Strengthening Capacity for sustainable and Participatory Management of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas


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1.  Background

India has a vast coastline of 7, 517 km, of which, 5, 423 km belongs to Peninsular India and 2, 094 km to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands, and with an Economic Exclusive Zone of 2.02 million sq. km. This coastline also supports a high human population that is dependent on the rich coastal and marine resources. It is estimated that nearly 250 million people live within a swath of 50 km from the coastline of India. The ecological services of marine and coastal ecosystems of India play a vital role in India’s economic growth and in ensuring human well-being.

Despite the tremendous ecological and economic importance and the existence of a policy and regulatory framework, India’s coastal and marine ecosystems are under threat. Numerous direct and indirect pressures arising from different types of economic development and associated activities are having adverse impacts on coastal and marine biodiversity across the country. Further, climate change is likely to have an impact on coastal and marine ecosystems, including a likely increase in extreme weather events as well as sea level rise, warming of the sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification.  A rise in the sea level is likely to have significant implications on the coastal populations and agricultural productivity.

Marine protected areas network in India has been used as a tool to manage natural marine resources for biodiversity conservation and for the well-being of people dependent on. India has designated four legal categories of protected areas viz. National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves. Recently, a total of 106 coastal and marine sites have been identified and prioritized as Important Coastal and Marine Areas (ICMBA) using globally used criteria by the Wildlife Institute of India. These sites have been proposed as Conservation or Communities Reserves with participation of local communities. Efforts are currently underway in securing and strengthening community participation in management of the marine protected area network in India. 

India and Germany have joined hands to work towards the conservation of coastal and marine biodiversity and the improvement of the livelihoods of the local population under a new project “Conservation and Sustainable Management of existing and potential Coastal and Marine Protected Areas” (CSM-CMPA). The project is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).  

As part of this project the WII-GIZ has already identified various ‘capacity needs’ for participatory management of coastal and marine protected areas in India to guide the development of a customized comprehensive capacity building plan is needed with help of consortium of Institutes including the Wildlife Institute of India. Based on this assessment, it was realized that there is urgent need of building capacity of various stakeholders to enhance the participatory management of MPAs in India.  

Further, in India, there are multiple governance frameworks and structures that administer the coastal and marine environment. While these are intended to have positive outcomes, overlapping jurisdictions, contradictory mandates and limited coordination hinders multiple agencies from working effectively in managing coastal and marine biodiversity in India. Efforts are currently underway in securing and strengthening community participation in management of the marine protected area network in India. However, Management Agencies in India are still having limited understanding about management of multiple use coastal and marine areas. Given this scenario, the challenge lies in reconciling livelihood needs and development vis-a-vis conservation. In this connection, it is proposed to conduct one month certificate course on ‘Integrated Management of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas’ at every year to address these issues so that coastal and marine biodiversity of India could be effectively managed. India also has a commitment to fulfill the Aichi Targets agreed upon in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).  

2. TARGET GROUP

Mix of officials of different categories from the Forest sector, from Maritime States and UTs ( including Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal) of India. A selected set of activities will consider participants from other coastal states and other sectors such as fisheries, tourism as well. Range Forests Officers and the Forest Guards are important frontline staff for the management of protected areas in India. Therefore, one month course is proposed exclusively for the frontline staff working in  coastal and marine Protected Areas(PAs). Similarly, shorter course of one week period is proposed for the IFS officers  working in coastal and marine States/PAs. Further, Training of Trainers programs would also be organized targeting both National and State level institutions working for the conservation of coastal and marine biodiversity. 

Proposed Capacity Building Programs

Theme of all following courses is to strengthen the participatory management of coastal and marine protected areas in India.

1.  One month special course for the in-service Frontline Staff of the Forest Department: Range Forests Officers and the Forest Guards are important frontline staff for the management of protected areas in India. This  course is for the frontline staff working in  coastal and marine Protected Areas(PAs). WII and GIZ will work together in developing training modules, training material and implementing it for the frontline staff of the coastal States which will strengthen the efforts of the Indo-German project in the project sites.

  • Curriculum of this course would be developed in a consultative process by conducting a workshop in July-August 2014 , followed by development of training material in the form of Training Handbook and Trainer’s manual (jointly by WII and GIZ)

  • This one-month duration course can be organized once a year. 

  • First course is planned in December 2014 or January 2015.

