Mangrove

Mangrove Ecosystems, communities and conflict: developing knowledge-based approaches to reconcile multiple demands.

This project aimed to develop action plans to reconcile multiple demands placed on mangroves and adjacent coastal zones in Southeast Asia. Stakeholders from civil society, local communities and local governments participated in action planning to ensure widespread support and increase the likelihood of implementation. A multidisciplinary situation analysis of mangrove ecosystem resources, functions and management was conducted at sites in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Factors analysed included: the ecological characteristics and functions of the mangrove ecosystem and of adjacent coastal areas; livelihood strategies of households dependent on goods and services derived from mangroves; institutional features, including local, national and international policy and legislation, describing trajectories of change, stakeholder values associated with mangroves, and conflicts or tensions. Methods and appropriate indicators for participatory monitoring and evaluation of impacts on mangrove ecosystems were proposed and action plans designed together with the stakeholders and the ecosystem, livelihoods and institutional impacts assessed through participatory monitoring and evaluation. Research findings were disseminated through national, regional and scientific communication media, ensuring national institutions and international development agencies are able to use this new knowledge in other locations and to promote action planning to reconcile multiple demands placed on coastal zones, especially mangroves. See for example:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/4765u218l1487182/fulltext.pdf

http://www.tropentag.de/2011/proceedings/node283.html#6609