Spatial budgetary evaluation of organochlorine contaminants in the sediments of Cochin Estuary, India

This paper presents the first detailed investigation on the residual levels of organochlorine insecticide (OCI) concentrations in the Cochin estuarine sediment. It aims in elucidate their distribution and ecological impact on the aquatic system. Concentrations of persistent organochlorine compound (OC) were determined for 17 surface sediment samples which were collected from specific sites of Cochin Estuarine System (CES) over a period of November 2009 and November 2011. The contaminant levels in the CES were compared with other worldwide ecosystems. The sites bearing high concentration of organochlorine compounds are well associated with the complexities and low energy environment. Evaluation of ecotoxicological factors suggests that adverse biological effects are expected in certain areas of CES

Community Participation in Ecotourism: An Inclusive Development Option for Kerala

The inferences obtained from the study are presented in coherent area-specific levels so as to understand the ecotourism and its sub-sector areas for the researchers and policy makers about the issues, importances and potentialities of the sector. An analysis of the tourism sector in Kerala has shown tremendous growth both in terms of tourist arrivals and in terms of revenue generation from direct and indirect sources. The foreign tourist visitors in Kerala in 2014 was 9,23,336 which shows 7.60 percent increase from the last year and the domestic tourist visitors were 1,16,95,411 which again shows 7.71 percent increase, is a clear evidence of its potential. In 2014 the industry contributed revenue of 24885.44 crores from direct and indirect sources giving rise to an increase of 12.11 percent from the last year. A dichotomy of tourists and ecotourists shows that tourists in the ecotourism destinations come to 42.6 percent of the total, shows the scope, significance and its potential. Correlation of zone-wise tourist arrivals based on the ecotourism destinations highlights the fact that with only 19 of the 64 destinations that come in the central zone are the most preferred centres (around 54 percent) for the domestic as well as foreign tourists. The north zone encompassing 6 districts with rich biodiversity shows that the tourists‟ arrival patterns exhibit less promising results. Though the north zone has 31 ecotourism destinations of the state receives only 6.19 percent of the foreign visitors. The ecotourism activities in the state are primarily managed by the Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) and the Vana Samrakshana Samithies (VSS) under the Forest Development Agency of Kerala. Social class-wise categorization of membership shows that 13142 families have membership in 190 EDCs with SC (28 percent), ST (33 percent) and other marginalised communities (39 percent). But this in the VSS shows that 400 VSS have 59085 members actively engaged in ecotourism activities and social category of the VSS makes clear that majority are from the other marginalized fringe households with 62 percent where as the participation of SC is 12 percent and ST is 26 percent. An evaluation of the socio-economic and demographic matrix of the community members involved in ecotourism activities brings out region specific differences. About 75.70 percent of the respondents are males and the rest are females. Majority of the respondents (about 60 percent) are in the age group of 20 to 40 years, followed by the age group of 40-50 (20 percent). The average age of respondents in the three zones is between 35 and 37 years. The majority of the respondents are married, a few are unmarried. Average family size is 4-5 members and differences are identified among zones. Average number of adults per household is 3 and child per household is 2. Majority have an education of 10th class and below i.e. about 60 percent of the sample have only basic school education like primary, secondary and high school (i.e. up to SSLC but not passed) level. About 18 percent are SSLC passed, 10 percent are undergraduates whereas 6 percent constitute respondents having qualification of graduation and above. Majority of the „graduates and above‟ are from south and central zone. Inter-zone differences in educational profile are also identified with lesser number of „graduates and above‟ are identified in the north zone compared to the other two zones. Investigating into the income and livelihood options of the respondents gives insight about the prominence of ecotourism as an employment and livelihood option for the community members, as more than 90 percent of the respondents have cited tourism sector as their main employment option. Most (49.30 percent) of respondents get 100 percent income from tourism related activities, followed by 37.30 percent of community members have income between 75-99 percent from tourism whereas the rest (13 percent) have less than 74 percent of their income from tourism and there exists difference between zones and percentage of income. Financial habit shows that about 49.7 percent hold active bank accounts, 61 percent have savings behaviour and 73.8 percent have indebtedness. Analysis about the ownership of house brings to light that 37 percent of respondents live in their own house followed by 25.7 percent in government funded/provided house and 21 percent in their parent‟s house and 3.5 percent in rented house. About 12 percent of the respondents have other kinds of accommodation facilities such as staff quarters, etc. But in the case of north zone majority i.e. 52 percent primarily depend on the government funded house indicating the effectiveness of government housing programme. Standard of living measured in SLI frameworks shows that majority of the respondents have medium SLI values (42.3 percent); the remaining 47.7 percent have low SLI and 10 percent have high SLI. The community members have been benefitted immensely from forest and its resources. Since the ecotourism destinations are located amidst the wildlife settings, majority of them depend on forest for their livelihood. The information on the tourist‟s demographic characteristics like age, sex, educational qualification and annual income show that the age category of domestic and foreign tourists falls below the age group of less than 35 years (about 65 percent), whereas only 16 percent of tourists are aged above 46 years. The age group below 25 years consists of more international tourists (31.3 percent) compared to the proportion of domestic tourists (12.5 percent). Male-female ratio shows that the males constitute 56 percent of the sample and females with 44 percent. The factors determining the impact of ecotourism programmes in the community was evaluated with the aid of a factor analysis with 12 selected statements. The worries and concerns of the community members about the impact of ecotourism on the environment are well understood from this analysis. It can be drawn that environment protection and the role of ecotourism in improving the income and livelihood options of the local communities is the most important factor concerning the community members.

