A wide variety of ecosystems are found along India's 8,000km coastline, including wetlands, coral reefs, mangroves, islands, lagoons and estuaries. They support a wide diversity of species, and provide rich spawning and breeding grounds for fish and other marine wildlife. These areas also provide a number of important services for the human population, not least protecting the coast from tidal action, storm surges and tsunamis. While coastal fishing communities support measures to protect their fishing grounds, they are adamant that they need to be involved in making decisions over which areas should be protected, how and to what extent. This is a critical issue as effective implementation of marine reserves will be impossible without community support.
