This trio of documentary films on changes in the lives and gender relationships of coastal communities living off natural resources in Thailand and Sri Lanka, is beautifully paced to exactly reflect the elemental yet placid rhythms of their world.

And they reveal small and relatively unheralded and ignored, yet hugely significant ways in which communities can painlessly – and voluntarily - transition from a subsistence and at times almost cashless economy that in many cases erodes the natural resource base, to a way of life that adapts to the modern market economy and eases pressure on the local environment.

It is a difficult balance to strike, and that these communities have succeeded makes these stories a study in sensitive transitions.

How the communities adapt to the changes triggered by the shift, is also a fascinating study in gender relationships.

In the first film, Aloe Vera is the path to the modern market economy and a trend in favour of natural products. In the second, collection of shells provides an alternative income and occupation. In the third, making shoes connects women to a new market.

In all the cases, the roles and relationships of men and women in the community have adapted. The bottom line is the women are more empowered, and the men have adapted to this new scenario with little tension; work load is more evenly shared and in some cases in a role reversal men work harder than the women; and the communities have a critical window to the wider cash economy.

And in all, the collateral effect on the coastal natural resource base is positive.

When film maker Douglas Varchol asked me to narrate the scripts I was immediately interested because these stories need to be told.

For an urban audience, they are crucial insights into a world that is far more real than that of urban high streets – and also too often unseen and neglected by the mainstream media as the human population becomes steadily more disconnected from the natural world, surrounding ourselves with hardware and technology that insulate us from the realities of our place in the food production chain.

The stories may seem simple, but they are extraordinary. They show how relatively cash-poor but resource-rich communities with deeply set cultural practices and traditions, can and do embrace change provided it is not forced upon them, and are able to adapt to the demands of a modern market economy without destroying the environment they depend on.

- Nirmal Ghosh

Nirmal is a Bangkok-based journalist and conservationist; Senior Foreign Correspondent for The Straits Times, and Trustee of The Corbett Foundation.

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