The project mainly focuses on involving communities in conservation of mangroves wetlands in Indus delta. Activities proposed in the project are mainly focused on educating and involving local communities in conservation of mangroves to protect ecologically important coastal wetlands. Activities associated with the main objective would lead to more sensitized local communities and forest department. The attached work plan gives timeframe for each activity.

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Villagers of the small fishing town of Vunisinu, Fiji were at a mad scramble to find out why their catch was diminishing by the day, only to discover that the causes were of their own making. Household wastewater pollution, over-fishing, and mangrove destruction were pushing the sea’s resources to its limits. What prompt actions did Vunisinu residents engineer to stop the destruction of their environment and source of livelihood?

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Population density and growth combined with illegal logging, wartime defoliation and over-exploitation of natural resources, have put severe pressure on Vietnam’s natural environment. Forest coverage decreased from about 40% in 1965 to 25% in the mid-1990s. In particular, the rapid decline of Vietnam’s mangrove forests has had a serious impact on the productivity of coastal fisheries and the rural economy of the Southern Mekong Delta. Mangrove forests act as breeding grounds for aquatic organisms, a cleansing system for sediments and nutrients in estuaries, and provide buffer zones against typhoons and floods. However, low environmental awareness coupled with limited resources and entrenched poverty prevented provincial authorities from adequately protecting coastal wetlands in the past.

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http://www.worldbank.org

The Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods Project was funded by the UK Government's Department for International Development DFID Policy Research Programme.

The South Asia region has very high percentages of poor in the population, particularly in India and Bangladesh. The diversity of the natural resources found along the coast, and the open-access nature of many of them, means that barriers to entry are low, attracting the poor to the coast in search of livelihood opportunities. However, while the coast presents many opportunities for the poor, it also exposes them to many forms of shocks that increase their vulnerability.

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The Blessing of the Commons: Small-Scale Fisheries, Community Property Rights, and Coastal Natural Assets

Decades of coastal management efforts in South Africa culminated in the adoption of a new coastal policy in December 1999. This policy represents a marked shift from an earlier biophysical orientation that virtually ignored issues of justice, democracy and poverty. The new policy aims to promote sustainable coastal development, with particular attention focused on empowering poor and marginalized coastal communities to pursue sustainable livelihoods.

Because of the importance of oceans in the global economy and climate system, lasting and sustainable development will not be achieved without healthy coasts and oceans. Well-managed, productive fisheries play a significant role in global economic development, food security, poverty alleviation, trade, and human health. But since the Earth Summit in 1992, most coastal resources have suffered from overuse and degradation.

This report covers the review of the current GTZ supported project, Support to River Basin Organizations in SADC, and was written on the basis of the consultants’ understanding of views expressed during the many interviews with relevant stakeholders and information gathered from the multiplicity of documents reviewed.

This study explores the relationship between economic values of coral reefs, coastal poverty, and policy interventions in Viet Nam, using the Hon Mun Marine Protected Area (MPA) as a case study. Hon Mun was set up in 2001, and is currently funded by a 4-year US $2 million program (principally supported by international donors).

The restoration of mangroves has received a lot of attention world wide for several reasons. Firstly, the long ignored ecological and environmental values of mangrove forests have been documented for many mangrove areas in the world. Secondly, there is a high subsistence dependence on natural resources from mangrove forests. In addition, large losses of mangroves have occurred throughout the world leading to coastal erosion, decline of fishery resources and other environmental