Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystem

Environment and Ecology Natural ecosystems and protection

Context: Recently, UNESCO celebrates International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem on July 26 annually.

Aim: To raise awareness about mangrove ecosystems and to promote their sustainable management and conservation.

Mangrove ecosystem in India
India is home to several swathes of mangrove cover, including:

Sundarbans is home to the world’s largest mangrove cover — a prolific ecosystem between the land and the sea/ocean.

They are breeding grounds for several estuarine and marine organisms and provide protection, and food security to coastal communities.
Mangroves act as a natural barrier against tsunamis, storm surges, a rising sea, and erosion.

Key Concerns

Mangroves have become highly susceptible to industrial areas along coasts and pollution caused by domestic and industrial sewage.
They are disappearing at a rate that is three to five times faster than overall losses of global forest cover.
The major reasons are deforestation & encroachment for infrastructure development, urbanisation and agricultural land conversion.
Mangrove coverage has shrunk by half in the last 40 years.
Less than 1% of tropical forests are mangroves.
According to central government data, India’s total mangrove cover was estimated at 6,740 sq km in 1987.
It had shrunk to 4,662.56 sq km, according to 2011 data from the Forest Survey of India.
Presently, there has been a little increase in mangrove cover to 4,975 sq km at the end of 2019.

Threats

The cyclone Amphan hit Bengal’s Sundarbans region in May 2020, it left a trail of destruction.
The devastation could have been limited by containing rampant deforestation, human activity, including tourism and finishing, and changes in land use reduced the health and the extent of the Sundarbans mangrove cover.
Due to climate change, storms such as Amphan will become more frequent and deadly.