World Oceans Day 8th June, 2019 provides an opportunity to honour, protect, and conserve the oceans. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal # 14 commits countries to unite over what is a truly global responsibility – the protection of our oceans and the lives that depend on it.

1. World Oceans Day: Special Focus
Mangroves – The life line for coastal defence,
livelihood and Biodiversity
UN Theme for World Ocean Day 2019
Gender and Oceans
Eco Endeavourers Network
Striving for the planet in peril

2. World Oceans Day 8th June, 2019 provides an opportunity to honour, protect, and conserve the
oceans. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal # 14 commits countries to unite over
what is a truly global responsibility – the protection of our oceans and the lives that depend
on it. By 2030, countries commit to achieving the sustainable management of marine
ecosystems, significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds. This will require international
scientific partnership, regulation of harvesting and fishing, and enhance our research and
knowledge on issues critical to the survival of life below water.
MANGROVES – THE LIFE LINE FOR COASTAL DEFENCE, LIVELIHOOD AND BIODIVERSITY
Mangroves: Mangrove forests evolve where two of the most contrasting environments on
earth meet – the interface between the land and sea. Wedged in the intertidal zone,
separated by river deltas, sea or stuck in the sand pits of coastal lagoons, mangroves are
highly dynamic ecosystems faced with exceptional challenges – changing tides, highly saline
conditions with varying levels of freshwater supply, low oxygen availability in waterlogged
soils, high rainfall and extreme drought and sometimes powerful waves, strong winds and
fierce storms, yet are the life line for coastal defence, provide livelihood opportunities to the
coastal dwellers and act as biodiversity hotpsots.
Importance of Mangroves:
 Coastal Defence
 Shoreline Stabilization
 Livelihood opportunity
 Biodiversity Hotspots
 Water Quality
 Carbon Storage and sequestration
 Eco-tourism
As per the Mangrove Society of India (MSI) the floral diversity of mangroves in India is
quite unique. The Indian mangroves are represented by approximately 59 species (inclusive
of some mangrove associates) from 29 families. Of the 59 species, 34 species belonging to
21 families are present along the west coast. There are a few species of which are
indigenous to the west coast, e.g., Sonneratia caseolaris, Sueda fruticosa, Urochondra
setulosa etc. The mangrove species found in India include : Rhizophora mucronata, Ceriops
tagal, Bruguiera cylindrica, Sonneratia apetala, Avicennia marina, Aegiceras cornicalutum,
Acanthus ilicifolius. The unique mangroves located along India’s 7,516-km coastline are in
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
For coastal disaster management, managing flooding and balancing of extreme weather
events inlieu of climate change, mangroves acts as coastal defence and lifeline however they

3. are under threat from developmental projects and we are failing to understand their
environmental, social and economic value or rather apt to say as a extremely vulnerable yet
a resource of high shared value to varied stakeholders at large.
Biodversity Hotspots:
As regard to Mumbai, locations like Mahim creek, Versova (Andheri), Airoli, Thane, Navi
Mumbai, Bandra, Malabar Hill, Colaba and Far suburbs like Dahisar, Bhayander,Vasai
Creek, Gorai creek and Naigaon West are few of the main areas where mangroves are
found.The Mangrove Society of India (MSI) has regarded two of Mumbai region’s
mangroves — Airoli and Vikhroli wetlands — among 12 unique mangrove forests in the
country. Thane creek is the amongst the largest creek ie : 26 km in lengt and lines up with
mangroves on both sides. The freshwater source here is Ulhas river and has famous Thane
Creek Flamingo Sanctuary since 2015.
Mostly dominated species in Mumbai are: Avicennia marina, Bruguiera cylindrica and
Acanthus ilicifolius are present adjacent to mainland. Thane creek main channel are
dominated by Avicennia marina and Sonneratia apetala
Vikhroli mangroves, Mumbai
It is one of the largest private mangrove forests in the country. More than 16 mangrove
species, 82 butterfly species, 208 bird species, 13 crab species, 7 prawn species, 20 fish
species and mammals like jackals, wild boards, mongoose, otters and leopards can be
spotted at the mangrove ecosystem.
Mangrove and Marine Biodiversity Centre:
It is surrounded by flamingo sanctuary that is spread over 1,690 ha, which includes 896 ha
of mangroves and 794 ha of land adjacent to a water body, to safeguard more than 50,000
flamingos visiting every year.
Restoration:
Gender equity and livelihood opportunity is key to mangrove restoration along with
its conservation
Men and women in coastal communities are closely connected to their coastal ecosystems
and gender roles are often traditionally clearly divided. Women and men differ in how they
interact and depend upon mangroves – how they use the ecosystem, which mangrove
products they choose, and the benefits they receive. Mangrove forests are particularly rich
in directly harvestable seafood, timber, firewood and other plant products such as roofing
materials. They provide vital protection against floods and storms and buffer against sea
level rise. Especially in developing countries, coastal communities are directly dependent
on products and services gained from mangrove forest ecosystems.
As per IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the Guyana Mangrove
Restoration Project saw women take a central leadership role with their efforts to increase

