Climate change threatens Indian mangroves
India’s 7500 km coastal line supports nearly 4, 87,100 hectares of mangroves. These unique ecosystems harbour nearly 3985 species of flora and fauna. Due to the increasing effects of climate change, mangrove forests in the country are under serious threat.
What are mangroves?
Mangroves are large and extensive collections of medium height trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment areas in the tropics and subtropics. Mangroves grow at the intersection of oceans, freshwater, and land. They are the most productive and complex ecosystems on the planet, growing under environmental conditions that would kill ordinary plants very quickly [1]. Mangrove forests support a wealth of life, from starfish to people, and are very important to the health of the planet [2].
Mangroves:
- act as buffer zones between the land and sea
- protect the land from erosion
- provide a natural shield against cyclones, disasters and protect the shorelines
- provide breeding and nursery grounds for a variety of marine animals
- harbour a variety of lifeforms like invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals like tigers
- provide a good source of timber, fuel and fodder
- are a main source of income generation for shoreline communities like fisherfolk
- save the marine diversity, which is fast diminishing.
- purify the water by absorbing impurities and harmful heavy metals and help to clean the air by absorbing pollutants
- provide a potential source for recreation and tourism [3]
The state of mangroves in India
The paper titled 'Impacts of Climate Change on Indian Mangroves: A Review Paper' published in the Global Journal of Environmental Research informs that Indian mangroves support a unique group of life. This includes fungi, microbes, plants and animal species including crustaceans, molluscs, fishes, water birds and a number of endangered mammals like fruit bats, dolphin and the Royal Bengal tiger.
The effects of climate change on mangroves
During the late 80s, India lost considerable areas of its mangrove cover to several anthropogenic pressures. The ongoing phenomenon of climate change has been predicted to pose a great threat to what’s left of the Indian mangroves and other coastal ecosystems. However, till date, there are no studies on the impacts of climate change on mangroves.
The paper informs that as far as India is concerned, there are several lacunae in analysing or estimating the impacts climate change on mangrove forests. Pollution is on the rise and highly populated coastal metro cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta face increased pollution load resulting in the decrease in mangrove cover. Mangroves in Maharashtra are almost extinct now due to continuous human exploitation.
The ecological and the socioeconomic advantages offered by mangroves are innumerable, immeasurable and incomparable. The article ends by arguing that conserving mangroves should be on top of the conservation agenda of our country in the coming years.
References
1.Wetlands International (2014) Mangrove forests. Accessed on 23rd January 2015.
2. National Geographic (2015) Mangroves. Accessed on 23rd January 2015.
3. Soonabai Pirojsha Godrej Marine Ecology Centre (2015) Why should we protect mangroves? Accessed on 23rd January 2015.