Community Engagement In Lakshadweep

Team members: Al Badush, Rajeswari B.T., Safair Ali Jereesh, Arifa Beegum, Anand Rama Krishnan, Malvika Tewari, Rohan Arthur, and Suri Venkatachalam

Alumni:  Stella James, Kevin B. George, Somesh S. Menon

Timeline: 2019 - present

For over three decades, NCF's Oceans and Coasts Programme has been conducting in-depth research on coral reefs, fisheries, freshwater resources, and the intricate relationships between island communities and their natural surroundings, including the impact of climate change on these ecosystems and the long-term habitability of the Lakshadweep Archipelago. 

We envision communities that are climate-adapted, climate-resilient, and equipped with scientific and local knowledge. Our community engagement and communication efforts are designed to create a shared space where researchers and communities contribute to a common knowledge pool, learning from and with each other.

Vision

A community that is well-informed about climate change and resource limitations embraces scientific approaches in planning and actively shapes its own adapted future.

What we do

Our engagement spans several interconnected activities, all designed to open conversations about nature, change, and community life on the islands:

Khayal - Festival which celebrates Nature and Life in Lakshadweep
A travelling festival where NCF screens documentaries about the Lakshadweep ways of life across inhabited islands for school students, madrasa students, SCUBA Dive operators,  Dweepashree (Women's neighbourhood collective) members, and the wider public. Each screening is followed by an open discussion, creating space for islanders to share experiences, memories, and concerns about their environment. 

Ways of Life

Ways of Life is a documentary series created by the Nature Conservation Foundation to honour and document the unseen, uncelebrated everyday life of the people of Lakshadweep. The series is rooted in the belief that the identity of Lakshadweep is not limited to its blue lagoons and postcard beaches, but lives in the wisdom, resilience, and simplicity of its people. It is being made for the people of Lakshadweep, so that their stories, their ways of living, and their relationship with nature are recorded and carried forward with pride.

Melem Keezhem

Melem Keezhem in Malayalam means Above and Below. It's a bilingual (Malayalam and English) comic book series exploring island life from above and below water. It includes history, geography, society, economy, ecology, and the realities of climate change. Written for islanders and mainland readers alike, it combines sketches and photographs to make Lakshadweep vivid and visible. There are major editions as well as explainer editions, which explain difficult concepts and information that are otherwise difficult to understand. 

Kadal Kathakal

Carried out in tandem with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC),Kavaratti, and local Forest Department staff, Kadal Kathakal – meaning stories of the sea, aimed atcelebrating the biodiversity of Lakshadweep and raising awareness about the importance of localmarine conservation through exhibitions and dialogue.

Where this is headed

This programme is designed to evolve, and it will be the communities of Lakshadweep who shape its direction. Khayal is just the beginning. Future activities will be guided by the conversations, connections, and concerns that emerge from the islands themselves, building toward a sustained partnership between NCF and local communities around education, conservation, and the long-term vision of living well on the islands.