4. the resilience of Guyana’s coasts against flooding and coastal erosion – a threat which
mostly affected women. Women were provided with resources for economic empowerment
and capacity building trainings, which allowed them to set up various businesses including
honey production, tourism activities and mangrove cultivation. The active participation of
women even led to the establishment of a women-led volunteer organization for mangrove
awareness and restoration as well as the ‘Mangrove Cooperative Society’ to support other
women with training and resources.
Mangroves for the Future (MFF), an initiative co-chaired by IUCN and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), is running mangrove restoration and sustainable
development projects with gender integration as a core strategy in several Asian countries.
In Kenya, women engaged in ‘Mikoko Pamoja’, a mangrove conservation and restoration
project co-ordinated by ACES (Association for Coastal Ecosystem Services) Africa,
maintains ‘The Gazi Women Boardwalk’ to promote conservation education within the
mangrove forest.
In Vietnam, gender integrated management in Xuan Thuy National Park allowed local
impoverished fisherwomen to build sustainable livelihoods while actively contributing to
the park’s conservation.
Since the importance of mangrove forests – for food, carbon storage and sequestration,
coastal protection, and even tourism and water purification – is widely acknowledged,
efforts are being taken to halt further losses and to take up restoration. IUCN and The
Nature Conservancy are building tools to support the action of save mangroves via
restoration framework.
By highlighting the long-term resource value of mangroves facilitating better conservation
implementation, capacity building training and outreach on mangroves to coastal
communities and safeguarding their indigenous knowledge and rights on mangroves, ease
of engagement with varied stakeholders is adding new impetus for future restoration and
planning trajectories.
We have Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) to safeguard mangroves
Remote Sensing and GIS approach to coastal disaster management - mangrove
mapping ** however challenges here include :
 Lower accessibility and harsh environment of mangrove areas result in difficulty in
collecting adequate field datasets for training.
 Additional training sets either computer generated or manually selected is required.
 Decision Tree (DT) based algorithm while classification may be provide flexible and
accurate results.

5. Can restoring mangroves help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals?
Restoring and protecting mangroves helps fulfill multiple Global Goals, from improving life
below water, to reducing poverty and hunger.
The importance of restoring and protecting mangroves is reflected most clearly in
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, which focuses on sustainably governing our
oceans and coasts and recognizes mangroves’ immense value to local communities. But
restoring mangrove forests also supports the achievement of many other SDGs, including
eliminating poverty and hunger (SDG 1 and SDG 2), ensuring livelihoods and economic
growth (SDG 8), taking actions against climate change impacts (SDG 13) and halting
biodiversity loss (SDG 15). As per the UN SDGs:
1. Mangrove forests are productive and species-rich hubs for marine life
India’s mangroves are home to 4,011 species, many of which are edible fish and shellfish –
providing sufficient and nutritious food directly to local communities. Poor and vulnerable
populations can especially benefit from these readily available sources.
2. Diverse opportunities from mangroves can offer sustainable income
The sustainable harvest of mangrove products for market sales can create valuable
business for local communities and small-scale food producers, in particular women,
indigenous peoples, family farmers and fishers. Moreover, local income opportunities can
be created through the creation of management and planning jobs involved in restoration
projects.
3. Mangrove forests are carbon-rich protective buffer zones between land and sea
Restoring mangrove forests directly targets goals related to climate adaptation and
mitigation. Mangrove belts of sufficient width act as storm barriers that strengthen the
resilience of coastal zones from climate-related hazards such as storm surges and sea-level
rise and control coastal erosion
By applying ‘blue-green-grey infrastructures’ for coastal protection. Action plan can be built
on the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities which shall help in reducing their
exposure to climate-related extreme events and environmental shocks and disasters.
Because mangrove forests are highly efficient carbon sinks, nations will be able to apply
mangrove restoration efforts towards integrated policies and plans to adapt to adverse
impacts of climate change.
4. Integrative approach to mangrove restoration
The process of mangrove restoration should create opportunities for local people along
with research and scientific endeavour so as to engage as stakeholders in planning and
implementation of restoration projects.