SAIME INITIATIVE - GOVERNMENT SCHEME
News: Sustainable
shrimp cultivation provides hope for mangrove restoration in Sundarbans
What's in the news?
● A
new initiative of sustainable shrimp cultivation provides hope for mangrove restoration in Sundarbans.
● For
several years, environmentalists and experts have expressed concerns over
unsustainable aquaculture, particularly shrimp collection, after cleaning large
tracts of mangrove forests in Sunderbans.
Key takeaways:
● Under
the initiative, Sustainable Aquaculture
In Mangrove Ecosystem (SAIME), farmers have taken up cultivation of shrimp
at 20 hectares at Chaital in West Bengal’s
North 24 Parganas, and 10 hectares at Madhabpur in adjoining South 24 Parganas.
● They
are also helpful in restoring the mangroves as well.
● A
research program on the contribution of mangrove leaf litter in the nutritional
dynamics in SAIME ponds has been initiated in collaboration with the Centre for
Excellence in Blue Economy (CoE-BE) of the Indian Institute of Science Education
and Research (IISER), Kolkata.
About SAIME:
● The
community-based initiative of
sustainable shrimp cultivation is being conceived by NEWS and Global Nature
Fund (GNF), Naturland Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS).
● It
was started in 2019 and had established a collaborative ecosystem integrating
several key stakeholders from government departments, academia, and research
institutes for co-creation and comprehensive advancement of this project.
Shrimp Farming in Mangroves:
● Fishing,
particularly shrimp cultivation, is one
of the key occupations of the people of Sundarbans, which is a complex
network of rivers and low-lying islands that face a tide surge twice a day.
● Shrimp
cultivation is practiced in about 15,000 to 20,000 hectares of the unique
ecosystem in India.
● The
Sundarbans forest is about 10,000 sq. km across India and Bangladesh, of which
40% lies in India.
Go back to basics:
Sundarbans:
● Sundarbans
is a vast contiguous mangrove forest ecosystem in the coastal region of Bay of
Bengal spread across India and Bangladesh.
● It
covers approximately 10,000 square kilometers of area of which 60% is in
Bangladesh and remaining in India.
● It
is located in the delta region of Padma,
Meghna and Brahmaputra river basins.
● It
is the largest tidal halophytic mangrove
forest in the world.
● The
Sunderbans Delta is the only mangrove
forest in the world inhabited by tigers.
● Sundarbans
forests are known for Royal Bengal Tiger and other numerous species of animals,
including Chital Deer, Crocodile and Snakes.
Protection:
● The
Sundarbans delta is a National Park, a
Tiger Reserve, and a Biosphere Reserve. This delta is densely forested, and
it is one of the Bengal tiger's most important habitats. A variety of bird,
reptile, and invertebrate species, including the saltwater crocodile, live in
this park.
● In
1973, the current Sundarbans National Park was designated as the core area of
the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, and in 1977, it was designated as a wildlife
sanctuary.
● It
was designated as a National Park on May 4, 1984.
● It
was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
● Sundarban
Wetland, India was recognised as the ‘Wetland
of International Importance’ under the Ramsar Convention in January 2019.
Threats:
● It
is facing threats from climate change
and rising sea levels.
● It
also faces threat from widespread construction
and clearing of mangrove forests for fisheries.