To unlock the full potential of its mangroves, India needs to first plug gaps in research

Getting things right with mangroves, ecosystems that feature on the global climate agenda for their carbon storage capacity, could set the stage for effective climate action and biodiversity protection in coastal areas, said noted mangrove scientist K Kathiresan.

Kathiresan, who has worked extensively in Tamil Nadu’s Pichavaram mangroves, said restoring mangroves with a focus on biodiversity (diverse mangrove plant species and fauna) and in the right place, instead of growing mangrove monocultures, are crucial to mangrove health.

He said that the involvement of local communities in the planning, execution and monitoring of plantation projects and a deeper understanding of fauna and micro-organisms associated with these amphibious defenders is key to climate action centred on mangrove ecosystems.

Mongabay-India caught up with Kathiresan following his lecture at the Mangrove Research in Indian Subcontinent conference organised by the Center for International Forestry Research and Wildlife Institute of India. He spoke about the importance of people’s participation in mangrove conservation, illustrating it with the Pichavaram mangrove restoration as an example.

Joint mangrove management

The joint mangrove management approach banked on community participation and drew from the principles of joint forest management. The joint mangrove management approach and mangrove restoration pilot in Pichavaram were extended to other east coast mangroves in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and other sites in…

Read more