Community based mangrove management: a review on status and sustainability

Community Based Mangrove Management (CBMM) has been advocated by both academia and governing agencies as a viable alternative for sustainably managing the ecologically important mangrove forests which are disappearing rapidly worldwide. Drawing insights from diverse sustainability issues, capabilities and performances of worldwide CBMM initiatives were examined in this paper. Higher numbers of CBMM initiatives were reported from South Asia and lesser from South America and Africa. Identification of the causes of degradation at a site and use-specific zonal replantations with respect to species associations were identified as major criteria of ecological sustainability. Regarding economic sustainability, transformation of potential uses of mangroves known by local communities into actual ones was found to be necessary. Proper disbursement of accrued benefits among community members irrespective of their socio-cultural status is also a major concern. Restructuring of CBMM institutions by ensuring participation of subsistence based users in decision-making and resource sharing have been identified as a prime determinant of institutional sustainability. However, limited number of studies on socio-political and institutional aspects as well as impacts of globalization induced socio-cultural transformations of communities on CBMM had been actually found. More focused researches on these aspects had been recommended for better community management of these highly stressed forests.