STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- India’s coastal and marine ecosystems include a wide range of mangroves, coral reefs, sea grasses, salt marshes, mud flats, estuaries, lagoons, and unique flora and fauna.
- Yet, despite their ecological richness and contribution to the national economy, these resources have not received adequate protection, and are under stress.
- The World Bank-financed Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project – part of the national coastal zone management program – seeks to balance development with the protection of vulnerable ecosystems.
India’s coastal zone is endowed with abundant coastal and marine ecosystems that include a wide range of mangroves, coral reefs, sea grasses, salt marshes, mud flats, estuaries, lagoons, and unique marine and coastal flora and fauna.
The Sundarbans – shared between India and Bangladesh – are the largest contiguous mangroves in the world. India also has major stocks of corals, fish, marine mammals, reptiles and turtles, sea grass meadows, and abundant sea weeds. Coastal fishing employs a million people full time, and the post-harvest fisheries employ another 1.2 million.
However, in spite of their ecological richness and contribution to the national economy, India’s coastal and marine areas have not received adequate protection and are under stress.
About 34% of India’s mangroves were destroyed during 1950-2000 (although substantial restoration and conservation has taken place over the past 10 years); almost all coral areas are threatened; marine fish stocks are declining; and several species of ornamental fish and sea cucumbers are fast disappearing.
Such rapid depletion and degradation, unless arrested, will impact the livelihood, health and well being of the coastal population, affecting in turn prospects for India’s sustained economic growth.
India’s coastal and marine environments are threatened by the lack of integrated development planning, especially given the large concentration of towns, petrochemical complexes and industries along India’s coasts.
Only 9% of wastewater from India’s coastal towns is treated before entering coastal waters, adding to their already heavy chemical burden from the huge volumes of agricultural run-off that routinely flow into them.
In addition, large numbers of coastal people remain dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods, in the absence of alternative livelihood opportunities. However, the returns from traditional fishing are diminishing due to environmental degradation and over-exploitation. Risks from climate change will only accentuate these challenges.
Resources for the conservation of these sensitive coastal and marine ecosystems remain scarce, and the capacity, skills, and knowledge for managing them in a sustainable manner remain inadequate.
The project
To reverse this trend, India began implementing a number of measures in 2005. The most important of these initiatives is the World Bank-financed Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project (2010-15).
The project – a part of the national coastal zone management program – seeks to balance the diverse needs of development with the protection of vulnerable ecosystems. The ICZM project ($286 million, aimed to directly benefit 1.1 million people) is the Bank’s largest in the Blue Agenda and one of its largest ever to finance knowledge generation and capacity building.
The project’s multi-sectoral and integrated approach represents a paradigm shift from the traditional sector-wise management of coastal resources where numerous institutional, legal, economic and planning frameworks worked in isolation, at times with conflicting aims and outputs.
The project puts equal emphasis on conservation of coastal and marine resources, pollution management, and improving livelihood opportunities for coastal communities.
At national and state levels
The project is working at the national level and in three states: Gujarat, Odisha, and West Bengal. At the national level, the project is working to expand the knowledge base and build institutional capacity for the integrated management of coastal zones.
This will include the mapping, delineation and demarcation of hazard lines and ecologically sensitive areas along the mainland coast of India, in addition to setting up a new National Center for Sustainable Coastal Management.
Investments in the three coastal states – which were chosen for their varying levels of development and their unique set of challenges – will pilot ICZM approaches with a view to replicating them in all the coastal states in future.
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[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.