Studies on the macrobenthic community of Cochin backwaters with special reference to culture of Eriopisa chilkensis (Gammaridae-Amphipoda)

This thesis Entitled studies on the macrobenthic community of cochin backwaters with special reference to culture of eriopisa chilkensis (Gammaridae- amphipoda).Benthic organisms are usually studied for environmental impact assessment, pollution control and resource conservation. The benthic monitoring component has three major objectives: 1) characterize the benthic communities to assess the estuarine health, 2) determine seasonal and spatial variability in benthic communities, and 3) detect changes in the estuarine community through examination of changes in abundances of specific indicator taxa and other standard benthic indices.Cochin backwaters situated at the tip of the northern Vembanad lake is a tropical positive estuarine system. The backwaters of Kerala support as much biological productivity and diversity as tropical rain forest and are responsible for the rich fishery potential of Kerala. Backwaters also act as nursery grounds for commercially important prawns and fishes.The thesis has been subdivided into seven chapters. The first chapter gives a general introduction about the topic and also highlights the scope and purpose of the study. The second chapter covers the methodology adopted for the collection and analysis of water quality parameters, sediment and the macrobenthic fauna.Chapter 3 deals with hydrographic features, sediment characteristics and the spatial variation and abundance of macrobenthic fauna in the Cochin estuary.Chapter 4 explains the impact of organic enrichment on macrobenthic popUlation in the Cochin estuary and includes the comparison of the present data with the earlier work in this region.Chapter 5 deals with seasonal variability in abundance of macrobenthic species in the estuary. The study was conducted from 9 stations during three seasons (pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon) in 2003.Chapter 6 deals with Life history and Population Dynamics of Eriopisa chilkensis Chilton (Gammaridae-Amphipoda). The life cycle of the gammarid amphipod Eriopisa chilkensis from the Cochin estuary, south west coast of India was studied for the first time under laboratory conditions.

Dynamics of some Environmentally Significant Pesticides in a Tropical Waterway - A Toxicological Approach

Industrial pollutants, consisting of heavy metals, petroleum residues, petrochemicals, and a wide spectrum of pesticides, enter the marine environment on a massive scale and pose a very serious threat to all forms of aquatic life. Although, earlier, efforts were directed towards the identification of pollutants and their major sources, because of a growing apprehension about the potential harm that pesticides can inflict upon various aquatic fauna and flora, research on fundamental and applied aspects of pesticides in the aquatic environment has mushroomed to a point where it has become difficult to even keep track of the current advances and developments. The Cochin Estuarine System (CES), adjoining the Greater Cochin area, receives considerable amounts of domestic sewage, urban wastes, agricultural runoff as well as effluent from the industrial units spread all along its shores. Since preliminary investigations revealed that the most prominent of organic pollutants discharged to these estuarine waters were the pesticides, the present study was designed to analyse the temporal and spatial distribution profile of some of the more toxic, persistent pesticides ——— organochlorines such as DDT and their metabolites; HCH-isomers; a cyclodiene compound," Endosulfan and a widely distributed, easily degradable, organophosphorus compound, Malathion, besides investigating their sorptional and toxicological characteristics. Although, there were indications of widespread contamination of various regions of the CBS with DDT, HCH-isomers etc., due to inadequacies of the monitoring programmes and due to a glaring void of baseline data the causative factors could not identified authentically. Therefore, seasonal and spatial distributions of some of the more commonly used pesticides in the CES were monitored systematically, (employing Gas Chromatographic techniques) and the results are analysed.

Socio-Economic Aspects of Sustainable Ecotourism Development: The Case of Kerala

The paper is an attempt to shed light on the socio-economic aspects of the local communities on the development of ecotourism in Kerala. Most of the local communities in the ecotourism destinations are tribes who have been excluded from the mainstream society and are not a part of Kerala’s overall development setting. The paper also tries to situate the community perception on the sustainable livelihood of ecotourism sites of Kerala. Data for the study is obtained from a primary survey by dividing the ecotourism destinations in Kerala into three zones, 230 from south zone, 220 from central zone and 200 from north zone with a total sample size of 650 based on the notion of community based ecotourism initiatives of the state. The result of the study confirms that ecotourism has helped to enhance the livelihood of the marginalized community. With well-knit policies it is possible to tag ecotourism of Kerala as an important tourism destination in the global tourism map