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The Union authorities has taken up astir 22,560 hectares of onshore to reconstruct and conserve mangroves nether the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) inaugural implicit the past 2 years.
Almost 85% of land, measuring 19,220 hectares, nether the strategy has been acquired successful Gujarat alone.
MISHTI was announced successful the Union Budget for 2023-24 and was launched connected June 5, 2023 to reconstruct and beforehand mangroves arsenic a unique, earthy ecosystem and for preserving and enhancing the sustainability of the coastal habitats.
The nonsubjective of MISHTI is to reconstruct mangrove forests by undertaking mangrove reforestation/afforestation measures on the seashore of India, states Government of India.
The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change successful effect to a question successful the Lok Sabha successful August 2025 pointed retired that an country of 22,560.34 hectares has been taken up done convergence crossed 13 States/UTs for plantation and restoration of degraded mangroves successful the twelvemonth 2023-24 and 2024-25 nether the scheme.
Following Gujarat, astir 1060 hectares of wood onshore successful Tamil Nadu, 837 hectares successful Andhra Pradesh and 761 hectares successful Odisha has been taken up for mangrove plantation.
Low acquisition successful Bengal
However, lone astir 10 hectares of onshore has been acquired nether the inaugural successful State of West Bengal, which has the largest mangrove screen successful the country.
The full mangrove screen successful the state stands astatine 4,991 sq. km retired of which West Bengal unsocial accounts for 2,119 sq. km, which is astir 42% of the mangrove screen successful the country. Gujarat holds the 2nd highest mangrove screen ranging astir 1, 164 sq. km (23%), according to the latest study of Forest Survey of India (FSI) 2023.
During the ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme connected Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the value of mangrove restoration. Mr. Modi said that 5 years ago, the Forest Department (of Gujarat) started planting mangroves adjacent Dholera successful Ahmedabad, and “today, mangroves person dispersed implicit 3 and a fractional 1000 hectares connected the Dholera coast”.
“The effect of these mangroves is disposable passim the country today. The fig of dolphins successful the ecosystem determination has risen. Crabs and different aquatic creatures person besides accrued successful number, compared to earlier. Not lone that; migratory birds are besides coming present successful ample numbers now,” the Prime Minister added.
Ajanta Dey, of Nature Environment and Wildlife Society, an organisation that has been moving for mangrove restoration successful antithetic states including West Bengal said that MISTHI was an result of multi-stakeholder participatory attack which was developed successful West Bengal successful 2020, wherever antithetic schemes nether MGNREGA were utilized for mangrove restoration.
Ms. Dey whose organisation’s exemplary Sustainable Aquaculture successful Mangrove Ecosystems (SAIME) successful the Sundarbans has precocious been recognised globally, said that the absorption successful West Bengal should beryllium mangrove restoration alternatively of prioritising lone caller plantations.
She highlighted that the value of mangroves successful fragile ecosystems similar the Sundarbans is that they enactment arsenic bio-shields and the request is to person a level involving antithetic departments of the State authorities to make an environment-assisted earthy regeneration of mangroves.
