Odisha adds highest number of mangrove forests in country: CM
Odisha has made significant additions to its mangrove forest cover between 2019 and 2021. The increase is in fact the highest in the country, chief minister Naveen Patnaik claimed on Thursday.
Inaugurating a conference of divisional forest officers (DFOs) of Odisha, Patnaik said the feat was possible due to constant support of common people, the Vana Suraksha Samiti (VSS) members and tireless effort of forest staff in the field.
As per the latest India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2021 released in January this year, the mangrove forest area in Odisha has increased by 8 square kilometers in a three-year period spanning from 2019-2021. The state’s growth rate is the highest in the country.
Odisha was followed by Maharashtra (4 sq km) and Karnataka (3 sq km).
The total mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq km and there has been an increase of 17 sq Km in mangrove cover as compared to the previous assessment of 2019.
Of the 258.98 square kilometers of total cover in Odisha, the state has 80.43 square kilometers of ‘very dense’ mangrove cover, all in the Kendrapara district.
The south 24 Pargana district in West Bengal alone accounts for 41.74 per cent of mangrove cover in the country. Mangroves are salt-resistant plant communities; these species exhibit a variety of adaptations in morphology, anatomy, and physiology to survive in water-logged soils, high salinity, and frequent cyclonic storms and tidal surges. Mangroves are important refuges of coastal biodiversity and act as bio-shields against extreme climate events like cyclones and other forms of sea disturbances.
According to experts, the reason for the increase in mangrove cover in Odisha is mainly due to the natural regeneration, plantation activities in natural areas like the riverbanks, estuaries, intertidal mudflats, which are inundated by seawater on a daily cycle. The increase in mangrove cover has been observed in the districts of Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, and Balasore.
The CM called upon the officials to work towards continuing the hard work that has resulted in the achievement in spite of the difficult situation due to the pandemic.