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CESS NEWS ISSN 0972-3633 CESS NEWS Newsletter of the Centre for Earth Science Studies Vol. 17 June, 2007 No. 2 Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP) of Lakshadweep Islands ICZM is a continuous and dynamic process by An approach for the Development of which decisions are made for the sustainable ICZMP use, development and protection of coastal and In order to prepare the ICZM plan, the spatial marine areas and resources. This is carried out by and temporal data on the various physico- harmonious decisions of all sectors and levels environmental features were generated. of government in consistent with the national Integrated planning for the island areas including policies. In other words, ICZM is a unitary landuse, resources and pollution management programme – it has to manage development as is needed to resolve competition and conflict well as conserve natural resources, while that occur frequently among the various end addressing the concerns of all relevant sections users. Certain sectorally oriented applications Acropora, the commonly occurring coral species in the of the society and economy. might co-exist in a multiple use approach while Lakshadweep islands The coastal areas and small islands are always others might have to be severely restricted. exposed to ecological, economic and natural The relative isolation, small size, narrow range ICZM’s role is to sort out the uses and hazard vulnerabilities. The concept of Integrated of natural resources and susceptibility to natural recommend the optimal mix. To carry out the Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP) is to hazards were some of the major developmental ICZM approach, the detailed landuse mapping facilitate the sustainable development and constraints and driving forces for developing on cadastral scale, which was hitherto not management of the limited resources of eleven ICZM in the Lakshadweep islands. available was prepared for all the inhabited inhabited islands of Lakshadweep, including islands. Bangaram. Continued in page 2 Lakshadweep Administrator visits CESS CESS observes World Environment Day Biodiversity conservation and responsible Eco-tourism for Pathiramanal A multideciplinary research This joint project envisaged scientific conservation programme on Pathiramanal, an and restoration of the flora and fauna with peoples’ island in the Vembanad lake, falling participation to make the island a sought-after within the administrative tourist destination. Environmental management boundaries of Muhamma Grama plan and computerized information system have Panchayat, has been completed by been developed for the island. Peripheral CESS with the financial assistance intervention of regeneration and conservation of Shri. B. V. Selvaraj IAS, Administrator, Union Territory of Lakshadweep of the Kerala State Council for mangroves and other plant species is another (centre) having discussion with Dr. M. Baba, Director, CESS during his visit Science Technology and to the Centre. Dr. M. S. Syed Ismail Koya, Director, S&T Department, UT Continued in page 4 Environment (KSCSTE). Lakshadweep is also seen (left) (Report on page 4) Subsequently, the Centre has In this issue....... prepared an action plan with the cooperation * ICZMP for Lakshadweep Islands........ of the Grama Panchayat, to protect the * CESS Research Council reconstituted biodiversity and to promote responsible eco- tourism in Pathiramanal. This tiny island with * Lakshadeep administrator visits CESS an area of just 24 ha, is a haven for hundreds * Pathiramanal island development.... of rare migratory birds. The island is home for * Rain water harvesting : a success story 88 species of birds, 160 species of plants, 23 * CESS and the ICARB campaign....... varieties of spiders and 34 types of butterflies * Earth Day 2007 celebrated....... besides supporting 58 types of fishes in the * State of environment of panchayats..... surrounding water. * Plus all regular features Dr. Thomas Isaac, Kerala Finanace Minister inaugurates the Pathiramanal seminar at Muhamma on June 5, 2007 Committed to Our Earth Our Future 1 ICZM..Lakshadweep........continued fishery resource exploitation and catch From the Director’s Desk from page 1 enhancement, tourism, infrastructure The Environment Day was Major settlements/built-up areas, sand development, environmental awareness, observed all over the world on dunes and agricultural areas are some of the implementation of CRZ rules, environmental June 5th. This year’s focal theme landuse categories demarcated on the map. quality enhancement and alternate employment was ‘planet earth’. CESS with its In addition to this, the elevation mapping generation were some of the major goal of ‘protecting our earth , our of the island with reference to Mean Sea Level management issues considered while developing future’ has been in the forefront, (MSL) was also carried out to understand the the ICZM Plan in the islands propagating the message of micro-geomorphological features of the Stakeholders’ participation in ICZM protecting the planet earth. CESS has gone one island. Majority of the islands have an step further by implicating some important For any plan to be successful the interaction elevation of 3 to 4 m above MSL. Patches of with the stakeholders is a must. There are programmes as stated in this issue of CESS high sand dunes of > 5 m were observed at News. apprehensions among the island communities Kavaratti, Amini, Androth, Agatti and Based on the request from the Muhamma about the different issues, resource availability Panchayat in the Alappuzha district of Kerala Minicoy islands. In many islands, destruction and developmental programmes undertaken and timely funding from KSCSTE, a one year of sand dunes are noticed due to by the Lakshadweep Administration. In this action research programme was taken up for anthropogenic activities. In the marine areas context, the ICZM Plan was discussed at responsible ecotourism development, linking of the island, fishing and boating facilities, different levels with various stakeholders’ conservation with economic opportunities ports, jetties, boat anchorages, water sports throughout the process of its development. through showcasing of local environmental facilities, canning factories, oil terminals, waste The different management options for resources in the Pathiramanal island in the outfalls and transportation systems are some implementation were evolved through Vembanad lake. After detailed investigations an of the multiple uses. All these were mapped. ecotourism plan was developed with extensive interaction with Island Council and prominent In the island, tourism is another activity, that members of the local community. stakeholder interaction. Now, the Tourism has both resource and landuse components, Department has developed a project based on The ICZM Plan preparation was a challenging leading to occasional conflicts. With closer the recommendations of CESS. This task for CESS considering the quantum of work programme has already received financial approval dependance on marine resources, tourism can and logistic constraints for data collection and from the Government of India. There is already cause depletion of these resources. All these stakeholder interaction in the island. For the a budgetary allocation from the Government of compelling arguments for multiple use strategies first time, ICZMP has been prepared for all the Kerala for implementing this project. for coastal resources allocation have been collated inhabited islands including Bangaram by taking Similarly an Integrated Coastal Zone and plans were prepared on a cadastral database. into account the resources and the issues. The Management Plan was prepared for All these data sets were integrated with the Lakshadweep Administration is implementing Lakshadweep islands on behalf of the Ministry development plan of the islands and an ICZMP a project for safe sewage disposal. A desalination of Environment, Government of India. The was prepared. In this ICZMP, the conservation, plan prepared based on extensive surveys, data plant as recommended in the ICZMP has been preservation and development zones were also installed at Kavaratti island. The tourism & analysis and stakeholder interactions has now identified and action plans recommended. Coastal been approved by the National Coastal Zone coastal protection aspects are also being erosion and shore protection, fresh water Management Authority. Different action plans implemented in the islands. for the betterment of the environment, such as management, conservation of coral reefs/ -Dr. T.N.Prakash implementation of sewage treatment system and mangroves, sewage and solid waste treatment, coastal protection plans have already been taken up by the island administration. A desalination plant has been commissioned to conserve the limited groundwater resources. Another programme initiated on behalf of the Local Self Government Department is the training programme for the preparation of state of environment reports for the local bodies. Training of the trainers for this programme was initiated in the Engandiyoor Panchayat in the Thrissur District. CESS always strives to promote science-society interaction and responds positively to any request from the society and the Government for the betterment of the environment. CESS also tries to interact with sister organizations and related departments and engage consultants wherever necessary to examine the issue at hand holistically. These action research projects are some of successful

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