  • Venue: any project partner State of the GIZ project, or any other State/site of significance to coastal and marine protected area management in India  

2.  One week special course for the in-service Indian Forests Service officers: This course is for the IFS officers  working in coastal and marine States/PAs. WII and GIZ will work together in developing training modules and implementing it for the IFS officers of the coastal states which will strengthen the efforts of the Indo-German project in the project sites.

  • Curriculum of this course would be developed in a consultative process by conducting a workshop in June- July 2014, followed by development of training material in the form of Training Handbook and Trainer’s manual (jointly by WII and GIZ)
  • Thematic issue for one such course will be SEA. WII extend the existing cooperation on SEA in the coastal and marine protected areas, by applying the tool to the project States/ Site, as and where feasible. The cooperation can begin from Gujarat State, where the existing WII-GIZ IGEP project on SEA is going on.
  • Venue: any project partner State of the GIZ project, or any other State/site of significance to coastal and marine protected area management in India 

The modularized curriculum of the one week special courses will allow to use the first day of the course for a Policy Dialogue on Coastal and Marine Conservation Issues and Challenges for senior forest officers and  officers of relevant line departments of States. These one day workshops are proposed to engage the senior officials in key important issues relevant to the GIZ-CMPA project objectives (e.g. marine invasive species management, International and National legal and policy regime for coastal and marine ecosystems, sustainable fisheries management, Management effectiveness of coastal and marine protected areas etc.)

 3.   Supporting training organizations in curriculum development and overall training system development

A. In cooperation with the GIZ-CMPA project, WII would facilitate a series of customized trainings for the faculty members of National Training Institutions (IFS Training cell of MoEF, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Directorate of Forest Education MoEF, ICFRE, State Forest Colleges) and the State level Forest training colleges in the partner States.

B.   An orientation expedition for the faculty members of the forest training organizations in a coastal area, to familiarize them with the changing requirements of the sector, and the need to adapt the curriculum would be conducted in collaboration with other relevant organizations.

C. Forest, fisheries and media sectors personnel from the  Sundarbans Marine World Heritage Site will be specially integrated in all the capacity building measures under Indo-German Project

4.   Guidelines for effective management of Coastal and Marine protected areas

A. WII will coordinate development of guidelines on effective management of coastal and marine protected areas, based on global best practices and customized according to the India conditions, by:

  • Establishing an advisory group for guiding the content and coverage of the guidelines, with experts drawn from relevant divisions of the MoEF, the CMPA partner states, fisheries, and other experts. GIZ will facilitate bringing International experts in this group.
  • Customizing existing guidelines and assessment methodology.
  • Carrying out initial Management Effectiveness Evaluation (IMEE) to ascertain gaps in management and governance on the pilot site/s
  • Working towards plugging the gaps
  • Carrying out final Management Effectiveness Evaluation (FMEE) to assess the efficacy of management measures.

GIZ will provide Natonal as well as International experts for this output.  

B. WII will extend the existing cooperation on Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) in the coastal and marine protected areas, by applying the tool to the project States/ site/s, as and where feasible.

5.   Support to various cross-fellowships as finalized periodically by GIZ expert group 

A. WII faculty will support the MPA Governance Fellows by providing conceptual inputs and supervision, as and when selected by the GIZ expert group.  

In India, there are multiple governance frameworks and structures that administer the coastal and marine environment. While these are intended to have positive outcomes, overlapping jurisdictions, contradictory mandates and limited cross-sector and cross-stakeholder coordination hinders multiple agencies from working effectively in coastal India. Management agencies in India are still having inadequate understanding about management of multiple use coastal and marine areas. Given this scenario, the challenge lies in reconciling livelihood needs and development vis-a-vis conservation. Therefore, the capacity building measures are proposed to address the following issues:

At the level of enabling environment:

  • Global conventions and protocols relevant to coastal and marine biodiversity.

  • How effective are administrative/ governance/ legal frameworks at National level for conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity and are these frameworks promoting integration of biodiversity conservation and livelihood enhancement?

  • What are the existing and potential threats for conservation of coastal and marine biodiversity? How to monitor indicator species and identify threats to marine biodiversity?

  • What are the current policy and governance challenges to coastal and marine biodiversity conservation? What is the role of community in the governance and management of marine protected areas and ecologically sensitive coastal areas?   

