Environment

Konkan to get village-level biodiversity action plans

UNDP and Maharasthra government to prepare plans in consultation with gram sabhas,panchayats
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Sindhudurg district's coastal villages will soon have local, village-level biodiversity action plans. As part of a joint initiative being undertaken by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Union and state governments, the Maharashtra Forest Department has roped in two voluntary organizations to conduct consultations with locals and recommend an action plan for each village.
 
Forest officials and members of the NGOs involved say the action plan will recommend integration of sustainable community livelihood activities with biodiversity conservation.

What UNDP proposes
 
The Sindhudurg Coastal and Marine Ecosystem (SCME), located on the west coast of India (Maharashtra) is one of the 11 ecologically and economically critical habitats identified along the Indian coast. There are 367 species of marine flora and fauna in the area, which include 73 species of marine algae, 18 species of mangroves, 11 species of corals, 73 species of molluscs, 47 species each of polychaetes and arthropods, 18 species of sea anemones and 74 species of fishes.

The UNDP intervention seeks to achieve the following: (a) cross-sectoral planning framework that mainstreams biodiversity conservation; (b) enhanced capacity of sector institutions for implementing biodiversity-friendly fisheries management plan, ecotourism management plan and Malvan Marine Sanctuary management plan; and (c) sustainable community livelihoods and natural resource use.

By the project end, it is envisioned that production activities in at least 6,327 sq. km of SCME mainstream biodiversity conservation objectives, in turn improving the conservation prospects of critical species and ecosystems, apart from contributing to the sustainable development of the region.
 
Biodiversity conservation action plans
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Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation
Anjali Parasnis

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