The Vembanad wetland complex is the largest tropical wetland ecosystem on the southwest coast of India. It is a designated Ramsar site, a wetland of global importance for its biodiversity values. It is also an important resource area for local livelihoods dependent on fishing and allied industries, an important tourist destination and supports a highly productive agricultural system including the ‘rice bowl of Kerala’. All the major livelihood activities of Alappuzha are water-based and depend largely on Vembanad lake. The lake is used for fishing, mining sand and lime shell deposits, harvesting live clams, and tourism related activities. Surrounding land mass is used for rice cultivation, plantation crops, housing, tourist resorts, industries etc. All these ‘water based enterprises’ depend upon environmental integrity of the Vembanad Lake and the surroundings. The environmental conditions of the lake is in a steady decline due to severe anthropogenic pressures and all these activities are to various degrees in decline because of socio-economic and ecological changes happening in the region. The commercial nature of many of these activities leads to uncontrolled resource use which poses grave threats to the ecosystem.

Ashoka trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), is trying to address some of these isseus through its Community Environmental Resource centre (CERC), being established at Alappuzha, by bringing together local communities and institutions to strengthen wetland management in the Vembanad Backwaters. The more immediate objectives of CERC are to (a) strengthen capacities in governance and wise use of wetland biodiversity, (b) raise awareness of the values of biodiversity and ecosystem goods and services and (c) to enable a backwater information facility at the site. The project aims to build multi sectoral and multi stakeholder partnerships at the local level, influence decision making, increase coordination between stakeholders and strengthen their capacity to address the various issues related to Vembanad Backwaters.