Life on the edge

On the occasion of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem today, Kavita Kanan Chandra emphasises on the need to preserve the extraordinary habitat of these swamps

When fisherman Nandkumar Pawar from Bhandup, a suburb in Mumbai, visited Andaman & Nicobar Islands in 1996, he was thrilled to see the Jolly Buoy Island — the coral paradise in Andamans. After the tsunami of December 26, 2004, though, he was disappointed to see the devastation there. But a visit to Baratang Island, lush with mangrove forests that remained unscathed after the tsunami, was a revelation for him. The dense mangroves had protected the island and continue to protect its coastlines from tropical cyclones.

Pawar was worried about the mangrove destruction in Mumbai. The deluge of Mumbai floods in 2005 was a wake-up call for him. He and other fishermen from Bhandup, with the help of NGO Shree Ekvira Pratisthan, vowed to protect 1,042 hectares of mangrove from Mulund to Vikhroli along the Thane creek. In 2018 the Bombay High Court had ruled that no mangroves could be destroyed anywhere in Maharashtra.

In India, there are several policies and rules directed towards the protection and conservation of mangroves. There are 12 states and union territories with mangrove forests along their coasts. Mangroves are natural barriers that protect the coastlines from natural calamities like tsunami, storms, and floods. Mangroves play a crucial role in reducing global climate change as they could sequester (capture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide) four times more carbon than what rainforests could. Mangroves support coastal protection, store carbon, provide clean water, sustain wildlife, fisheries, and eco-tourism.

Conservation

The aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in South Asia had seen both local and global initiatives to protect the mangroves. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) spearheaded ‘Mangroves for the Future’ that recommends an integrated approach to save mangroves. It has several member organisations in India working on mangrove conservation.

Across the country, the local communities are engaged by the government, environmental organisations and NGOs for the plantations, protection, and conservation of mangroves. Way back in 1988, the National Forest Policy encouraged community participation.

“It is the combined efforts of the local community, industries and state stakeholders that has resulted in a vast mangrove cover in Gujarat,” said Bharat Jethwa, executive committee member of Mangrove Society of India. He calls it Gujarat PPP (private-public partnership) model where the industries pay for mangrove plantation when they require clearance from state and forest for constructing ports and jetty, irrespective of whether the mangroves would be destroyed or not. The forest department or the Gujarat Ecological Commission rope in the local communities to plant mangroves. Mangrove expansion has been possible in South Gujarat coast, Gulf of Kutch, and Gulf of Cambay.

In 2009, the International Society for Mangrove Ecosystem ISME (Japan) decided to plant 70 hectares of mangroves every year along the Sabarmati estuary in the northernmost tip of the Gulf of Cambay. The success encouraged them and it is still going strong in its 12th year.

Threats galore

However, the mangrove ecosystem faces threats from the building lobby, encroachments, agriculture, infrastructure like building dams and ports, mining, illegal fishing, among others.

The changes in hydrology, increasing salinity, pollution, cattle grazing, siltation, and over-exploitation of coastal area is also taking a toll on the mangrove ecosystem. World over, the illegal shrimp farming has destroyed one-third of the mangroves in the last fifty years.

“All across the world, the greatest threat to mangroves are due to shrimp aquaculture ponds,” said Ajanta Dey, Joint Secretary & Programme Director, Nature, Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS). “Aquaculture brings a lot of revenue for farmers, but illegal artificial monoculture of shrimp and depletion of mangroves are related. We have to find a biodiversity that synergises aquaculture with mangroves,” said Ajanta.

She is passionate about mangroves and believes that how cyclone Alia in 2009 was an eye-opener in Sundarbans, all the wildlife and biodiversity thrive only because of the complex mangrove ecosystem. With the sea level rising and salinisation, mangrove depletion might lead to inhabitants becoming climate refugees. The salt-tolerant Sundri (Heritiera fomes) mangrove that lends its name to Sundarbans is dying due to high salinity.

“The mangroves had turned greyish after Amphan but when I visited after 18 days, new green leaves were coming out in mangroves so there was natural regeneration,” said Ajanta with hope.

Community involvement

The solution for restoration is community involvement, using multi-species of mangrove plants and stopping illegal shrimp culture.

From 2010 onwards, NEWS has been scientifically involved in mangrove conservation and has been engaging local communities.

They have been creating livelihoods for local farmers related to mangroves. The plantation of mangroves is not enough but it has to be protected till it attains a certain size as the saplings could be eaten by cattle and destruction could be done otherwise too.

More than 200 local community women take the lead in monitoring the survival of mangroves and act as mothers to them.

Reforestation

In 2009 the Germany based GNF (Global Nature Fund), in association with CReNIO (Centre for research on new international economic order), launched a community-driven initiative for mangrove reforestation at Lake Pulicat in Tamil Nadu. The mangroves were depleting. The water quality was deteriorating and the fish catch was low. Reforestation was done by five villages of Thangal, Kulathumedu, Edamani, Sathankuppam and Kottakuppam.

“We extensively involve local women in nursery and plantation establishment and create awareness on mangroves in schools surrounding Pulicat Lake,” said Meerasa Silar of CReNIO.

There has recently been an ongoing online petition to save the mangrove forests of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to prevent infrastructure development. The mangrove covers almost 235 sq km of land in the Godavari basin that has saved Kakinada from tsunami and typhoons.

In Tamil Nadu, just 54 km from Chennai is the Pulicat Lake, a brackish water lagoon rich in biodiversity. Known as Pazhaverkadu in Tamil which means ‘the forest of the rooted fruit,’ it signifies the presence of mangroves there from centuries. In recent years, the locals were in protest as the Kamarajar Port in the vicinity had drawn up expansion plans.

Around 2,500 families are directly dependant on mangroves for their livelihoods. Instead of mangrove destruction, the court has postponed the expansion approval. Thus, awareness among locals is bearing fruit.