(June 23, 2022) Mapping Wetland-Care Practices: The case of Ennore-Pulicat wetlands in Chennai, India

Inspired by collective action of women from indigenous fisher communities to campaign for protection of coastal wetlands to the north of Chennai, this research by Qurratul Ain Contractor (IHE Delft) uses a lens of Feminist Political Ecology to document perspectives and everyday care practices of women that support life of wetland communities. Though women perform myriad tasks that are crucial to the artisanal fishing economy, their labour remains undervalued and invisible behind dominant patriarchal and caste structures.
As women from the Ennore-Pulicat wetlands organise seafood festivals to bring attention to their role in the economy, their cultural roots in the wetland ecology and to demonstrate against mounting development pressures from expanding port infrastructure, they also push toward rethinking valuation of ecosystem services offered by the wetland, and what may be considered their wise-use