[Reader-list] IBN7 coverage Re: Coverage of yesterday's NFF Press meet

[T Peter]

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/nff-to-observe-action-day-on-august-9/170740-60-116.html

NFF to observe Action Day on August 9

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) will observe
Quit India Movement remembrance day on August 9 as ‘action day’ to
address the various challenges being confronted by the nine coastal
states in the country, including Kerala, in view of the implementation
of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2011.

The decision was taken at the two-day consultation held in Margoa on
July 21 and 22.

NFF leaders from nine coastal states, along with scientists,
researchers and civil society organisations, participated in the
various sessions on climate change impact, the National Action Plan on
Climate Change, State Action Plans on Climate Change and the role of
international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank.

T Peter, state president of Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali
Federation (KSMTF), a constituent of NFF, told ‘Express’ that the
fishing community would be at the receiving end of adverse climate
impacts which include temperature rise in the oceans, increased
intensity of disasters such as cyclones and storm surges, sea-level
rise, ocean acidification, changing current patterns and depletion of
natural resources.

All of this will have a profound effect on the 20-million strong
fishing community that depends on the coast and the sea for their
livelihood, he said.

Despite this, the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) does
not have any suggestions for the coasts and the fishing community, he
said.

NFF is of the view that the NAPCC is highly undemocratic, flawed in
focus and unresponsive to the urgent challenges raised by climate
change, Peter said.

The flawed process continues at the state-level as well. While all the
10 coastal states are in the process of finalising their State Action
Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC), the fishing community is yet to be
consulted, he said.

Further, in some states such as Orissa, the SAPCC mentions that the
‘’equally undemocratic’’ Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project
(ICZMP), funded by the World Bank and the Orissa Coastal Zone
Management Authority, will handle coastal-related issues on climate
change, he said.

NFF demands a separate coastal mission as part of the Prime Minister’s
National Action Plan on Climate Change. The Rs 990-crore ICZMP is on a
pilot phase from 2010 to 2015 in the three coastal states of Gujarat,
West Bengal and Orissa.

The NFF also demands the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to
make necessary amendments to the CRZ incorporating the views of
fishermen, he said.


http://www.keralafishworkers.in