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<p>This study examines the impacts of climate change on an Indigenous seafaring community in Ponnani, Kerala, India, a critical coastal erosion hotspot. Projections indicate significant coastline retreat—up to 100&#xa0;m by 2030 and an additional 140&#xa0;m by 2040—threatening large-scale forced migration of the remaining residents. Using ethnographic fieldwork (interviews, observation, focus group discussion, and cultural artefact analysis) combined with data on fish stocks and erosion, this research assessed the community’s vulnerability and the interplay between environmental change and cultural identity. This study finds that climate change is a major factor contributing to the erosion of rich maritime cultural identities, resulting in a “scattering community” as natural environments disappear. The results reveal that non-economic losses associated with relocation, specifically diminished identity and belonging, contribute to a significant number of people choosing “voluntary immobility” despite climate change uncertainties. These findings underscore the profound, non-material costs of coastal environmental change and highlight the need to address cultural disintegration in policies for adapting to climate change.</p>

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Mapping the vanishing cultural landscape of seafarers from a South Indian Village

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月10日

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  • A. P. Shebeen Mehaboob,
  • P. P. Noushad

摘要

This study examines the impacts of climate change on an Indigenous seafaring community in Ponnani, Kerala, India, a critical coastal erosion hotspot. Projections indicate significant coastline retreat—up to 100 m by 2030 and an additional 140 m by 2040—threatening large-scale forced migration of the remaining residents. Using ethnographic fieldwork (interviews, observation, focus group discussion, and cultural artefact analysis) combined with data on fish stocks and erosion, this research assessed the community’s vulnerability and the interplay between environmental change and cultural identity. This study finds that climate change is a major factor contributing to the erosion of rich maritime cultural identities, resulting in a “scattering community” as natural environments disappear. The results reveal that non-economic losses associated with relocation, specifically diminished identity and belonging, contribute to a significant number of people choosing “voluntary immobility” despite climate change uncertainties. These findings underscore the profound, non-material costs of coastal environmental change and highlight the need to address cultural disintegration in policies for adapting to climate change.