Mangrove Conservation
Importance of Mangrove Cover
Mangrove Forests are distributed over nine maritime states and three Union Territories of the country. Among the maritime states, Gujarat has the longest coastline. Further, two out of the three major gulfs of the country are located in Gujarat. Therefore,
the coastline of the State provides a suitable habitat for mangroves, coral reefs, sea grass etc. Further, a number of marine animals such as whale shark, dugong and sea turtles are residents or frequent visitors of the Gujarat coast. Large proportion of human
population of the State is dependent on these coastal ecosystems for their livelihood. Further, they are very important source of various non-timber forest products for coastal communities such as fodder, fire wood, honey, gum etc. Therefore, conservation
and protection of these ecosystems is very important for the sustainable growth and development of the State. In order to conserve and protect these marine ecosystems and their inhabitants, the State Government has taken necessary policy decisions from time
to time.
Mangroves are found in intertidal areas of tropical and sub tropical regions of the world. They protect the shoreline against erosion caused by wind and water currents and also mitigate the impact of natural calamities such as cyclones and tsunamis. They
are one of the most important carbon sinks in coastal and intertidal regions and are the major producers of intertidal areas. Since mangroves protect the coastline, they are a preferred shelter of fishermen during strong wind and water currents. It is very
important to have a developed and healthy mangrove cover for the socio- economic security of coastal areas.
Mangrove Cover in Gujarat
Gujarat hosts the second largest mangrove cover (1103 sq km) of the country (4628 sq km). Mangrove conservation and development has been given very high importance in the State. This has resulted in Gujarat being the only state which has registered an increase
of 45 sq km of mangrove cover. (FSI, 2013). In the case of remaining maritime states and Union Territories, their mangrove cover has either decreased or has no change in the same period (FSI, 2013). Hence, the mangrove conservation and protection works of
Gujarat has been acclaimed nationally and internationally. It has been possible due to appropriate policies of State Government and their effective implementation. Government of Gujarat has taken a holistic approach to integrate different sectors for effective
conservation of mangrove ecosystem.
The mangrove cover of the state is distributed over four regions, Kachchh, Gulf of Kachchh & Saurashtra and South Gujarat (including Gulf of Khambhat- Dumas Ubharat areas). However, the mangrove cover is distributed unevenly over these four regions and Kachchh
has the highest mangrove cover (71.5%) of the State. Further, Gulf of Kachchh, Saurashtra and South Gujarat (including areas of Gulf of Khambhat and Dumas -Ubharat) have 15.6%, 0.3% and 12.6% of the total mangrove cover of the State respectively. The distribution
of mangroves in the State is at Table-8.
The mangrove forests of the State are represented by 15 mangrove species viz. Avicennia marina, Avicennia officinalis, Avicennia alba, Acanthus ilicifolius, Aegiceras corniculatum, Bruguiera cylindrica, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Ceriops tagal, Ceriops decandra,
Excoecaria agallocha, Kandelia candel, Lumnitzera racemosa, Rhizophora mucronata, Rhizophora apiculata, Sonneratia apetala. Among these 15 species, A. marina is the most dominant species. In fact, it represents about 97% of the total mangrove cover of the
State. R. mucronata, C. tagal, A corniculatum A. ilicifolius and S. apetala have localized abundance. Further, among these 15 mangrove species, two species namely, R. apiculata and C. decandra were not reported during the recent floristic survey. However,
their occurrence in the State is not being ruled out. Furthermore, three species namely, B. gymnorrhiza, L. racemosa and K. candel are represented by only a single population in South Gujarat. Even though Kachchh has the highest mangrove cover, the highest
floristic diversity of mangroves has been reported from South Gujarat region owing to better fresh water inflow. In fact, many mangrove species are found only in South Gujarat region. Floristic diversity of mangrove species of the four mangrove regions of
the State is at below.
Avicennia marina
Avicennia marina
Kachchh : 88
Gulf of Kachchh : 9
Saurashtra : 2
South Gujarat : 1
Total : 100
Avicennia alba
Avicennia alba
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
Aegiceras corniculatum
Aegiceras corniculatum
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 99
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 1
Total : 100
Bruguiera cylindrica
Bruguiera cylindrica
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
Bruguiera gymnorrhiza
Bruguiera gymnorrhiza
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
Ceriops tagal
Ceriops tagal
Kachchh : 4
Gulf of Kachchh : 96
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 0
Total : 100
Excoecaria agallocha
Excoecaria agallocha
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
Avicennia officinalis
Avicennia officinalis
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
Acanthus ilicifolius
Acanthus ilicifolius
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
Kandelia candel
Kandelia candel
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
Lumnitzera racemosa
Lumnitzera racemosa
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
Rhizophora mucronata
Rhizophora mucronata
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 100
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 0
Total : 100
Sonneratia apetala
Sonneratia apetala
Kachchh : 0
Gulf of Kachchh : 0
Saurashtra : 0
South Gujarat : 100
Total : 100
In addition to mangrove species, more than 100 species of mangrove associates have been reported from the State. The major mangrove associates are Salicornia brachiata, Suaeda maritime, Suaeda fruticosa, Salvadora persica, Thespesia populnea, Sesuvium portulacastrum.
District wise Mangrove Cover
The mangrove cover of the State is distributed over 14 districts as per
Table-10. However, this distribution is highly skewed towards a single district i.e. Kachchh. This district has about 71% of the total mangrove cover of the State Figure-6. Other important districts are Jamnagar, Bharuch and Ahmedabad.
Change in Mangrove Cover over Last Decade
The mangrove cover of the State has shown consistent increment during the last decade. In fact, as per the Forest Survey of India (2011), 50% of the total increase in the mangrove cover of the country is contributed by Gujarat alone. Further, as per the
latest report of Forest Survey of India (FSI, 2013), Gujarat is the only state which has shown increase in mangrove cover during 2011-12 as perTable-11.
Mangrove Conservation Methods
The mangrove conservation in Gujarat is based on the pillars of large scale plantations, protection measures, capacity building of managers and staff, development of new mangrove habitats at suitable areas, nature education, awareness programmes, sensitization
of different sectors of community, involvement of community and industries, research based management and ecotourism and effective concurrent monitoring of mangrove plantations,. The mangrove cover of the State is conserved through a comprehensive approach
which includes the following aspects:
Photos of Mangrove Forest