Introduction

Indus Earth Trust strongly believes that present environmental concerns, both on a global and local scale, have reached catastrophic levels. Sindh coastal areas are confronting environmental issues such as increasing salinization, sea level rise, sea intrusion, degradation of natural resources on land or in marine environments, which need urgent and active community participation in environmental conservation and management.

Human-induced activities, such as damaging fishing techniques and the conversion of coastal forests into residential or fishpond areas, pose a threat not only to the environment but also to communities’ livelihoods. In this setting, the significance of Community-Based Coastal Resource Management (CBCRM) arises as a strategy to address these difficulties and maintain the sustainability of coastal ecosystems.

Community-based Coastal Resource Management (CBCRM) is a process of involving local communities in managing the coastal resources upon which they depend. As more and more users of resources are directly included in management decisions and the scale of responsibility becomes local, the “ownership” of responsibility increases and the compliance to rules increases.

Sindh Coastal Resources

Coastal resources include all natural resources occurring within coastal waters and their adjacent shore lands such as islands, transitional and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, floodplains, estuaries, beaches, dunes, barrier islands, and coral reefs, as well as fish and wildlife and their respective habitats.

Coastal Pollution

Pollution disrupts the marine environment, affecting fish populations, mangroves, and other coastal ecosystems. Wastewater and plastic waste are main sources of the coastal pollution in Sindh coastal areas.

Marine Life

Marine life in Sindh faces significant challenges primarily due to pollution, overfishing, and the degradation of its natural habitat, particularly mangroves. These issues have led to the decline and in some cases, extinction of various fish and other marine species.

Objectives

1. Restore and conserve coastal ecosystems, including habitats, biodiversity, and water quality.
2. Promoting sustainable fishing practices, developing ecotourism, and coastal-based enterprises.
3. Aware the stakeholders and communities on the impacts of coastal pollution in marine life.
4. Reducing the salinization through the latest technological innovations in agriculture practices.
5. Restoration of the livelihoods of Karachi coast and deltaic communities.

Community-Based Coastal Resource Management