Divar Island,
Goa

The diverse ecology derived from the silt deposition over a period of time gave rise to the island landscapes of Divar. Originally an estuary divided the island, which in the present day is under the Navelim-Goltim and Malar-Narao panchayat. The island's ecosystem consists of several components such as Khazan lands, bunds, and protective mangroves along the geographical periphery. Khazan lands are commercially, environmentally, and socially significant for agriculture and aquaculture and thus are the island's two main economic sources. The early settlers of Divar- the Gaunkharis settled on the contoured lands and started cultivating rice. This led to the rise of a settlement, and the realization that farming could be done on the lowland contributed to the formation of a comunidade to build bunds around the perimeter so as to avoid the influx of saline water. The formation of these bunds avoided flooding of paddy fields and the natural mangrove formation along the edge allowed agriculture and aquaculture to grow. The study further explores several narratives of these existing systems and their impact on ecology and livelihoods.