CONSERVATION OF MANGROVES – ENVIRONMENT
News: Explained
| Why have mangroves got a Budget push?
What's in the news?
● The
Union Budget for 2023-24 announced an initiative for mangrove plantation along
the coastline and on salt pan lands, under MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for
Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes).
Key takeaways:
● Mangroves
are salt-tolerant plant communities
found in tropical and subtropical intertidal regions.
● They
are important refuges of coastal biodiversity and also act as bio-shields
against extreme climatic events.
● With
the threat of climate change and frequent tropical storms looming large,
planting more mangroves is a welcome development for India which has a
coastline of about 7,500 km.
MISHTI:
● MISHTI
is a new programme that will facilitate mangrove plantation along India’s
coastline and on salt pan lands.
● The
programme will operate through convergence between MGNREGS, Campa Fund and
other sources.
● MISHTI
will aim at intensive afforestation of
coastal mangrove forests.
Mangroves:
● A
Mangrove is a small tree or shrub that grows along coastlines, taking root in
salty sediments, often underwater. Mangroves are flowering trees, belonging to the families Rhizophoraceae,
Acanthaceae, Lythraceae, Combretaceae, and Arecaceae.
● Mangrove
forests are formed when there is intertidal flow and where adequate sediments
are available for the trees to set down roots.
● They
can survive under extreme hostile
environments such as high salt and low oxygen conditions.
● Underground
tissue of any plant needs oxygen for respiration. But in a mangrove
environment, the oxygen in soil is limited or nil. Hence the mangrove root
system absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere.
● Mangroves
have special roots for this purpose called breathing roots or pneumatophores. These roots have
numerous pores through which oxygen enters the underground tissues.
Mangrove species:
● The
tree species that form a mangrove forest or ecosystem are broadly classified as
true mangroves and mangroves associates.
○ True
mangroves are the ones which display morphological adaptations for a high
saline mangrove ecosystem such as pneumatophores, vivipary or crypto vivipary
germination and salt-secreting cells.
Unique features:
● Survival in Extreme
Conditions: With their roots submerged in water,
mangrove trees thrive in hot, muddy, salty conditions that would quickly kill
most plants.
● Leaves modification:
Mangroves, like desert plants, store fresh water in thick succulent
leaves. A waxy coating on the leaves
seals in water and minimizes evaporation.
● Viviparous:
Their seeds germinate while still attached to the parent tree. Once germinated,
the seedling grows into a propagule.
Mangrove status - World and India:
● The
‘State of World Mangroves 2022’ report by the Global Mangrove Alliance puts the
total mangrove cover of the world at 1,47,000 sq km (14.7 million hectares).
● India
has about 4,992 sq km (0.49 million hectares) of mangroves, according to the
Indian State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2021, which is 0.15% of the country’s total geographical area.
● Mangroves
in India are distributed across nine States and three Union Territories with
West Bengal having the highest mangrove cover of 2,114 sq km.
● Top
5 states with the most mangrove forest cover in India are:
○ West Bengal:
2,114 sq km
○ Gujarat:
1,175 sq km
○ Andaman
and Nicobar Islands: 616 sq km
○ Andhra
Pradesh: 405 sq km
○ Maharashtra:
324 sq km
○ Odisha:
259 sq km
Significance of Mangrove ecosystem:
1. Tidal forests:
● Mangroves
are salt-tolerant vegetation that
grows in intertidal regions of rivers and estuaries. They are referred to as ‘tidal forests’ and belong to the category
of ‘tropical wetland rainforest ecosystem’.
2. Unique habitat:
● A
mangrove ecosystem is the interface
between terrestrial forests and aquatic marine ecosystems. The ecosystem
includes diversified habitats like mangrove-dominant forests, litter-laden
forest floors, mudflats, coral reefs and contiguous water courses such as river
estuaries, bays, inter-tidal waters, channels and backwaters.
● Mangroves
are trees and shrub species that grow at the interface between land and sea in
tropical and subtropical regions of the world, where the plants exist in
conditions of salinity, tidal water flow and muddy soil.
3. Ecological niches:
● The
structural complexities of mangrove vegetation create unique environments which
provide ecological niches for a wide
variety of organisms.
● Mangroves
serve as breeding, feeding and nursery grounds for most of the commercial
fishes and crustaceans on which thousands of people depend for their
livelihood.
4. Ecosystem services:
● Mangroves
are an intermediate vegetation between land and sea that grow in oxygen deficient waterlogged soils which have Hydrogen Sulfide
(H2S). They perform important ecological functions like nutrient cycling,
hydrological regime, coastal protection, fish-fauna production, etc.
5. Disaster reduction:
● Mangroves
act as shock absorbers. Mangroves
give protection to the coastline and minimize disasters due to cyclones and
tsunami. Recent studies have shown that mangroves store more carbon dioxide
than most other forests. They reduce high tides and waves and help prevent soil
erosion. They also provide livelihood opportunities to coastal communities.
6. Carbon Sequestration:
● The
‘State of World Mangroves 2022’ points out that mangroves are estimated to hold
up to four times the amount of carbon as some other ecosystems.
