted mean sea levels
Modelled impacts from sea level rise on the coastal area and community targeted
No conflicts between hamlets in the target area
Willingness of the community, and support for a sustained participatory process

A combination of participatory and scientific tools such as GIS is very useful in bring out the real issues faced by the people.

Entirety

Local

Subnational

Climate adaptive Livelihood Options

Farmer Gurupada Bera.

Bimal K. Chand

The introduction of salt-tolerant paddy and fish varieties provides new livelihood options. It is accompanied capacity building of farmers through training, visits of experts, exchange of experiences between community members. Cultivation progress and harvest of salt-tolerant species is continuously monitored.

• Physical security is equally important as livelihood security. • Households have control over critical livelihood resources. • Women and marginalised groups have equal rights and access to critical livelihood resources, information, skills and services. • Men and women work together to address the challenges. • Participatory monitoring and evaluation for local government and community ownership.

Implementation

Local

Climate Adaptation Centre

This centre provides broad information on climate change adaptation and serves as nodal point for disaster response teams. Data and experiences that are collected here are made accessible to all community members, task force teams and other agencies.

• Support and engagement from the community for long-term sustainability. • Women and other marginalized groups have equal access to information, skills and services.

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Implementation

Local

Disaster Preparedness Training

Mousuni Island in the Sundarbarns.

Anna Kalisch, GIZ

Capacity building of community members and the formation of disaster response teams enables people to better cope with disasters. The disaster response teams consist of young local volunteers who are trained through community-based disaster preparedness trainings (CBDP) and well equipped to act on relief and rescue operations before, during and after an emergency.

• Support from government for long-term sustainability. • Support for developing, implementing and follow-up of capacity building. • Access to information for communities and task force teams.

Farmer-to-farmer interactions significantly influence commitment and participation. This is a result of interactions made possible through the visit of experienced farmers from the eastern side of the Sundarbans with the target community on Mousuni Island on traditional salt tolerant paddy cultivation.

Implementation

Local

Factsheet - Introducing salt-tolerant species and preparing for disasters

Institutional Arrangements

Village meeting.

WWF India

Strong links with local government bodies ensure cooperation, dialogue and mutual support. Community level engagement together with local government bodies ensures bi-directional flow of information. Appropriate institutional mechanisms ascertain participation in the planning, implementation and monitoring of actions addressing disaster preparedness and the strengthening of the community’s resilience through appropriate projects.

• Support from government for long term sustainability. • Capacity development and access to information on climate change impacts and adaptation options for local government, communities and other partners, such as NGOs.

Long term commitment and good relationships between government bodies and the community members are crucial to any activity and project planned to improve disaster preparedness and livelihood resilience. Without this achievement the sustainability of any activity may be at risk.

Inception phase

Local

Awareness Campaigns

Village meeting.

WWF India

Tailor made awareness campaigns inform and sensitise the target community on climate change, its impacts and effects on livelihoods. These campaigns support the community to find ways how to better adapt and cope with natural disasters. The community engages in discussions and participates in the design of actions needed and thus to lay the groundwork of a joint project.

Conditions for adoption elsewhere: • A community depending on cultivation. • Knowledge on natural disasters menacing the community. • Data on the community’s socio-economic and natural resource conditions. • Preparedness of the community to engage in a joint project and its activities. • Support to initiate the process.

It is important to ensure that women and any other marginalized groups have equal rights and access to information and are fully included in the awareness campaign. For a successful campaign it is also desirable that cohesion exists between community members irrespective of religion, caste or any other factor, thus warranting access to social capital.

Planning phase

Local

Vulnerability Assessment

Sundarbarns.

Anna Kalisch, GIZ

This assessment helps to identify the physical and socio-economic vulnerabilities of the island’s communities. Topographic surveys identify low-lying areas that are particularly prone to coastal flooding and feed into a Geographical Information System (GIS). According to these baseline data, data on soil and salinity is collected at representative sample sites to identify appropriate salt-tolerant paddy varieties, fish and prawn species.

Successful construction depends on results from: • Support and technical expertise for surveys and geographical information system; • Salt resistant indigenous paddy, and fish and shrimp varieties must have a market value to ensure income for the community.

Disaster risks and preparedness of the community must take into account not only physical factors but also socio-economic and cultural factors. Vulnerability assessments provide the obligatory baseline data and information to effectively design and implement projects and activities at the most vulnerable locations. They provide the input to design projects with a socio-economically and culturally appropriate approach. The adoption of a participatory approach for scheduling and implementation of data collection by project staff and scientists helps to establish a good relationship based on transparency, trust and dialogue with the target group, particularly farmers.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Local

Environmental Assessment of Dive Centres

This is a practical and effective tool for assisting dive centres in implementing the environmental standards. The Green Environmental Assessment Rating System (GEARS) is used to assess the day-to-day practices of dive/snorkel centres against set criteria to measure their adherence to each Code of Conduct. Scores identify nature and urgency for improvements. Certification and free promotion on the Green Fins webpage act as incentives for eco-friendly dive tourism.

• Dive and/or snorkel centres willing to participate in the rating system • Qualified Green Fins Assessors (competent divers) and/or Coordinators who have access to the location and resources to support annual assessments and training for the dive/snorkel centres as required. Training and qualifications are overseen by Reef-World. These individuals cannot be involved directly with a specific dive centre, but may be freelance dive professionals, public employees, NGO staff or community members.

Certified membership of participating dive centres is granted after the first assessment, a joint decision on three realistic actions to implement, and the possibility to become one of the 10 top members are good incentives to improve environmental awareness and eco-friendly dive operations. If no improvement is recorded after two yearly assessments, free membership can be suspended or withdrawn from a dive centre – a valuable quality control tool. The annual Green Fins training and associated environmental consultation on how to implement the three feedback goals over the next year is a success factor. This assessment can balance lack of legal frameworks governing tourism industry practices and deficiencies in monitoring and enforcement capacities of local governments. The Green Fins systems encourage local dive and snorkel centres to unite and work together on local environmental issues and develop strategic outreach campaigns to address these issues.

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