It is a forest that rises at the confluence of land and sea. A green belt that at one moment seems to be floating on water and at the very next holding on to the grayish black silt, with its hundred armed roots. From the Sunderbans in the east to the mangroves lining the western shores of the Indian peninsula, the mystical mangrove jungles have an important role to play in the protection and sustenance of our coastal environment. And yet global warming, shrinking coastlines and greater human plundering of natural lands has broken the backbone of this ancient estuarine forest, threatening the future of many life forms including humans.
The Sunderbans is the largest block of mangrove forest in the world. It is spread across 10,000 square kilometres with 40 per cent of the forests in India and the rest in Bangladesh. Apart from being home to almost 500 different species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and fishes, it is also where about 4 million people reside.
Recently, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conducted two separate studies in these primeval forests. ZSL found that due to climate change, the coastline of the Sunderbans is shrinking almost 200 m annually. The IUCN study shows that the Indian side of the mangrove belt is in a bad state because of excessive human pressure, which is also changing the biodiversity of this land.
Teeming with life
Mangrove forests are one of the most marvellous creations of nature. At places where the land meets the sea and rivers become part of giant oceans, many creatures of the living world live, thrive and propagate. As fresh water mixes with salt water, fishes and endangered olive ridley turtles find an ideal nursery to raise their young ones. From giant herons to tiny lapwings, birds of all shapes and sizes hop around amidst the tangled branches.
The Sunderbans is the only mangrove forest in the world where lives the Royal Bengal Tiger. In fact, according to tiger experts, the Sunderbans is one of the handful of remaining forests big enough to hold a large population of tigers. Surely, its existence therefore also ensures that tigers continue to exist.
Natural wall
For most coastal towns across India mangrove belts of any size offer a natural protection against natural calamities like cyclones, storms, huge waves and tsunamis. They are that impregnable wall that subdues the wrath of the sea gods and ensures that human settlements in the nearby towns and villages are safe.
Mangrove forests may be a small fraction of the variety of forests present in the world like tropical forests and rainforests, but they are crucial in capturing carbon. It is this vital
role that makes them an important part of the world especially when excessive carbon is causing the planet to get warmer and leading to climate change.
But whether it is for daily existence or for infrastructure development, the brutal axe of urbanisation has repeatedly fallen on mangrove belts. In Mumbai, land filling to construct new malls, offices and residential buildings is a common sight. In the Eastern Ghats the small tributaries of larger rivers criss-crossing
between mangroves are often blocked by locals to make their own lives more comfortable. Illegal cutting, excessive fisheries and poaching of wild animals such as tigers are also frequent.
What the global scientists warn is that mangroves forests are shrinking every day. And it is those who live closest to them, who are causing the maximum wounds. As these natural shields continue to vanish, the miseries of the dependent species, including humans, will only be aggravated. The mangroves need to be shielded from such a future.