Participatory Conservation and Management of the Godavari Mangrove Wetlands, Andhra Pradesh, India
Transforming Coastal Zone for Sustainable Food and Income Security(2022)
Abstract
Godavari mangrove wetland in Andhra Pradesh is one of the important coastal wetlands providing livelihood security to the coastal community and ecological security to the coastal areas. Mangroves are potential carbon sinks contributing reduction in the impacts of climate change. Despite these benefits, mangroves are being degraded due to both manmade and natural causes. Participatory mangrove conservation and management approach gained greater significance in recent years in South Asian countries. M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) is implementing mangrove conservation and management programs from 1996 involving multiple stakeholders, namely the state forest department, revenue department, local self-government and the community. Gender-balanced village-level institutions (VLIs) were formed to plan, implement and monitor the mangrove conservation activities. Participatory rural appraisal was conducted to identify the status of mangrove resources, their utilization pattern and the issues related to its conservation and management. Causes for mangrove degradation were assessed jointly with the stakeholders. Majority of the degraded areas in the wetland were elevated, and tidal flushing was rare for most part of the year leading to hypersaline conditions of the soil. The degraded mangrove areas were restored through digging shallow canals to facilitate tidal water flow into the degraded area. Tidal flow in the canals reduces the soil salinity which enables the mangroves to grow. Nursery-raised mangrove saplings were planted along the canals. Local community played an active role in the mangrove restoration works which provided employment opportunity as well as a sense of ownership of the restored area. Apart from mangrove restoration, socioeconomic activities were carried out to improve the livelihoods of the community, and alternatives were provided for the mangrove-dependent community. The assessment of changes in the land use and land cover between 2000 and 2020 showed an increase in the mangrove area from 13,105 to 15,953 ha indicating the impact of mangrove conservation efforts. MSSRF restored an area of about 175 ha of degraded mangroves between 1996 and 2008, while the state forest department has restored nearly 2500 ha between 1990 and 2020 jointly with the stakeholders. This paper deals the approaches, strategies and impacts of participatory mangrove management in the Godavari wetland.
MoreTranslated text
Key words
Participatory, Mangrove, Management, Godavari wetland, Degradation, Restoration, Sylviculture, Community, Remote sensing, Land use and land cover
AI Read Science
Must-Reading Tree
Example
![](https://originalfileserver.aminer.cn/sys/aminer/pubs/mrt_preview.jpeg)
Generate MRT to find the research sequence of this paper
Chat Paper
Summary is being generated by the instructions you defined