Sustainability and Local People’s Participation in Coastal Aquaculture: Regional Differences and Historical Experiences in Sri Lanka and the Philippines

This article discusses environmental sustainability in aquaculture and its contribution to poverty alleviation, based on field studies in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The aquaculture practices studied are the monoculture of the black tiger prawn (Penneaus monodon) and milkfish (Chanos chanos) and the polyculture of the two species together with the mud crab (Scylla serrata). Factors affecting economic viability, social equity and environmental impacts in aquaculture are discussed and used to illuminate local and regional differences between aquaculture in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Findings indicate that the most significant difference is the level of participation by local people (i.e., people originating ≤10 km away from the farm location). In the Philippines, 84 % of the people involved in aquaculture are locals, whereas in Sri Lanka, 55% are outsiders. Whether differences between the two areas can be explained by analyzing regional conditions, which might have resulted in different aquaculture practices, is discussed. In Sri Lanka, semi-intensive shrimp monoculture is currently the most common practice, whereas in the Philippines, extensive shrimp/fish polyculture is more common. Previous studies, as well as fieldwork, indicate that extensive culture practices reduce environmental impacts and benefit local people more. Sustainability in aquaculture is, however, also dependent on the extent of mangrove conversion into ponds. As such, extensive and locally owned farms do not necessarily result in an all but sustainable situation. Keeping this in mind, it is discussed if extensive polyculture practices might result in a more sustainable aquaculture, both environmentally and socioeconomically.     

不确定性条件下斯里兰卡马哈韦利河流域农业水权交易研究

在水资源利用过程中,水权交易可促使用水效率较低的主体将水权转让给用水边际效益较高的主体,实现区域整体效益最大化。作为“一带一路”倡议的重要节点国家,选取斯里兰卡的马哈韦利河流域为研究区域,基于区间两阶段随机双层不确定性规划方法构建农业水权交易模型,处理社会经济数据的不确定性、地表水资源量的随机性以及系统的多目标性。研究表明：初始水权总量受气候变化影响,整体上呈现随降水增加而增加,随温度升高而降低的规律。此外,水权交易中,水稻种植业为主要买家,乳畜业为主要卖家。水权交易后,持有水权量最大的行业和区域分别是水稻种植业和波隆纳鲁沃县,其中初始水权分配对水权持有量影响较大。研究结果可提高变化气候下的马哈韦利河流域水资源管理科学性,逐步构建水资源综合管理,水权合理分配的新局面。     

An attempt to recover economic losses from decadal changes in two lagoon systems of Sri Lanka through a newly patented mangrove product

Kahandamodara and Kalametiya are two estuarine lagoons located within about 12 km distance along the Southern coast of Sri Lanka. According to a socio-economic survey, both lagoons have been moderately to high saline water bodies and the latter was an important center of prawn fishery until the late 1960s. Two irrigation projects upstream (Udawalawe irrigation scheme and Muruthawela Wewa), which came into operation in 1967 and 1968 respectively, increased freshwater inflows to these two lagoons and altered flora, fauna, and water quality, with a decline of lagoon fishery as a result. At the same time, the increase in freshwater favorised the Mangrove Apple Sonneratia caseolaris to expand spontaneously. Following many hectares of vegetation increase of this species, our study focused on recovering the economic loss of fisheries decline by using new ethnobotanic information on this species. We found that the pulp of the fruit of the Mangrove Apple is tasty and can be used to prepare a fruit drink. However, it has not been commercialised, or even practiced widely at homes, due to the fact that numerous small seeds in the fruit release certain phenolic compounds when damaged, giving a bad colour and an astringent taste to the pulp. We developed a method to get the fruit pulp from the Mangrove Apple minimising the addition of phenolic compounds. This fruit pulp was then used to produce ice cream and fruit drinks, and the whole procedure has been patented in Sri Lanka for the favour of the local people. Apparently this is a novel mangrove product reported for the first time in mangrove ethnobotany. In addition, analysis of the fruit pulp of the S. caseolaris for nutritional composition revealed that it is very rich in phosphorus and dietary fiber, indicating that these new products may have an even higher potential as a supplementary food. Its use as a health food and as a commercialised eco-product is expected to bring new gains in spite of the former ecosystem and fishery decrease. It is however not known to which extent these novel ethnobiological/socio-economical uses outbalance functions lost by ecosystem degradation.     

