Mangrove plantation drives along coastlines
State has received Rs 200 cr under G-20 corpus
The state Forest department will carry out mangrove plantations along the coastlines of India, Bengal Forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick said on Wednesday.
He added that they have received Rs 200 crore under the G-20 corpus for initiating the project and will start conducting mangrove plantations along the coastlines. The main objective of the programme is to protect, sustain, conserve and augment forests in the country. The promotional measures are being implemented through a Central Sector Scheme under the National Coastal Mission Programme on ‘Conservation and Management of Mangroves and Coral Reefs’. Under this programme, the annual Management Action Plan (MAP) for the conservation and management of mangroves are formulated and implemented in all the coastal states and Union Territories. The state Forest department will carry out the project of mangrove transplantation as it has the expertise.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India has enjoined citizens in nine states, including Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha, Bengal and Karnataka on mangrove conservation through the Magical Mangroves campaign.
An Integrated Coastal Zone Management project was piloted in coastal stretches of three states, namely Gujarat, Odisha and Bengal, with the objective of conservation and protection of coastal resources which included the plantation of mangroves as one of the major activities.
The minister said apart from the mangrove plantation project, the Forest department has received a fund of Rs 650 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for carrying out various projects.
Flexible aluminium nets are being installed in the Sunderbans to check the loss of lives from human-animal conflict.
Meanwhile, the state Forest department has urged the Centre to implement eco-sensitive zones in all the national forests in Bengal and restrict polluting industries within a shorter length. In regard to Neora Valley, the state wants to reduce the area from 10 km to 0-2 km restricting the polluting industries. In Jaldapara, the restricting area may be within 0-5 km range and in case of Chaprami, it would be only 2 km and for Mahananda reserve, it would be 1 km while for Raiganj forest, it would be just 100 metres.
