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tankers/ships, Single Buoy Moorings, Ship engine and Ship 
breaking unit at Sachana (Singh 2000). 
6. VULNERABLE HABITATS OF THE REGION 
The model helped in delineating the vulnerability index. The 
most vulnerable habitat and thus at maximum risk is the north- 
eastern portion. The criteria for assigning it the most vulnerable 
category for coral reef habitat are, i) improvement is noticed 
since 1989, ii) percentage of live corals and algae is less than 
other areas, however, live corals are present, iii) this area has 
close proximity to all the developmental activities (industries, 
pipeline, jetty) and is also the most easily accessible area. Area 
falling between west-southwest is classified as habitat at 
moderate risk as here too some improvement was noticed but 
the region is not too much in the developmental region. The 
percentage of live corals was least here. So diversity-wise as 
well as eco-morphological zone-wise the zone is not very rich. 
The northern region is at least risk as far as coral reefs are 
concerned and have the best corals of the region. 
The entire study area of mangroves is a vulnerable region. The 
criteria were, i) the diversity of most of the region is very less, 
ii) the area has undergone considerable degradation since 1975, 
iii) it is under the impact of maximum developmental pressure 
due to pipeline, port activities, cutting of mangroves for fuel 
and fodder, camel grazing, large-scale development of saltpans, 
industrial development and ship-breaking yards, iv) decline in 
marine fish catch. 
7. MANAGEMENT ZONING 
Detailed work needs to be carried out before defining 
management zones. However based on the data available the 
Kalubhar reef and the core MNP area comprising mangroves on 
Jindra, Chad, Bhains bid, Munde ka bet and southern mainland 
may be divided into core preservation zone, buffer zone, 
conservation zone and development zone. 
The northern Kalubhar reef region would be ideal preservation 
zone as the area satisfies all the criteria mentioned in section 
4.3. No activities should be allowed in this zone. The zone may 
also be treated as ideal gene pool of the region as it harbors all 
representative coral, seagrass and algae species apart from other 
flora and fauna. Activities related to the improvement of the 
habitat are allowed in the conservation zone, like research, 
controlled tourism, etc. Based on species richness and the 
general ecological condition the conservation zone may be 
further divided into three zones with separate regulatory 
activities. For e.g., the west-southwest Kalubhar reef zone may 
be made open for controlled fisheries and research with 
monitoring of particular fish stocks and catch levels. Controlled 
tourism and research may be permitted in the northwestern 
region. With only research being allowed and no tourism the 
northeastern region may be allowed to improve. The eastern- 
southeastern region is the most degraded habitat of this reef. 
The region can thus be made open for algae/seaweed culture, 
mangrove plantation and fisheries, therefore, allowing 
development at a sustainable level using ecologically sound 
methods. The area covered by mangroves on the eastern portion 
of the islands, all creeks networking the mangroves, marsh 
vegetation, and mangrove plantation may be taken up for 
conservation. The mangroves here are mono-species (only 
407 
Avicennia), therefore, the need for preservation of these 
mangroves does not arise. 
In the core MNP region, the western Munde ka bet reefs are 
ideal for preservation. Northern portion may be taken up for 
conservation. Similarly, the northern seaward most edge of 
Pirotan has good reefs and may be taken up for preservation, 
the rest of the Good habitats of the reef at maximum risk may 
be taken up for conservation. 
As has been mentioned in the preceding sections, the core MNP 
area (Jindra, Chad, Bhains bid, Munde ka bet and southern 
mainland) harbors rich mangrove areas. Bhains Bid, North-east 
Dide Ka Bet and South-east Chhad Island have rich mangrove 
diversity. In fact in the entire MNP area diversity of mangroves 
is rich in only these areas, with the rest of the areas being 
mostly mono-species. Therefore, the mangroves of these 
regions are ideal for preservation. The central Jindra portion 
and southern mainland has undergone severe degradation due to 
oil spill. Immediate actions should therefore be taken up to stop 
the region from degrading further. It should be conserved and 
allowed to regain. 
8. CONCLUSION 
Remote sensing is a powerful tool and has proved to be 
extremely useful in studying the vital coastal habitats. It has 
shown its potential in not only assessing the environmental 
condition and defining the habitats at risk, but is also a very 
effective technology in zoning the habitats for management 
practices. Information generated using RS data is therefore a 
vital input for Integrated and Sustainable Management of not 
only the vital coastal habitats but also the entire coast. 
Taking into consideration the high developmental demand of 
the Gulf of Kachchh coastal resources the model generated for 
studying, the environmental condition and defining the habitats 
at risk will prove to be helpful in zoning the habitats for 
management practices. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
We are thankful to the Director, Space Applications Centre, 
Ahmedabad for giving us this opportunity, constant 
encouragement and facilities to carry out this study. We are 
also grateful to the Marine National Park Authority at Jamnagar 
for allowing us to work in the region and supplying us with all 
logistics support. Thanks are also due to Shri. H.S. Singh, the 
then Director of GEER Foundation, Gandhinagar for helpful 
discussions and for sharing his knowledge on the MNP region 
with us. 
REFERENCE 
Bahuguna, A & Nayak S, 1996, Mangrove community 
discrimination using IRS-1C data. In: Proc. of the National 
Symposium on Remote Sensing for Natural Resources with 
special emphasis to Water Management. Published jointly by 
the Indian Soc of Remote Sensing and NNRMS, Banglore, 
Printed at Microsoft Technoprint (I), Pvt Ltd, Pune, India, 311- 
319. 
Bahuguna, A, Ghosh, A, Nayak, S, Patel A & Aggarwal, J P, 
Ecological status of the coral reefs of the Gulf of Kachchh and 
Lakshadweep. in: Proceedings of the National Symposium on 
Remote Sensing for Sustainable Development, Edited by Sahai, 
B, Kachhwaha, T S, Ravindran K V, Roy A K, Sharma N D