The sea of prospects

THOOTHUKUDI: Every morning, men from Tharuvaikulam, Tirespuram and Vellpatti villages would assemble on the seashore. Then, they would choose one of the 21 islands in the Gulf of Mannar, and set out to earn their daily bread by mining the endangered coral reefs. This routine continued for years, until 2005. Vaan Islands, just five kilometres away from the Thoothukudi coastline, was the easiest target. It took just 30 minutes to get there on their vallam, the locally-made canoe. 

The men worked in teams of five, when the tide is low. They used forks to scrape the seabed for finger corals, which are then scooped into a basket carried between their legs. The scraping continued until the centre of the vallam was filled with corals. The locals tell us that the vallams could hold up to seven gejams of corals, with 1.5 Kejams weighing up to 1 tonne. This was the primary source of livelihood for men in these three villages. 

At that point, 220 vallams were being operated from these villages, and a whopping 4.5 tonnes of corals were being extracted in a single day. The Forests Department estimates that around 2.75 lakh tonnes of corals have been mined from the southern parts of the Gulf of Mannar. Before this, the measures adopted were much worse. Dynamites were used to blast coral reefs, and the extracted blocks were used to build houses.

But, it’s not 2005 anymore. A decade and half down the line, the lives and livelihoods of people in these three villages have changed a lot, mostly for good. Thanks to the eco-development initiatives taken by the Forests Department, these villagers have not just quit mining corals, but have also improved their financial conditions. In fact, a few of them, today, are successful entrepreneurs under the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust (GOMBRT), formed in 2002 to create a sustainable, alternative livelihood for these coastal communities.  

Syed Muzammil Abbas, Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), told Express that a total of 252 eco-development committees (EDCs) were formed to empower the local communities. Of these, as many as 110 committees were formed in the three high-threat villages, heavily dependent on marine resources. People here had a history of involvement in poaching of sea turtles, coral mining, collection of chanks and sea cucumbers and they also indulged in destructive fishing practices. “We provided training and created an alternative livelihood source for these vulnerable communities, and hundreds of them have been benefitted, especially the women,” he said.

Success stories
Fifty-year-old A Thomainnasi from Vellpatti has been a torch-bearer for other women in the locality. She undertook training in manufacturing of fish pickle in 2006 and formed an all-women 12-member society. With an initial financial assistance of Rs 25,000 from GOMBRT, the society today has grown in size. Express visited Vellpatti and met Thomainnasi at her residence where she was busy preparing fish and prawn pickles.

“We take loan of Rs 3 lakh every year from the Trust and repay it with interest within few months. The rest is our profit. We want to expand our business and have sought a Rs 6 lakh loan. Due to the lockdown, business was dull last year, but it has started gaining pace again. We supply pickles to all major metropolitan cities in the country,” says Thomainnasi, with a sense of pride. Forest Range Officer R Raghuvaran, who is also in-charge of the GOMBRT, said the department has helped the society secure Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certificate to market their products across the country.

Likewise, another women self-help group (SHG) from Tirespuram village has established themselves in the saree business. Forty-five-year-old Agusta, who is also a field officer with the GOMBRT, said members of this SHG travel to Surat, Kolkata and other prominent textile cities apart from marketing them in the southern cities. “We are able to support our families now. Earlier, men in our families used to mine the reefs, pull out sea grass and seaweeds from the ocean bed. We didn’t know that we were killing our own livelihood. Corals support fish production and now we understand its implications,” said a member of the SHG.

Another achiever from the locality is 23-year-old Antony Stewalk. Coming from a family of miners from Pattinamaruthoor, another high threat village, Antony took training in open sea cage culture. Today, he owns one such cage, where he cultivates lobsters and exports it to China.

Financial support extended
The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust initially got a funding of `3 crore under the UNDP Global Environmental Finance from 2002 to 2012, after which the Tamil Nadu government took over its functions. The government then allocated Rs10 crore from 2013-14 to 2016-17. It further accorded administrative sanction for continuance of GOMBRT activities for a period of five years from 2017-18 to 2021-22. 

The Central government, under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC), also pumped in Rs 6.25 crore for the Trust. S Marimuthu, Wildlife Warden, Gulf of Mannar told Express that the Biosphere Reserve was selected as an international priority site based on scientific importance of national and global significance.  

The IUCN Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas, with the assistance of UNEP, UNESCO and WWF, has identified the Reserve as being an area of “particular concern”, given its diversity and special, multiple use management status. “Empowering local communities and reducing their dependency, besides promoting sustainable use of marine resources is the only way-out to save the Gulf of Mannar. The GOMBRT is playing an important role,” said Marimuthu.

Moving to better alternatives
A total of 252 Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) were formed to empower local communities. Of these, 110 committees were formed in three high-threat villages, heavily dependent on marine resources. People here had a history of involvement in coral mining and collection of chanks, and were also involved in destructive fishing practices 

Training in safe fishing practices has helped those who used to exploit the Gulf of Mannar’s marine life to adopt safer methods and rake in the moolah as well. The entrepreneurs now have an international reach