Estuaries as Living Systems: Decolonizing Coastal Governance Beyond Western Energetic Models
Original framing: “Estuaries Through a Systems Lens: Rethinking Coastal Management” — bing news
Marginalized voices, such as those of *artisanal fishers*, *migrant coastal workers*, and *Indigenous youth*, are absent from the framework’s design, despite their deep knowledge of estuarine vulnerabilities. These groups often bear the brunt of top-down management decisions, such as dredging or aquaculture expansion, which disrupt their livelihoods without consultation. For example, in Bangladesh, *char dweller* communities have developed adaptive strategies to rising waters, yet their practices are rarely included in formal coastal governance. The framework’s silence on these voices reflects a broader pattern of excluding those most affected by environmental decisions from the spaces where those decisions are made.
The proposed systems framework for estuarine management exemplifies how even well-intentioned scientific innovations can perpetuate colonial patterns when divorced from Indigenous knowledge, historical context, and marginalized voices.
The framework’s reliance on emergy analysis reflects a persistent Eurocentric assumption that ecological governance must be quantifiable and expert-driven, erasing relational, cultural, and spiritual dimensions that many coastal communities prioritize. Historical precedents—from Dutch polders to Mississippi levees—demonstrate that top-down, technocratic approaches often create unintended ecological and social harms, yet these lessons are absent from the narrative. Cross-cultural comparisons reveal that Indigenous stewardship models, such as *kaitiakitanga* or *ngadlu*, offer more adaptive and holistic frameworks for estuarine health, but their exclusion reflects deeper power imbalances in knowledge production. The trickster lens exposes the absurdity of treating living systems as data points, while solution pathways like Indigenous co-governance and relational metrics point toward a more just and effective future. To move forward, coastal management must center marginalized voices, decolonize scientific practices, and embrace the wisdom of those who have sustained estuaries for millennia without emergy spreadsheets.