Mangrove-dike hybrid systems reveal systemic resilience gaps in coastal adaptation: Indigenous and ecological knowledge integration critical for equitable shoreline protection
Original framing: “Green and gray: Mangroves and dikes show potential in protecting shorelines together” — bing news
The original framing omits the historical dispossession of coastal Indigenous communities (e.g., Sunderbans, Mekong Delta) whose mangrove management systems were dismantled by colonial and post-colonial states; the role of industrial shrimp farming in mangrove destruction (responsible for 50% of loss in Southeast Asia); the gendered impacts of dikes on women fishers; and the failure of 'gray-green' hybrid projects to address climate gentrification, where wealthy communities relocate to 'protected' areas while marginalized groups are pushed into higher-risk zones.
Medium structural omission detected in mainstream coverage.
This narrative is produced by conservation NGOs, engineering firms, and climate adaptation funders (e.g., World Bank, USAID) who prioritize technocratic solutions over land restitution. The framing serves coastal real estate developers and industrial fisheries by positioning hybrid systems as 'green infrastructure' that can be commodified, while obscuring how dikes and mangrove plantations often serve elite interests. Western scientific paradigms dominate, with Indigenous knowledge relegated to 'local anecdotes' despite evidence of its superior long-term viability in flood-prone regions.
Women fishers in Bangladesh’s delta are 3x more likely to lose livelihoods to failed dikes because they are excluded from decision-making and forced into informal labor when mangroves are degraded. In West Africa, artisanal fishers are displaced by hybrid projects marketed as 'climate solutions' but designed for tourism or carbon offsets, eroding food sovereignty. Dalit and Indigenous communities in India’s Sundarbans face double displacement—first by shrimp farms, then by 'eco-tourism' zones that bar access to sacred mangrove groves. Marginalized voices are often tokenized in 'participatory' projects, with their knowledge co-opted but not compensated or protected.
The mangrove-dike hybrid narrative reflects a broader pattern of 'greenwashing' technocratic solutions to mask structural violence: colonial land dispossession, industrial aquaculture, and climate gentrification are the root causes of coastal vulnerability, not just engineering gaps.