  • Strategic Environmental assessment

  • Management effectiveness evaluation of coastal and marine protected areas

Organizational capacities:

  • Strengthening training systems, through working on issues such as Training needs assessment, and monitoring and evaluation of the training courses, training methodologies, curriculum

  • Training institutes network development

  • To enhance cross-sector knowledge and skills exchange between forest, fisheries and media organizations, WII will engage faculty and experts from fisheries and media sectors, and other key relevant sectors, in all the capacity building measures.

Individual capacities for strengthening knowledge, skills and working towards shared values on conservation issues  :

  • Understanding and appreciation for coastal and marine biodiversity conservation among forest, fisheries and media professionals

  • Required skills to undertake coastal and marine biodiversity assessment, biodiversity and policy analysis; skills to develop and review protected area management plans, skills to communicate. Building consensus among stakeholders,  effective writing skills etc.

  • Promotion of shared values on coastal and marine biodiversity and ecosystem services and need and means for its conservation, among key stakeholders and sectors.

5. Organizers & Venue: Main organizer of these capacity building measures would be the Wildlife Institute of India, in cooperation with GIZ and concerned State Forest Departments

Sl. No.

Target Groups

Venue

Organizers

Duration

Field Component

1

Range Forest Officers

Concerned Coastal State

WII/ GIZ State FD

One month

15 days

2

IFS officers

WII/State

GIZ/ WII/ State FD

One week

2 days

3

ToT for Forest Training Institutions

WII/ State

WII/ GIZ

Three days

tbd

 Partners:

1.   WII

2.   GIZ

3.   State Forest Departments (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal)

4.   Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA)

5.   Bay of Bengal Program (BoBP)

6.   National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM)

7.   Indian Council for Forest Research and Education (ICFRE)

 6. WII Team:

Project Coordinator: Dr. V.B. Mathur, Director, WII
Project Co-coordinator & Course Director: Dr. K. Sivakumar, Scientist E, WII
Resource Persons: Eight Faculty members of WII and Guest Faculty

 

First Certificate Course on

“Coastal and Marine Biodiversity and Marine Protected Areas”

for field-level MPA managers in India

January 12- February 6, 2015

Organized jointly by GIZ, Wildlife Institute of India, and Indian Institute of Scuba Diving and Aquatic Sports (IISDA)

Venue: IISDA, Tarkarli, Malvan, Maharashtra

 

A holistic capacity development system for the Marine Protected Area (MPA) managers, addressing their knowledge, skills and values, is key to developing approaches for sustainable and effective management of coastal and marine biodiversity.

In this context, GIZ and Wildlife Institute of India have partnered to offer training courses on "coastal and marine biodiversity” for the field-level and senior forest officers, and decision-makers. The first course in this series was piloted during January 12 to February 6, 2015. The venue for this course was the Indian Institute of Scuba Diving and Aquatic Sports (IISDA), at Tarkarli in Malvan Maharashtra at the west coast of India.

The course used a competence-based curriculum, developed by a team of multi-sector experts and trainers from biodiversity, forest, marine biology, media, fisheries and capacity development fields. The course used participatory training methods to ensure effective content delivery. The course had a special focus on field-based activities, especially use of SCUBA diving and other field-based methods for under-water and coastal biodiversity assessment and monitoring surveys. Please visit http://www.indo-germanbiodiversity.com/index.php?r=subProject/view&id=4 for an overview of the curriculum.

 

The course is intended to enable the participants to have a sound understanding of the concepts and issues related to coastal and marine biodiversity and related protected area management, ecological and socio-political context, conservation approaches and legal-policy framework between terrestrial and coastal marine protected areas. The course also strives to enable the participants to enhance their skills towards conducting assessment and monitoring of coastal and marine habitats and species, preparing field reports and developing – under supervision – operational plans for MPAs based on management effectiveness guidelines.

 

The participants for the one-month course were the Forest range officers and Foresters, working on the coastal and marine protected areas in different coastal state of India, including Andhra Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

 

The course was received extremely well by the participants as well as the trainers, experts and external resource persons. The participants spent one month in discussing the concepts on coastal and marine biodiversity; learning new skills in field-assessment of coastal and marine ecosystems, diving and snorkelling, enhancing their communication skills; as well as exploring the new dimensions of connectedness to nature. Four participants successfully qualified to become PADI Open water scuba divers, while the others qualified as divers.

 

The participants are networked together with other experts from the field from forest, fisheries and media sectors via a Facebook Page.

Link- https://www.facebook.com/mpamanagers

Getting information on the newly introduced Semi-pelagic Trawl System developed by The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), along with the team of Mangrove Cell Maharashtra and UNDP-GEF project team