Coastal communi es across the world are faced with the projected climate change stressors such as sea level rise. This is further challenging when global south rural coastal communi es are also faced with interconnected physical, environmental, social, poli cal and economic concerns. These fi shing communi es will not only be aff ected by sea level rise in the future, but at present are dealing with developmental issues related to livelihood, water, sanita on and waste. Local resource management and usage along with livelihood diversifi ca on strategies are the main developmental problems for these fi shing communi es. The research objec ve uses mul disciplinary lens through qualita ve and quan ta ve methods to cri cally analyze Munni Lagoon in Winneba, Ghana, West Africa. The research context has a protec ve recogni on of Ramsar designa on for wetland and biodiversity management, however, implementa on of this wellinten oned policy indicates a gap. The mangroves in the lagoon would enable to reduce fl ooding, maintain water quality in the lagoon and also in the future protect shoreline erosion. However, there has been 

mangrove deple on due to the over usage as fuel wood for cooking and smoking fi sh. Findings from this mul disciplinary data collected between 2014 to 2019 indicate that while people acknowledge the climate change threat, the community are priori zing livelihood strategies and diversifi ca on in the short term. Number of factors such as precipita on, overexploita on of fi shing zones and market satura on are aff ec ng this predominantly fi shing community that undertakes drag-net fi shing. Thus, community exposure to sea level rise appears to be secondary to adap ve strategies of improved income genera on. Poten al solu ons such as biogas toilets at the household level can reduce overdependence on unsustainable use of cooking fuel improving indoor air quality, sanita on and waste management at the village level. Finally highligh ng the par cipatory nature of coastal management, crea ng an integrated approach to priori ze resource protec on and management through an inter-linkage of ecosystems services, social, economic and environmental perspec ve to reduce coastal vulnerabili es to climate change.