MISHTI for Mangroves

The Union Budget for 2023-24 announced an initiative for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on saltpan lands, under MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes).

What is MISHTI Scheme?

A new programme called the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) project would make it easier to establish mangroves on saltpan areas and along India’s coastline.
The MGNREGS, Campa Fund, and other funding sources will “converge” to run the programme.
This new initiative aims to heavily afforest coastal mangrove forests. Organisations that have been involved in mangrove plantations say that the initiative requires extensive work with local communities.

The survival rate of mangrove seed plantation is 50% and of saplings is about 60% and it takes three years for a new plant to stabilise.  Discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents into the rivers impedes the natural inter-tidal flow along the coast and the mixing of freshwater and saline water which help in the gradual formation of the mangrove forest.

What are Mangroves?

Mangroves are the distinctive littoral plant structure seen along protected beaches in tropical and subtropical regions.
Mangroves are trees and bushes that grow below the high tide line in the spring and have a remarkable tolerance for saline water.

Importance of Mangroves

Protection of coastlines: Mangrove plantings have proved to make coastal lands resilient, avoiding floods, and land erosion, and acting as a buffer for storms, as climate change increases the incidence of extreme weather events around the world.
Reducing coastal erosion: Their deep roots link and construct soils, and the above-ground roots cause sediment deposits by slowing down water movement.

Act as excellent carbon sinks: Mangrove trees can grow in saltwater and are good carbon sinks, storing up to four times as much carbon as tropical rainforests.
Only 0.1 per cent of the planet’s surface is covered by mangroves. Nevertheless, they may be able to store up to ten times as much carbon per hectare (ha) as terrestrial forests.

Livelihood for locals: They also support a rich food web, with molluscs and algae-filled substrate acting as a breeding ground for small fish, mud crabs and shrimps, thus providing a livelihood to local artisanal fishers.

Current status of Mangroves

India holds around 3 per cent of South Asia’s mangrove population.

The Indian State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2021 estimates that India’s mangrove area is 4,992 sq km (0.49 million hectares).
Mangrove cover increased from 4,046 sq km in 1987 to 4,992 sq km in 2021, according to the IFSR research.
Kerala has lost 95% of its mangroves in the last three decades, whereas India lost 40% of its mangrove cover over the past century.
India has nine States and three UTs with mangroves, with West Bengal having the greatest mangrove cover at 2,114 sq km. Besides the Sundarbans in West Bengal, the Andaman region, the Kachchh and Jamnagar areas in Gujarat have substantial mangrove cover.

Threats to Mangroves

Mangrove forests are formed when there is intertidal flow and where adequate sediments are available for the trees to set down roots. As per the 2022 report of the  Global Mangrove Alliance, between 2010 and 2020, around 600 sq km of mangroves were lost of which more than 62 per cent was due to direct human impacts.

• One of the major risks to the mangrove environment, according to experts, is aquaculture or fisheries near the shore that block tidal movement.
• There have been multiple reported cases of mangroves being cut down for fishing in the Sundarbans, the nation’s largest mangrove forest.
• Land reclamation for industrial, agricultural, and aquacultural uses has taken place along the nation’s coastline in places that fall within the Coastal Regulation Zone.
• Plantation and the survival of mangrove forests depend on land restoration and permitting intertidal flow.

Way ahead- With the threat of climate change and frequent tropical storms looming large, planting more mangroves is a welcome development for India which has a coastline of about 7,500 km.