A little more about Coastal Conservation Foundation (CCF)
Coastal Conservation Foundation (CCF) studies, discovers and raises awareness of India’s relatively unknown marine ecosystems in order to help protect them.
As urban development extends to coastlines and large-scale commercial fisheries continue to affect the biodiversity of our oceans, finding ways to conserve marine life becomes increasingly imperative. The main challenge? We simply don’t know enough.
The current situation:
So far, marine research has only been conducted in certain well-known areas of biodiversity like the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and the Narara Marine National Park in Gujarat.
Otherwise, a large part of our country’s 7,500 km long coastline still remains unexplored.
How is CCF addressing this?
CCF’s primary focus areas are:
Obtaining more knowledge about India’s marine ecosystems through their own research. They also run citizen science initiatives that involve local communities in both data collection and in monitoring the health of coastal habitats.
Disseminating this information through creative outreach and education channels, in order to raise awareness about the value of these habitats and the need to protect them. These are generally in the form of educational programmes (which include presentations, shore walks and even fun treasure hunts to find marine life!) for students, community groups and the general public.
CCF's entire approach is built on the belief that we need to learn more about our coastal and marine ecosystems (and the impact of human activity on them) in order to create effective strategies to conserve these habitats and their biodiversity.
This is especially critical given India's urban development projects, which will only continue to scale over the next few decades - and is also why all the data collected by CCF about the marine biodiversity in our shores is open access by design, allowing students, researchers, advocacy groups and even field guides to obtain information. Before CCF's work, any other baseline data was virtually non-existent.
In fact, thanks to the open-access nature of their data, vital information about our coasts' marine life has been used by multiple stakeholders, including those who were concerned by the environmental effects of Mumbai's Coastal Road during its planning stages.
CCF'S IMPACT (SO FAR)
~600 marine species identified in
various shores of Mumbai
16,000+ people educated via
shore walks, festivals and events
200+ shorewalks, 50+ public events
& 3 annual fests conducted
2 reports created on Dolphins in the Back Bay
and Coastal Cetaceans of the MMR
16,464 observations on India's intertidal biodiversity
made by 450 people on 1,414 species
Why we love CCF
The accessibility of their work: offering free shore walks enables people from all walks of life to appreciate our marine life and participate in its conservation efforts
Their work changes the way we perceive our own coastal cities: by shining a light on the unexpected yet wondrous forms of life dwelling within the fringes of our urban coastlines, they’re transforming the way we think of our own cities and the larger role they play in marine ecosystems
Their dedication to the cause: Co-founders Shaunak Modi and Pradip Patade are inspiringly committed to CCF's mission, having left more traditional career paths to spend time on coastal ecosystems that get little recognition for their significance
FUN FACT
Mumbai’s rocky shores are a treasure trove of biodiversity! From playful octopuses to colourful corals, 555 species of marine life have already been identified here by Marine Life of Mumbai, one of CCF’s projects.
A message from Shaunak Modi, CCF's Co-Founder
My journey with marine life began quite abruptly one day, when I read about a sea anemone being found on a beach, a few metres away from where I’ve lived my entire life. I had never seen any marine life at Juhu. I never imagined that the city’s shores could be so full of life. Even now, I’m constantly learning about just how full of life Mumbai’s waters are. With my work at CCF, I wish to reconnect the country's human citizens to their marine counterparts.
