Mangrove Forests of Coastal India  Cite

Conservation and Management of Mangroves

The mangrove forests are managed in India by adopting three strategies: (i) promotory, (ii) regulatory, and (iii) participatory. In the promotory approach, the Government of India is implementing the Management Action Plan in 38 mangrove areas, identified all along the coast. In the regulatory approach, India is strong on the policy front with sufficient legal support for mangrove protection in the National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Reserved Forests, Protected Forests and Community Reserves. The mangroves are included as ecologically sensitive areas, and strictly protected under the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2018. Exemption is provided for defense and unavoidable public utilities with three times of compensatory plantations. In the participatory management, stakeholders of mangrove conservation are involved, prominently in the states of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat (Kathiresan, 2005, 2018).

India has success stories of mangrove conservation. The country is practicing canal bank planting for rehabilitation of degrading mangroves especially in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. This effort was undertaken with participation of local people that resulted in increased forest cover by 90% in the degraded mangrove areas of Pichavaram, between 1986 and 2002 as proved by satellite data (Selvam et al., 2003). Maharashtra Government is the First state to declare Sonneratia alba as the state official mangrove tree. The Maharashtra Government established a 'Mangrove Cell' for mangrove conservation activities. The cell is not dependent on the government funds for its activities but by getting funds from development projects for wildlife clearance (2% of total project cost) and interest amount accrued from fixed deposit of the money (Vasudevan, 2017). Another successful effort of mangrove conservation is in the district of Kannur, Kerala, where a comprehensive survey of mangroves was made with the help of revenue and forest departments within 14 months during 2014-2015 (Bala Kiran, 2017).

India had a mangrove cover of 6,000 km² during 1960s, and it has reduced to 4,992 km² in 2021; of which, 41% are poor with less canopy density. This calls for attention on better conservation and management of mangrove forests in the present context of increasing threat of climate change.