Budget push for Mangroves
- February 5, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Budget push for Mangroves
Subject: Environment
Section: Ecosystem
Concept:
- The Union Budget for 2023-24 has proposed Mangrove plantation along the coastline and on saltpan lands under MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes).
Background
- According to the ‘State of World Mangroves 2022’ report by the Global Mangrove Alliance, the total mangrove cover of the world is around 147000 sq km (14.7 million hectares).
- As per the Indian State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2021, India has nearly 4992 sq km (0.49 million hectares) of mangroves.
- In India, Mangroves are distributed across 9 States and 3 Union Territories with West Bengal having the highest mangrove cover of 2114 sq km.
- The IFSR report also showed that the mangrove cover in India has increased from 4046 sq km in 1987 to 4992 sq km in 2021.
Mangrove plantation initiative:
- MISHTI will be implemented through the convergence of various schemes like MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme), CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) Fund, and other sources.
- It would further require extensive cooperation from local communities.
- It is found that the survival rate of mangrove seed plantation and saplings is 50% and 60% respectively.
- Moreover, it takes three years for a new plant to stabilize.
- Thus a contract-based one-time plantation under MGNREGS and CAMPA might not work efficiently without the local communities taking ownership of the forests.
- Moreover, MISHTI is in line with India’s Nationally Determined Contributions of creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent by 2030.
- Additionally, India also joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate at COP27.
Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC)
- It includes UAE, Indonesia, 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.
- However, the intergovernmental alliance works on a voluntary basis which means that there are no real checks and balances to hold members accountable.
- Instead, the parties will decide their own commitments and deadlines regarding planting and restoring mangroves.
- The members will also share expertise and support each other in researching, managing and protecting coastal areas.
Mangroves
- Mangroves are defined as assemblages of salt tolerant trees and shrubs that grow in the intertidal regions of the tropical and subtropical coastlines.
- They grow luxuriantly in the places where freshwater mixes with seawater and where sediment is composed of accumulated deposits of mud.
- Tree species in mangrove forests/ecosystems are categorized into:
- True mangroves: They display morphological adaptations like pneumatophores, vivipary or crypto vivipary germination, and salt-secreting cell There are 42 true mangrove species in India.
- Mangroves associates: The species that exist side by side with the true mangroves. There are 68 mangrove associate species in India.
Features:
- Saline Environment: They can survive under extreme hostile environments such as high salt and low oxygen conditions.
- Low oxygen: Underground tissue of any plant needs oxygen for respiration. But in a mangrove environment, the oxygen in soil is limited or nil.
- For the purpose of breathing, they develop special roots called pneumatophores.
- Survival in Extreme Conditions: With their roots submerged in water, mangrove trees thrive in hot, muddy, salty conditions that would quickly kill most plants.
- Viviparous: Their seeds germinate while still attached to the parent tree. Once germinated, the seedling grows into a propagule.
- A propagule is a vegetative structure that can become detached from a plant and give rise to a new plant. Examples include a bud, sucker, or spore.
Significance:
- Mangroves trap and cycle various organic materials, chemical elements, and important nutrients in the coastal ecosystem.
- They provide one of the basic food chain resources for marine organisms.
- They provide physical habitat and nursery grounds for a wide variety of marine organisms, many of which have important recreational or commercial value.
- Mangroves also serve as storm buffers by reducing wind and wave action in shallow shoreline areas.
Indian Mangrove Cover:
- India’s contribution is 45.8% total mangrove cover in South Asia.
- According to the Indian State Forest Report 2021, Mangrove cover in India is 4992 sq. Km which is 0.15% of the country’s total geographical area.
- Largest Mangrove Forest: Sundarbans in West Bengal are the largest mangrove forest regions in the world. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- It is followed by Gujarat and Andaman, and Nicobar Islands.