Coastal resource complexes of South India: Options for sustainable management [An article from: Journal of Environmental Management]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Environmental Management, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
India's coastal resource complexes were traditionally characterized by a continuum of 'common property resources' or 'commons' that stretched from the shores to the seas. The continuum aided the existence of sustainable livelihood systems for local communities. Today, fragmented policy approaches and economic welfare schemes have caused the disintegration of community control over the continuum. As a consequence, livelihood systems of local communities have declined. The introduction of coastal management guidelines in the 1990s has exacerbated the situation. With reference to a coastal village located in the State of Kerala in South West India, the paper describes the trajectory of unsustainable change that has taken place in the coastal area resource complexes of the country. The paper argues for restoring the continuum of commons in the study area through community driven systems of natural resource management that are based on networks of nested institutions.