Saving mangroves, saving futures

The India Mangrove Conclave (IMC 2024) held on December 16–17 marked a pivotal moment in mangrove conservation by uniting over 300 stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, forest managers, community leaders, and practitioners. This first-of-its-kind initiative, organized by CIFOR-ICRAF and NCCR, fostered multidisciplinary discussions through plenary talks, panels, breakout sessions, and technical presentations.

Key Challenges

Participants highlighted significant challenges in mangrove restoration. These include insufficient recognition of mangroves' ecosystem services by policymakers, limited funding, and weak collaboration among Indian scientists. Restoration efforts face hurdles such as low propagule availability, poor sapling survival rates, and inadequate post-transplantation care. Anthropogenic stressors like grazing, alongside climatic challenges such as cyclones, further hinder seedling establishment. Other critical gaps include the absence of long-term monitoring systems, insufficient research on microbial roles in mangroves, and challenges in GIS analysis due to missing spectral data. The lack of public awareness and standardized restoration methodologies exacerbates these issues, as does the prevalence of monoculture afforestation over biodiversity-focused approaches.

Insights and Solutions

Several innovative solutions emerged during the conclave. The MSSRF’s community-inclusive plantation model was hailed as a replicable approach to restoration, with an emphasis on involving local communities to foster ownership. The use of remote sensing to measure mangrove recovery underscored the importance of technological advancements in conservation. Examples from Gujarat demonstrated how collaboration between government bodies, coastal communities, NGOs, and industries can yield remarkable improvements in mangrove cover. Additionally, innovative practices like raised-bed planting in Kachchh and micro-level monitoring in Maharashtra were recognized as practical interventions.

Way Forward

Participants emphasized the need for site- and species-specific restoration guidelines backed by robust long-term monitoring frameworks. National-level programs to promote knowledge exchange and collaborative research were deemed crucial. Speakers stressed the importance of educational initiatives, including school outreach and field trips, to nurture future champions of mangrove conservation. Advocacy for integrating mangrove areas under the Indian Forest Act and increasing funding for restoration projects also gained traction.