State of the World’s Mangroves, 2024 Report

 About

• Distribution: 

• • • Southeast Asia money owed for 33.6 percent of global mangrove cover with Indonesia on my own having 21 percent of the world’s mangroves.

• Area under hazard:

• • • Mangrove regions of Indonesia, northeast Brazil and northwest Mexico are experiencing significant losses. 
    • Mangroves in Lakshadweep archipelago and on the coast of Tamil Nadu are significantly endangered. 

• Reasons for Loss:   

• • Conversion to aquaculture, oil palm plantations and rice cultivation collectively debts for 43 percent of mangrove losses between 2000 and 2020. 
  • Shrimp farms which can be by and large built in the essential intertidal zones, resulting within the total removal of mangroves.

Mangroves

• • A mangrove is a small tree or shrub that grows alongside coastlines, taking root in salty sediments, often underwater. 
  • Mangroves are flowering timber, belonging to the households Rhizophoraceae, Acanthaceae, Lythraceae, Combretaceae, and Arecaceae.

• Features:

• • Saline Environment: A speciality of mangroves is that they can live on under high antagonistic environments inclusive of high salt and low oxygen conditions.
    • The roots filter 90% of the salt they arrive into contact with in the saline and brackish water.
  • Low oxygen: Underground tissue of any plant needs oxygen for breathing. The mangrove root system absorbs oxygen from the environment.
  • Store Freshwater: Mangroves, like wasteland vegetation, store sparkling water in thick succulent leaves.
  • Mangroves are viviparous: Their seeds germinate at the same time as nevertheless attached to the parent tree. Once germinated, the seedling grows into a propagule. 
    • The Sundarbans in West Bengal are the most important mangrove location within the global and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
    • The 2nd largest mangrove forest in India is Bhitarkanika (Ramsar web site) in Odisha created by using the two river deltas of Rivers Brahmani and Baitarani.

Importance of Mangroves

• Act as natural limitations towards typhoon surge, coastal flooding and sea-stage upward push.
• They provide habitat for a numerous array of terrestrial organisms. 
• Mangroves are powerhouses in terms of carbon storage. 
• Sources of Livelihood.

Steps Taken

• Indian Initiatives: 

• • • Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) Programme: Aims to defend and revive mangrove ecosystems on the Indian coast while improving the socio-economic reputation of coastal communities.
    • Conservation and Management of Mangroves and Coral Reefs: The promotional measures are being applied through a Central Sector Scheme specifically ‘Conservation and Management of Mangroves and Coral Reefs’ under National Coastal Mission Programme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change.

• Global Initiatives:

• • Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA): It is a joint effort of more than 30 organizations, including IUCN, working to extend the worldwide quantity of mangrove habitat 20% by the year 2030.
  • Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC): It is an initiative led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia, which includes India as its member, seeks to teach and spread awareness worldwide on the position of mangroves in curtailing global warming and its potential as a solution for climate change.

Source: The Hindu