STUDIES O N VULNERA BILITY A ND HABITAT RESTORATION ALONG THE C O RO MANDEL C O AST FERAL United Naions team for Tsunami Recovery Support A Post-Tsunami Environment Impact Report Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast R. S. Bhalla, Sunita Ram and Srinivas V. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations team for Tsunami Recovery Support (UNTRS), or the United Nations Development Programme concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Opinion expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not imply any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNDP, UNTRS, or FERAL. Citation Bhalla, R.S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas, eds. 2008. Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India: FERAL, UNDP-UNTRS. ©2008 United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Team for Recovery Support Apex Towers, 4th Floor, 54, 2nd Main Road, R.A. Puram Chennai - 600 028, India http://www.un.org.in/untrs (Valid for the project period) The United Nations, India 55 Lodi Estate, New Delhi - 110 003, India Tel: 91-11-46532262, 46532333 http://www.un.org.in Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning (FERAL) P.O.Box 28, Pondicherry - 605 012, India Tel: 91 -413-2671566, 2225441 http://www.feralindia.org Cover photo: Gopinath Sricandane Citations 1. Abraham, V. A., and Bhalla, R. S. 2008. Introduction and background to the project. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 2. V. Srinivas and Ram, S. 2008. Impact of the tsunami on coastal ecosystems and human communities. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 3. V. Srinivas., G. M. Sankar and Ram, S. 2008. Land Use Change on the East Coast of India over the Last Three Decades. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 4. V. Srinivas., Baird, A. H. and Kerr, A. M. and Ram, S. 2008. Coastal bio-shields and their putative role during large weather related disturbance events. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 5. Venugopal, P. D., Abraham, V. A., and Bhalla, R. S. 2008. Strategies for Restoration of Coastal Habitats: An Introduction. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 6. Abraham, V.A. 2008. Administrative Frameworks for Community Based Habitat Restoration. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 7. Bhalla, R.S. 2008. Community Involvement in Habitat Restoration. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 8. Venugopal, P. D. and Ram, S. 2008. Restoration of Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 9. Venugopal, P. D., R. S. Bhalla and Anbarashan, M. 2008. Stabilisation of Coastal Sand Dunes. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. 10. Venugopal, P. D., Huston, G., Pelkey, N. W., and Bhalla, R. S. 2008. Restoration of Mangrove Habitats. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. i ii Citations 11. Gangadharan, A., and V. Srinivas. 2008. Monitoring Protocols for Habitat Restoration. In Studies on Vulnerability and Habitat Restoration along the Coromandel Coast., eds. Bhalla, R. S., Ram, S., and V. Srinivas. 1st ed. Pondicherry, India. Acknowledgements None of our work would have been possible but for the support and participation from the communities in our project villages. We thank and acknowledge the work and support of the Panchayat leaders, traditional leaders, representatives and members of self help groups and most importantly the eco- restoration committees of the project villages. A number of organisations have lent support to this initiative. Starting with the UNDP-UNTRS, the Forest Department of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, district authorities from Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Villupurm, the Auroville Botanical Gardens and our partners on the PTEI project, ATREE, NCF and CAG. We acknowledge the support of Dr.N.Parthasarathy, Professor of Ecology at Pondicherry University, who shared his expertise and facilitated much of the identification and literature review related to tropical dry evergreen forests. Dr.N.M.Ishwar from the UNTRS team reviewed various versions of this manuscript and contributed to its present form. Finally, we acknowledge and thank the FERAL field staff who gave their best to this project and made it possible to achieve the results presented in this report. Continuous inputs from Dr.Rauf Ali and Dr.Neil Pelkey helped steer the various activities and supported the analysis and presentation made in this report. iii Contents Citations i Acknowledgements iii Executive Summary 1 I Project Achievements 7 1 Introduction and Background to the Project 9 II Impacts of the Tsunami on Coastal Ecosystems and Communities 29 2 Impact of the Tsunami on Coastal Ecosystems and Human Communities 31 3 Land Use Change on the East Coast of India Over the Last Three Decades 59 4 Coastal Bio-shields and their Putative Role During Large Weather Related Disturbance Events 85 III Evolving Strategies for Restoration of Coastal Habitats 99 5 Strategies for Restoration of Coastal Habitats: An Introduction 101 6 Administrative Frameworks for Community Based Habitat Restoration 117 7 Community Involvement in Habitat Restoration 121 8 Restoration of Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests 127 9 Stabilisation of Coastal Sand Dunes 157 10 Restoration of Mangrove Habitats 175 11 Monitoring Protocols for Habitat Restoration 197 IV Annexure 205 iv A Introduction and Background 207 B Administrative Arrangements 215 C Community Involvement 217 D Restoration of Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests 223 E Stabilisation of Coastal Sand Dunes 227 F Restoration of Mangrove Habitats 229 Executive Summary The coastal environment and its long-term sustainability, a key component in the UN Recovery framework, are the main points of focus in the UNDP-Post Tsunami Initiative (PTEI). The restoration, management and conservation of these habitats has direct relevance to post-tsunami reconstruction and ongoing policy discourse on coastal zone management and planning, coastal defences, bio-shields and environment. This document consolidates the learning of one of the four components of the UNDP-PTEI Phase II. The primary goal of the component was to build protocols for restoration of coastal habitats based on a combination of literature reviews and field experience. The component was implemented by the Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning (FERAL) who joined the initiative in December 2006. The objectives of the project were : 1. To conduct studies on coastal vulnerability at a spatial level. 2. A spatial analysis of land use change and social change on the Coromandel coast of India over the last three decades. 3. To identify sites for pilot restoration using and extending PTEI Phase I results; coastal sand dunes, mangroves and tropical dry evergreen forest habitats were covered. 4. To mobilise local stakeholders and build local capacities at selected restoration sites. 5. To mobilise institutional support and financial sustainability of the work through linkages with local and district authorities and 6. to set up pilot demonstrations sites for restoration of native coastal habitats. While the first two objectives covered the entire Coromandel coast, the restoration related activities were limited to patches of degraded native habitat lying within 50 km of the coast which extends from the South of Pulicat Lake to Point Calimere in Nagapattinam. This is among the first efforts to collate and analyse information in a spatial framework that encompasses long term changes in coastal land use and consequent impacts on the vulnerability of communities and native habitats. This is also among the few attempts to document and build comprehensive restoration strategies for these habitats and involves partnerships with local communities, institutions and other agencies in the region. Our learning emphasise the need for multidisciplinary approaches. The ability to use participatory tools and community organisation in conjunction with remote sensing, GIS, specialised nursery techniques and ecological assessments was a major strength of the project. Outcomes of the UNDP-PTEI project are expected to feed directly into restoration and conservation efforts for these unique but fragmented and highly threatened habitats both at a local community level as well as at the level