Guest blog: Mr.Robert Panipilla, Friends of Marine Life, India
On June 8, 2026, coinciding with World Ocean Day, a landmark event in marine conservation unfolded at the Trivandrum Press Club in Kerala. The nation welcomed its first Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register, an initiative spearheaded by the collective Friends of Marine Life. This pioneering endeavour received robust backing from the Kerala University Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, the South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies, SCUBA Kochin, Aazhi Archives, and Uru.
A Counter to Epistemic Erasure
This register is far more than a mere ecological database. For the Friends of Marine Life, it represents the translation of indigenous marine knowledge, refined over generations through direct cultural and occupational interaction with the ocean, onto a modern canvas. More importantly, it stands as a powerful testament against the ethical transgressions of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board.
Previously, the state board refused to include several marine organisms caught by traditional fishers in the official Marine Biodiversity Register, citing a lack of taxonomic experts capable of classifying them. Furthermore, in an act of profound epistemic injustice, the board erased the names of the indigenous local community members whose knowledge and labour built the foundation of the register, replacing them entirely with the names of formally trained scientists and state officials.
The knowledge held by coastal communities is an intergenerational asset. UNESCO rightfully categorises such wisdom as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Under the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and its associated ethical principles, UNESCO explicitly mandates that communities and indigenous peoples be formally acknowledged and credited for their shared knowledge. While global United Nations institutions champion these rights, the responsible state apparatus chose to undermine them, effectively insulting the very community that safeguards this biodiversity.
The Historical Context of Institutional Failure
The genesis of this conflict dates back to the period between 2013 and 2015. During this time, the state biodiversity board commissioned individuals from the fishing community to prepare a register that prioritised traditional ecological knowledge. As the coordinator of that study group, this author witnessed the meticulous collection of data. The team continuously monitored the marine catch off the Trivandrum coast, identified Indigenous Local Knowledge holders, and documented their deep understanding of marine habitats. By 2015, the final draft, complete with preliminary underwater documentation, was submitted to the authorities.
However, when the official register was published in 2017 after a review by marine scientists, stark discrepancies emerged. Over 60 percent of the documented organisms were excluded. The board adopted an unscientific and unethical stance: if formally trained taxonomists could not identify the species, they would not be recorded, deliberately ignoring the severe shortage of such taxonomic experts in the country.
Crucially, the names of the 60 traditional fishers who provided the foundational data were expunged from the official publication. To compound this violation of indigenous rights, the state initially refused to make the document public, even denying Right to Information requests, thereby violating the fundamental information rights of the local populace.
Democratising Ecological Data
Driven by this systemic erasure, Friends of Marine Life initiated the independent community register with active support from the coastal populace. The methodology was inherently democratic. Recognising that traditional marine knowledge is deeply rooted in the geophysical morphology of the seabed, the collective focused heavily on documenting these benthic habitats.
The register proudly prioritises the local vernacular names of marine species, acknowledging language as a vital vessel of traditional ecological knowledge. The approach was profoundly inclusive. It integrated scientific data where available but refused to let the absence of formal taxonomic identification lead to the exclusion of any species. Above all, it prominently featured the names of all the indigenous knowledge holders and was published online for unrestricted public access.
Over seven consecutive years, the team conducted extensive underwater documentation of marine reefs. Spanning a 78 kilometre coastline in Trivandrum and plunging to depths of 43 metres, they visually documented around fifty habitats.These included natural rocky habitats, artificial structures, sunken vessels, and accidental habitats. This rigorous underwater documentation captured numerous sedentary organisms and scientifically validated the traditional knowledge of the fishers with absolute accuracy.
The Path Forward
The outcome is deeply significant. The new community register credits 80 traditional fishers for their intellectual contribution and lists around 2000 marine species, a stark contrast to the mere 500 species included in the state published document. Furthermore, the platform is fully interactive, allowing anyone to contribute new findings or suggest corrections.
As we look ahead, this initiative serves as a vital blueprint. If coastal communities across other districts in Kerala, and subsequently throughout all Indian coastal states, adopt this participatory model, we can collectively build a comprehensive and decentralised repository of marine biodiversity. Acknowledging and institutionalising community wisdom is not merely an act of ethical compliance; it is the fundamental bedrock upon which the future of sustainable ocean conservation must be built.
Words and photos by Mr.Robert Panipilla, Friends of Marine Life, India
The views in this article may not necessarily represent the views of other RISE UP network members or RISE UP as a whole. It is only through open dialogue and a diversity of ideas that we will arrive at the solutions necessary to restore Ocean health.
Friends of Marine Life (FML) is a coastal Indigenous civil society organisation that has been undertaking underwater studies related to seabed ecology, biodiversity documentation, the preparation of Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register (CMBOR), underwater cleanups, ocean literacy programs, and coastal history documentation in Trivandrum, Kerala, South India. Since 2012, its work has been bringing out the coastal community’s knowledge of their seabed and ecosystem — knowledge that is typically expressed in their coastal dialect, which has long been a barrier to the scientific community in interpreting and utilising it. FML has a team of SCUBA divers capable of conducting underwater exploration studies to a maximum depth of 43 metres. FML is also one of the organisations with special accreditation from the United Nations in support of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.