This fotonovela is about the plantation of mangroves carried out by the community of Ibrahim Hyderi on Kanjhar Island. It also contains a brief report on the background and  the application of education and communication approaches to involve community in the conservation of mangroves in the programme of the Coastal Ecosystem Unit.

All over the world the concept of conservation of natural resources through "forced conservation" has proved a failure. The indigenous communities take it as an intrusion by "aliens" who out of the blue come and stop them using local natural resources, which they have been using for ages, claiming them as the government property or preserving them as critical for "nature". In the past, often the communities were taken as adversaries or at the other extreme as beneficiaries only.

Now new concepts of "Joint Forest Management" and "Collaborative Management for Conservation" are emerging which involve communities for the sustainable use of natural resources. It is an established fact that in an area where communities rely heavily on natural resources for their livelihood and survival, no project can succeed without their active participation. It is crucial to involve the community on a partnership basis especially in decision making.

The Coastal Ecosystem Unit (CEU) IUCN, through the Korangi Project, has been involved in mangrove reforestation and conservation since 1987 and it has successfully planted trees on large areas. It is protecting the planted trees with the help of Sindh Forest Department either through fencing or close vigilance. In many parts violation has been reported. The local communities cut mangroves for fuel wood or fodder or sometimes take their camel for grazing at night and hence damage the newly planted mangroves. Therefore it was decided that more efforts should be put into community participation in the project.

Since early 1995, Education Unit IUCN has been working closely with CEU with an aim of bringing greater community participation in the Korangi Project through education and communication. Initially two local NGOs of Ibrahim Hyderi i.e. Anjuman-e-Samaji Behbood and Seherian Seth were contacted. These organizations of which Seherian Seth is a women organization, have been mainly involved in social welfare activities in the area. Different kind of workshops were carried out with the members of the organizations orienting them about environmental issues with a focus on mangroves and the sustainable management of coastal resources. In the beginning the results were not very positive as there are no visible benefits out of conservation of mangrove forests. But slowly, through workshops the members of the organizations realized the critical importance of mangroves for fishery in which ninety percent of the community is involved. A situational analysis was done with the community examining the not so distant past when a large area was under forest cover and a good fish yield was available. In a span of only about ten years quite a big area is devoid of forest cover due to deforestation, over grazing and because of sea pollution. All this resulted in extinction of fish in some areas e.g. in Cheena Creek and low fish yield in other areas.

The Education Unit also made some linkages for communicating environmental concerns effectively. Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture was brought into the picture. The students of the school worked with the community to identify issues, based on which posters were designed for awareness raising in the area. The students also visited the mangrove forests and planted mangroves on muddy islands. This brought an added dimension to communicating environmental issues with the community. The visits were observed with keen interest by the community who considered reforestation the responsibility of the Forest Department or IUCN. Shirkat Gah, which is also working in the coastal areas on women's issues also contributed in liaising with the women of the area.

These collective efforts resulted in the plantation of mangroves on 25 acres by the community of Ibrahim Hyderi on August 13, 1996 on Kanjhar Island. As a lead up to this activity, a workshop was held to explain the technicalities of planting mangroves and to finalize the programme. The workshop was attended by the members of both Anjuman-e-Samaji Behbood and Seherian Seth. The community members also visited the mangrove area for site selection along with Shirkat Gah and IUCN. More than a hundred community members participated in the plantation activity. Apart from the male members of the community, over thirty females also took active part in the plantation. Almost all of them had attended workshops and meetings. About forty students of class X, from two local schools, also did the plantation along with their teachers. These teachers had been participants of the workshops.

The local community has made a decision to manage over 300 acres of forest area on Kanjhar island. Depending on the satisfactory outcomes of debates and negotiations on management issues, a written MOU will be signed between IUCN and the local NGO.

The members of Anjuman Falah Behbood Rehri Goth, an NGO from an adjoining village, were also invited to this plantation. IUCN recently signed an MOU with them for managing a mangrove walkway in Rehri. The NGO showed its strong interest in carrying out a similar planting activity in their area and are working on a plan to manage over 200 acres of mangroves in Rehri. The plantation is tentatively scheduled for the 2nd week of September '96.

Community participation in mangrove plantation and management is a breakthrough in our work in the coastal area. However, it is not an end in itself but rather the beginning of a long process which needs careful planning for the future. It is high time that IUCN develops a strategy for coastal resource management. The Natural Resource Management Group of IUCN along with the Communication Unit, NGO Unit and Education Unit should work together in this regard.