● The
loss of even 1% of remaining mangroves could lead to the loss of 0.23 gigatons
of CO2 equivalent, equating to over 520 million barrels of oil.
Threats faced by Mangroves:
1. Development activities:
● Infrastructure projects
and industrial expansion and building of roads
and railways, and natural processes shifting coastlines, coastal erosion and
storms, have resulted in a significant decrease in mangrove habitats. Between
2010 and 2020, around 600 sq km of mangroves were lost of which more than 62%
was due to direct human impacts, the Global Mangrove Alliance said in its 2022
report.
2. Population Pressure in Coastal areas:
● The
mangrove ecosystem faces constant pressure due to increasing population in
coastal areas and the rising demand for land, timber, fodder, fuel-wood and
other non-wood forest products like fisheries.
3. Commercial Aquaculture:
● Shrimp Farms:
The emergence of shrimp farms have caused at least 35% of the overall loss of
mangrove forests. The rise of shrimp farming is a response to the increasing
appetite for shrimp in the United States, Europe, Japan and China in recent
decades.
4. Global warming and Sea level rise:
● A
fluctuation of ten degrees in a short period of time is enough stress to damage the plant and freezing
temperatures for even a few hours can kill some mangrove species.
● Due
to global warming, the sea levels are continuously rising. The rising sea
levels have flooded large areas of
mangrove forests. This has resulted in their depletion. This has been
supplemented by continuous erosion by sea towards the land.
5. Anthropogenic activities:
● 40%
of mangroves on the west coast have been converted into farmlands and other settlements in just 3 decades.
● Upstream operations
such as river draining and natural erosion and accretion have an impact on the
health of mangroves because the adequate ecological flow in rivers is required
to flush silt and other pollutants from the mangroves.
Steps taken:
● The
BOBLME (Bay of Bengal Large Marine
Ecosystem) project brought together India and seven other Bay of Bengal
region countries to safeguard mangroves. This project is led by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and funded
by GEF (Global Environment Facility).
● In
2013, the Biotechnology Department
started a bio-restoration program in pilot mode in the Sundarbans. It
involves stabilization of degraded mangrove stretches with native grasses
(salt-tolerant varieties). An on-site nursery is also set up. These nurseries
grow a variety of mangrove species- native, associated, threatened, endangered,
etc. 22 species were raised in these nurseries to maintain diversity.
● Mangrove Alliance for
Climate (MAC) is an initiative led by the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia, the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC)
includes India, Sri Lanka, Australia,
Japan, and Spain. It seeks to educate and spread awareness worldwide on the
role of mangroves in curbing global warming and its potential as a solution for
climate change.
● WWF India and Discovery
India are collaborating with government
agencies, civil society organizations, and scientific institutions to help
village panchayats and local people create the capacity to include climate
resilience in their plans.
● UNESCO Designated Sites:
The inclusion of mangroves in Biosphere Reserves, World Heritage sites and
UNESCO Global Geoparks contributes to improving the knowledge, management and
conservation of mangrove ecosystems throughout the world.
● International Society for
Mangrove Ecosystem (ISME): The ISME is a
non-governmental organization established in 1990 to promote the study of
mangroves with the purpose of enhancing their conservation, rational management
and sustainable utilization.
● Blue Carbon Initiative:
The International Blue Carbon Initiative is focused on mitigating climate
change through the conservation and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems.
It is coordinated by Conservation
International (CI), IUCN, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission-UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO).
● International Day for the
Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem:
UNESCO celebrates this day on July 26
with the aim of raising awareness about mangrove ecosystems and promoting their
sustainable management and conservation.
● Mangroves for the Future
Initiative: IUCN and UNDP developed a unique
initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystem conservation called the
“Mangroves for the Future (MFF)”. The member nations include Bangladesh,
Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, and Vietnam.
● National Mangrove Committee:
The Government of India set up a National Mangrove Committee in 1976 which
advises the government about the conservation and development of mangroves.
WAY FORWARD:
● People's involvement in
mangrove management on public lands and
related benefits. Several communities led program need to raise people's
awareness of the importance of mangroves. Example: Through films, exhibitions,
newspapers, magazines, posters, stickers, brochures, banners, seminars, nature
camps, birdwatching, study tours in the mangrove forests, establishment of
mangrove parks in the mangrove areas close to towns, and the celebration of
Mangrove Conservation Day, with essay competitions, debates and drawing
competitions.
● Offering
incentives for sustainable management of
mangroves on private and village community land.
● Cultural advantages
can be leveraged in mangrove conservation. Eg: Bon Bibi is a forest goddess
worshiped by people of different faiths (Hindus & Muslims) in the
Sundarbans. The Bon Bibi faith checks excessive acquisition and greed in
Sundarbans- people are to enter the forests only when absolutely necessary (eg:
livelihood), people are not to carry weapons into the forests, smoking in the
forest is seen as a desecration, etc.
● Ensuring
strict enforcement of environmental
protection laws.
● Working
on restoration and rehabilitation of
degraded mangrove areas. Use of bio-restoration to revive degraded
stretches of mangroves. These techniques help maintain the original
biodiversity. Ecological restoration revives the mangroves at a faster rate
than natural regeneration.