India offers expertise as Mangrove Alliance for Climate is launched

COP27: Environment minister Bhupender Yadav expresses commitment to conservation and restoration of these natural ecosystems

GN Bureau | November 8, 2022


#Mangroves   #Environment   #Nature   #Climate Change   #COP27   #Bhupender Yadav  
A mangrove forest in Tamil Nadu (Photo: Shankaran Murugan/Creative Commons)
A mangrove forest in Tamil Nadu (Photo: Shankaran Murugan/Creative Commons)

As the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) was launched on the sidelines of the COP27 at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, India’s environment minister Bhupender Yadav expressed commitment to the conservation and restoration of these natural ecosystems, and offered the country’s expertise in this domain to the world.

“India can contribute to the global knowledge base due to its extensive experience in mangrove restoration, studies on ecosystem valuation and carbon sequestration and also benefit from associating with other nations regarding cutting-edge solutions and generating appropriate financial instruments for mangrove conservation and restoration, Yadav said, according to an official release issued Tuesday.

“Let us join hands together to protect one of the most precious assets of the tropical coasts, towards sustainability and adaptation to the consequences of Climate Change,” he added.

Mangroves are one of the most productive ecosystems of the world.  These tidal forests serve as nursery grounds for several organisms, protects the coastal erosion, sequestering the carbon and providing livelihood for millions of people besides harboring array of faunal elements in its habitat.  

Mangroves are distributed in the tropical and sub-tropical region of the world and are found in 123 countries. They are among the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics, accounting for 3% of carbon sequestered by the world’s tropical forests.

Mangroves are the economic foundations of many tropical coastal regions. To sustain the blue economy, it is imperative to ensure the sustainability of coastal habitats, particularly mangroves for tropical nations, at the local, regional, and international levels.

With notable adaptive features, mangroves are natural armed forces of tropical and subtropical nations. They are the best option to fight against climate change consequences like sea levels rise and increasing frequency of natural calamities like cyclones and storm surges.

“India has committed in its NDC – to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030,” the minister noted.

“We see the tremendous potential mangroves have for mitigation of growing GHG concentration in the atmosphere. Studies have shown that mangrove forests can absorb four to five times more carbon emissions than landed tropical forests.”

Yadav said that it has also been revealed that mangroves can act as buffer for Ocean acidification and act as sink for micro-plastics. Creating new carbon sink from mangrove afforestation and reducing emissions from mangrove deforestation are two feasible ways for countries to meet their NDC targets and achieve carbon neutrality.

One of the largest remaining areas of mangroves in the world, the Sundarbans supports an exceptional level of biodiversity in both the terrestrial and marine environments, including significant populations of a range of flora and plant species; species of wildlife wide range of fauna, including the Bengal Tiger and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python. There is significant increase observed in mangroves cover in India in its Andamans region; Sundarbans region; and in the Gujarat region, Yadav told the audience.

“India has demonstrated expertise in mangrove restoration activities for nearly five decades and restored different types of mangrove ecosystems both on its east and west coasts.”

For more:
On conservation of mangroves in India: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1797151

India State of Forest Report 2021: https://fsi.nic.in/isfr-2021/chapter-3.pdf

Comments

 

Other News

How Ayurveda and Yoga can help heal common ailments

Healing Revolution: Defeat 100 Ailments with Ayurveda, Yoga and Lifestyle By Ram K. Sharma Rupa Books, 272 pages, Rs 395

Green cities: A pathway to sustainability

As the world observes Earth Day on April 22, the imperative for sustainable urban development has never been more pressing. Urban areas contribute approximately 70% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (UN-Habitat Report, 2023). In India, the urban population is projected to reach 800 million by 2050 (

A unique way of looking at nature, at people, at life itself

Another Day in Landour: Looking Out from My Window By Ruskin Bond HarperCollins, 220 pages, Rs 399 Landour is a q

‘Better than the entire world’: Here’s the ‘India book’ for ages

The Undying Light: A Personal History of Independent India By Gopalkrishna Gandhi Aleph Books, 624 pages, Rs 999 Vet

Why the youth’s ‘affair’ with stock market is usually tragic

Nine out of 10 individual traders in the equity Futures and Options (F&O) segment have incurred net losses, according to a recent SEBI study. What’s even more striking is that a significant portion of these traders are young individuals – students, early professionals and first-time earners

Why recognizing unpaid work makes sense

Across the globe, unpaid domestic and caregiving work remains an unseen yet essential contributor to economic and social well-being. Women, in particular, dedicate significant hours to household tasks and caregiving, yet this labour remains excluded from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculations, leading t

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now



Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter