Joint mangrove management in Tamil Nadu: process, experiences and prospects. Part 1. Situation analysis: Pichavaram and Muthupet Mangrove Wetlands

This report documents experiences of the Joint Mangrove Management (JMM) project that was introduced 1997 in mangrove wetlands of Pichavaram and Muthupet (Tamil Nadu). The main aim of this programme is to enhance the capacity of the local community, Forest Department and other interested parties to restore, conserve and sustain mangrove wetlands through participatory analysis and action. The program was implemented in eight hamlets until May 2003, covering traditional and non-traditional fishers and farming communities. Some of the accomplishments of the project were to form village-level institutions for planning and implementing JMM, restoration of 675 ha mangrove areas, a replantation programme, establishment of self-help groups for poor, and the initiation of micro-enterprises. The experiences are covered in a series of seven parts. Part 1 (the present document) deals with fishery and forestry resources; utilisation of these resources by the local community; details of the dependent population; traditional and improvised methods of utilisation; land use pattern around the mangrove wetlands; and major concerns of the fishing and farming communities living in the study region. It also details the methodology followed in situation analysis. Some of the methods used were Rapid Rural Appraisal, transect boating, literature review, and discussion with field staff of the State Fisheries Department. The other parts of the series focus on PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) in Mangrove-User Villages (2); Village Mangrove Councils (3); Mangrove Management Units (4); Micro-planning and Implementation (5); Gender and Mangrove Conservation and Management (6); Results, Achievements and Prospects (7).
India, wetlands, mangroves, land use, fisheries, farming, livestock, forestry, rural development, community based resource management, transects, rapid rural appraisal