National Policy dialogue on Climate Change Actions Pat 1 Coastal Areas M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation Chennai

Coastal zone of India - already facing serious environmental and social issues 1.0Improper Land use Industrial estates, SEZs, urban development, conversion of agri. land to housing units, Unsustainable aquaculture, port development, tourism facilities and infrastructure 2.0Pollution Industries and domestic 3.0Stalinization of land and water Overexploitation of ground water, unsustainable aquaculture, saline water intrusion – storm surges 4.0Overexploited coastal fishery resources 4.0Natural Disasters

M M PERMANENTLY INCREASED SEA LEVEL altered tide Low tide Area that is going to be saline due to be inundated by tidal water IPCC: 50 cm by 2100 with local variation from 88 to 90 cm Area that will be permanently submerged in seawater Anticipated scenario due to sea level rise India: SLR 15 to 35 cm by 2050; 46 to 59 cm by 2010

OInundation of low lying coastal lands with sea water - millions of ha of land would be affected - small islands would be affected very severely O Increased incidence of storm surges and higher storm surges flooding O Accelerated coastal erosion O Seawater intrusion into freshwater and groundwater O Enhancement of tidal waters into rivers Biophysical condition Anticipated Impact s due to sea level rise

Impacts on Socio economic situation OIncrease loss of property and coastal habitats O Increased flood risk and potential loss of life O Damage to coastal infrastructure O Loss of renewable and subsidence resources O Decline in soil and water quality and its impact on agriculture OIncreased disease risk Anticipated Impact s due to sea level rise

Coastal Saline Soils in India – Present and Future StateCurrent saline affected area (ha) – 1988? Anticipated saline area due SLR (ha) West Bengal Gujarat Orissa Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu Karnataka Maharashtra Kerala Goa Pondicherry A and N ilsand million ha -saline soil - formed due to marine influence and tidal inundation -not because of secondary salinization SLR 15 to 35 cm by 2050

Adaptive responses to SLR – IPCC Model involves no effort to protect the land from the sea. The coastal zone is abandoned and ecosystems shift landward. This choice can be motivated by excessive economic or environmental impacts of protection. In the extreme case, an entire area may be abandoned. RETREAT ACCOMODATION PROTECTION implies that people continue to use the land at risk but do not attempt to prevent the land from being flooded. This option includes erecting emergency flood shelters, elevating buildings on piles, converting agriculture to fish farming, or growing flood or salt tolerant crops. Protection involves hard structures such as sea walls and dikes, as well as soft solutions such as dunes and vegetation, to protect the land from the sea so that existing land uses can continue

Strategies – based in field experience of MSSRF Protection Response Strategy 1: Restoring and conserving and creating natural protective coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and enhance their bioresources - Accommodation Response Strategy 2: Developing and demonstrating seawater or brackish water based agro-aqua farming system that integrates growing of salt-tolerant plants and fish, prawn and crab. Strategy 3: Identification of new sources of commercially valuable crops from salt-loving wild halophytes and developing biosaline agriculture methods to grow them in large scale in saline affected areas

IPCC considers mangrove as first line of defense and soft solution to SLR O Mangrove plants have the capacity to trap sediment O Trapped sediment along with vegetation form living platforms O These living platforms adjust to changing sea level since rise in sea level in a year is comparatively small; O it is possible only under two conditions Sediment supply from river discharge should not be stopped Mangrove forest should be disturbed 1.0Mangrove – first line of defense

Canal plantation

OOpen sea intertidal area plantati0n Open sea intertidal plantation HT LT

O Conservation and restoration of mangroves is a priority area O Well developed model to restore mangroves available O Community centered Joint Mangrove Management to restore and conserve mangroves has already been demonstrated at pilot scale O This can be continued as a measure to combat SLR

BUNDBUND 2.0Integrated Mangrove Fishery Farming System Fish/ Crab Zero energy Tidal fed ponds No artificial feed No chemicals Tidal water Design 1 OMangrove plantation raised along with fish culture in a modified aqua-farm OTaking care of livelihood and ecological need OSuitable for all kinds of saline soil; can be used to restore abandoned shrimp farms OSustainable

Water spread area for fish culture Tidal Outlet Tidal Inlet NO energy NO artificial feed NO chemicals Slopes of the mounds for mangrove plantation Halophytes can also grown as cash crops on the mounds Design 2

Integrated Mangrove-Halophyte-Fishery Farming System – proto type

 Halophytes are salt-loving plants – growing only in high saline areas  Tolerate high concentration of sodium salt; demand high sodium chloride for survival and reproduction  Multiple-origin - they differ widely in salinity tolerance 5 g/l -Sea oats (Hordeum vulgare) 70 g/l -Glasswort (Salicornia bigalovii)  1560 species  Can be grown as a cash crop by irrigating with seawater edible oil, vegetables, flowers, medicinal plants, fodder crops 3.0Seawater farming with halophytes as a new source crops

Seeds Edible oil28% Protein31% Fiber5% Salicornia brachiata High saline tolerant ~ 70 g/l

Salicornia europaea High saline tolerant 70 to 80 g/l Edible Used widely as salad or accompaniment of seafood In Europe

High saline tolerant High drought tolerant Tolerant to water logging Fodder – highly favored by sheep – recover quickly after grazing Atriplex

Batis maritima High saline tolerant Seed contains high quantities of proteins, oils and starches “Extremely nutritious”

Examples of halophytes that can be grown as Garden flowers Inula crithmoides Limonium Everlasting flowers

Tidal fed seawater irrigation system

Coastal Areas – Key Questions 1.What are the key potential impacts of Climate Change in the coastal areas, both positive and negative? 2.What are the priority tasks for addressing the climate impacts on coastal areas? 3.What are present and emerging approaches to deal with climate change in the coastal region, accommodating both adaptation and development (for ensuring food, DRR, livelihood, water, energy and social security of communities)? 4.What kinds of systems are required for effective execution of existing and future policies in the coastal climate adaptation context? a.Institutional Mechanisms b.Financial Mechanisms c.R&D d.Role of key stakeholders (communities, private, government, global)