Incentives for protection of
coastal
ecology mooted
There is
great
potential for eco-tourism,
considering the ecological assets in Tamil Nadu , says Paul. P.
Appasamy, Member-Secretary, Centre of Excellence in Environmental
Economics, Madras School of Economics. These 2,500 hectares of
mangroves, 5,000 hectares of coral reefs, beaches and places of
religious and spiritual importance.
Kerala
was
considerably more
developed than Tamil Nadu because historically, people along the Tamil
Nadu coast preferred to settle in the hinterland due to storms and
other natural disasters.
The
coastal
ecology provided hundreds of
people with their livelihood. The active fishermen population has
increased significantly between 1986 and 1998, leading to a decrease in
productivity because there were too many fishermen.
Also,
technological
advancements in fishing had led to an increase in exports. But this
phenomenon was adversely affecting marine life.
Over
extraction,
coastal pollution and rapid coastal development could lead to the
degradation of the ecosystem and this needed to be avoided.
The
Hindu, Madras,
25 Oct 2007
