Forest wing scans mangroves in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Forest Department, as part of a massive restoration and conservation programme, has decided to conduct the first ever comprehensive study on the extent, biodiversity and status of mangroves in the state. As of now, the department has only a vague notion of the spread of mangroves in the state. “Our current understanding of mangroves depends mainly on an article that appeared in the scientific journal Indian Forester way back in 1992,” said a top official in the Biodiversity Cell of the department. The quarter-century old article states that the total extent of mangroves in the area was 16.71 sq km.

It is felt that a large portion of even this petty mangrove extent has vanished. The Kerala Wetland Cell had also conducted a study during 2001-02, but mangroves formed only a part of the project. There is hardly any study, which gives the basic knowledge about community structure, resource utilisation, and economic conditions of people living in or depending on mangroves. “This acts as a constraint for implementation of an effective plan for conservation of this ecosystem,” said a top scientist of Kerala Forest Research Institute. The proposed mangrove study will ascertain not just the location and extent of mangroves. It will also assess the status of mangroves, its biodiversity richness, and its present land use pattern to know the regions under pressure from tourism or livelihood activities like fishing.

The survey will also identify mangroves in private possession. “The objective is to know how many of the private owners are willing to hand over their mangroves to the forest department for better conservation and management,” the Biodiversity Cell official said. The department also plans to declare certain rich swathes of mangroves as biodiversity heritage sites (as mandated under Biological Diversity Act, 2002), community reserves and conservation reserves.