Do Open-Cycle Hatcheries Relying on Tourism Conserve Sea Turtles? Sri Lankan Developments and Economic–Ecological Considerations

By combining economic analysis of markets with ecological parameters, this article considers the role that tourism-based sea turtle hatcheries (of an open-cycle type) can play in conserving populations of sea turtles. Background is provided on the nature and development of such hatcheries in Sri Lanka. The modeling facilitates the assessment of the impacts of turtle hatcheries on the conservation of sea turtles and enables the economic and ecological consequences of tourism, based on such hatcheries, to be better appreciated. The results demonstrate that sea turtle hatcheries serving tourists can make a positive contribution to sea turtle conservation, but that their conservation effectiveness depends on the way they are managed. Possible negative effects are also identified. Economic market models are combined with turtle population survival relationships to predict the conservation impact of turtle hatcheries and their consequence for the total economic value obtained from sea turtle populations.     

High-Resolution Vegetation Data for Mangrove Research as Obtained From Aerial Photography

In this methodological study, the applicability of aerial photographs for monitoring mangrove vegetation dynamics at high resolution was investigated. Vegetation maps of three mangrove forests in Sri Lanka (Galle, Rekawa and Pambala) were produced based on visual analysis of aerial photographs. The visual analysis was aided by applying an interpretation key constructed during a first fieldwork mission. Image attributes used for the identification of individual trees included: gray values, texture, form and size of the crowns and the presence or absence of a shaded side. For the identification of species assemblages, the vegetation structure (i.e. the distribution of individual trees) appeared to be an important attribute. The accuracy and reliability of the vegetation maps were investigated during a second fieldwork mission. The aerial photographs proved to be very useful for the production of genus-based vegetation maps. The error analysis showed that density estimations (quantitative identification) based on aerial photography was not sufficiently accurate for the objectives of the study, but that the overall identification of vegetation assemblages (qualitative identification) coincided most satisfactory with the ground-truth data. In addition to the applicability of aerial photography in monitoring mangroves, the importance of aerial photography in the management of the mangrove ecosystem is clearly highlighted.     

Post-disaster community tourism recovery: the tsunami and Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Tourism is highly vulnerable to external, non-controllable events. A natural disaster can affect the local tourism industry in numerous ways, and such events are particularly devastating for small communities whose local economy is heavily dependent on the sector. Loss of infrastructure plus negative media stories can have long-term ramifications for the destination. In spite of the economic importance of tourism, post-disaster recovery efforts in this sector are often overlooked by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which focus on more traditional livelihoods such as agriculture or fishing. This paper describes Mercy Corps' support of tourism recovery activities in Arugam Bay, a remote village on the east coast of Sri Lanka, following the 2004 tsunami. The local economic base is built largely on two sectors: community tourism and fishing. As many other actors were supporting recovery in the local fishing industry, Mercy Corps concentrated on revitalising the tourism sector.     

Lessons from a microfinance recapitalisation programme

Following a major disaster, microfinance institutions (MFIs) often face high levels of bad debt, which may require the institutions to be recapitalised. This paper describes a recapitalisation programme implemented by the SANASA movement of Sri Lanka in 390 microfinance societies following the December 2004 tsunami, and highlights lessons for other similar programmes. MFI recapitalisation is a good use of funds in post‐disaster situations. To create successful programmes, donors should expect to relax some of their usual project requirements and MFIs should focus on maintaining credit discipline.     

Ethnicity, politics and inequality: post-tsunami humanitarian aid delivery in Ampara District, Sri Lanka

The provision of humanitarian aid at times of disaster in multi-ethnic community settings may lead to conflict, tension and even the widening of the distance between various ethnic groups. That aid agencies distribute humanitarian aid directly to affected communities, to speed up recovery, may often lead to chaos and the intensification of ethnic sentiments. The new distribution mechanisms introduced for the delivery of tsunami aid in Ampara District, Sri Lanka, did not recognise local networks and the culture of the ethnically mixed community setting. This paper analyses post-tsunami aid distribution in Ampara and shows how such an extemporised effort in an ethnically cognisant context increased ethnic division, inequality and disorder, while marginalising the poor segments of the affected population. It recommends the inclusion of local networks in aid dissemination as a measure for improving ethnic neutrality and social harmony in disaster-hit multi-ethnic communities.