CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday announced an ambitious programme to restore and expand mangrove forests across 2,500 hectares under the World Bank-assisted TN-SHORE project.
Presenting the 2026-27 budget, the government said mangrove afforestation and restoration of degraded mangrove forests will be taken up in Cuddalore, Villupuram, Chengalpattu, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Kanniyakumari through the Green Tamil Nadu Mission.
The announcement builds on the ongoing TN-SHORE programme, which has already established a community-driven restoration model across the coast. During 2025-26, 34 village mangrove councils (VMCs) involving 1,735 members were constituted across 10 coastal divisions.
The programme has facilitated 258.63 hectares of new mangrove plantations and 413.74 hectares of degraded mangrove restoration, totalling 672.37 hectares.
Among districts, Cuddalore recorded the highest new plantation area at 110 hectares, followed by Nagapattinam (58.04 ha), Mayiladuthurai and Ramanathapuram (29.02 ha each). In restoration, Cuddalore led with 165.5 hectares, followed by Ramanathapuram (87.06 ha), Mayiladuthurai (72.55 ha) and Thiruvarur (33.825 ha).
I Anwardeen, PCCF and chief mission director of Green Tamil Nadu Mission, told TNIE, “Based on the scientific assessment done by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), which has identified hundreds of hectares across Tamil Nadu as potential areas for future mangrove plantation after ground verification, we will be executing the project.”
Apart from mangrove restoration, the budget allocated Rs 20 crore towards a comprehensive human-wildlife conflict mitigation programme covering 100 conflict-prone villages across 11 districts.
The state government has allocated Rs 1,762 crore for the environment, climate change and forests department, while Rs 322 crore has been earmarked for implementing the TN-SHORE project.