Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog

RECORD NUMBER: 494 OF 1107

Main Title Khazan Ecosystems of Goa Building on Indigenous Solutions to Cope with Global Environmental Change / [electronic resource] :
Type EBOOK
Author Sonak, Sangeeta M.
Publisher Springer Netherlands : Imprint: Springer,
Year Published 2014
Call Number GB3-5030
ISBN 9789400772021
Subjects Geography ; Geology ; Physical geography ; Sustainable development
Internet Access
Description Access URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7202-1
Collation XII, 137 p. 15 illus. in color. online resource.
Notes
Due to license restrictions, this resource is available to EPA employees and authorized contractors only
Contents Notes
Indigenous traditional knowledge and Global Environmental Change -- An introduction to Goa and Khazan ecosystems -- Traditional ecological knowledge and environmental sustainability in Khazan -- Management of khazan ecosystems: contested environments, competing interests and changing institutions -- Erosion of indigenous resource base: causes and challenges -- A framework for ecosystem performance, ecological vulnerability, ecosystem valuation and local livelihoods using Khazan example -- Building on indigenous resource management systems: key to finding solutions. This book elaborates on the Khazan ecosystems of Goa, India. Khazans are human-managed ecosystems, which are reclaimed from coastal wetlands, salt marshes and mangrove areas, where tidal influence is regulated through a highly structured system of dykes, canals, furrows, and sluice gates using resources that are amply available locally. Khazan ecosystems are marvels of tribal engineering. They are a simple architectural design, which operate at a very low running cost using tidal, hydro, and solar energy. The design contributes to a highly complex but eco-friendly ecosystem integrating agriculture, aquaculture and salt panning. . Khazan ecosystems have been functional for the last 3500 years. The history of Khazans is very ancient and can be traced to the transition from food gathering to food growing, which has been regarded as the biggest step in the history of human civilization. Khazan ecosystems thus have a high historical and world heritage value. They are also repositories of global biodiversity, with unique flora suitable to their unique and highly variable environment. They are endemic and heritage ecosystems of Goa and ultimately reservoirs of history and heritage. Using the example of the Khazan lands, the book analyzes and comments on traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous technology. It presents the evolution of Khazan management institutions over a period of more than three thousand years, as well as factors that have contributed to its decline in recent years. It develops a conceptual framework for ecosystem performance and suggests strategies for conservation of Khazans as well as strategies to build on these indigenous adaptation mechanisms to cope with the global environmental change.