Himalaya Harbinger, Uttarakhand Bureau.
MUMBAI: A ‘mangrove coalition’ has been set up to conserve mangroves in Mumbai and Chennai with the help of community engagement. The initiative is being spearheaded by the Godrej Enterprises Group, which brought together six think tanks and research institutes for this mission on Thursday.
Institutes such as the World Resource Institute-India; World Wide Fund for Nature-India, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Natural Capital Project at Stanford, and Conservation International will undertake research on ways to rejuvenate depleting mangroves.
We are still in the preliminary stage; the actions are yet to be mapped. However, by using technologies such as satellite mapping, drones and geospatial AI, we can monitor mangrove health and quantify impact on the blue carbon ecosystem more effectively,” said Tejashree Joshi, head of environmental sustainability at the Godrej Enterprises Group.
The project aims to engage people to monitor mangrove health and nourish them, which will also develop a sense of responsibility towards protecting them. “Citizen science fosters a sense of responsibility,” said Sejal Worah, programme director, WWF-India. “We believe that when citizens are the stewards of mangroves, they are less likely to harm them.
