Sustainable mangrove restoration in southern India

DW (English)

Fishermen in India's southernmost state of Tamil Nadu are helping plant mangroves to protect their coastlines. Mangrove seedlings are grown in biodegradable containers made from palmyra leaves.

Transcript

00:00 Here on the shores of Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu, local fishermen are planting mangrove saplings,

00:07 cultivated to protect their coast.

00:10 What makes this restoration project special is that the bags used to grow the seedlings

00:15 are made of natural palmyra leaves, an eco-friendly alternative to plastic.

00:21 "If we plant a hundred thousand trees, then we also throw away a hundred thousand plastic

00:28 bags, so we need to ask ourselves, is this conservation or are we just adding to plastic

00:32 pollution?"

00:34 This is Dr. Balaji Vaidharajan.

00:36 He is a marine biologist and the founder of Organisation for Marine Conservation, Awareness

00:40 and Research.

00:41 It's popularly known as the Omkar Foundation.

00:44 His team works on protecting the ecosystem of the Porc Bay, located between India's

00:49 south-east coast and Sri Lanka.

00:51 Since 2014, they have been restoring the region's mangrove forests.

00:56 "Natural mangroves are vanishing from places that are seeing rapid urbanisation and industrial

01:02 development along the coast.

01:05 On the other hand, they are also vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal disasters.

01:10 The latter is due to climate change."

01:17 The first step in restoration efforts is to determine the site and method of plantation

01:22 before the rains start at the end of summer.

01:24 The Omkar team collaborates with the state forest department and local fishermen to ensure

01:30 that everyone in the community understands the plant changes to the existing landscape.

01:36 "We held numerous meetings to lay out our plans and raise awareness about the impacts

01:42 of the climate change and how it's affecting our lives today.

01:45 For example, the intensity and frequency of cyclone is increasing.

01:48 When we explained all this, they understood the urgency of the situation."

01:53 In the second step of the project, Satya, the field coordinator at Omkar, goes door-to-door

01:59 to personally meet with local residents, who will be a key part of the reforestation.

02:04 They are the ones who make the biodegradable bags from palmyra leaves.

02:07 These are used to grow mangrove seedlings in the nurseries.

02:12 "This is the dried leaf.

02:20 We first cut them to this size, then we fold them into smaller bundles like this.

02:24 This process takes a whole day before we can even begin weaving the baskets."

02:29 Currently, 12 local families produce the bags.

02:37 They earn 15 rupees per piece.

02:40 For most, it's a welcome side job.

02:42 But some elderly residents, like Swabhagyam, depend on the income to sustain themselves.

02:48 To help such families, Omkar wants to ensure that the region's palmyra economy continues

02:54 to grow.

02:55 This year, they have purchased more than 3,000 leaf bags for the mangrove nursery.

03:02 "Coastal communities are most affected by climate change.

03:07 They are the victims of someone else's crime.

03:09 So, they deserve to be compensated.

03:11 You don't need to give them money as compensation.

03:13 Instead, you can include them in the efforts we take to balance the injustice and the harm

03:18 we have caused the earth.

03:19 The 15 rupees they earn with each bag works as an incentive for them to take part."

03:27 The bags have to be ready in time for the monsoon.

03:32 They are packed with clay soil dug out from the delta region.

03:40 And then brought to nurseries located at sites that regularly get inundated during high tides.

03:46 This is where the seeds are planted and left to grow through the monsoon rains.

03:54 "So, when we looked into the root system of the mangroves which was planted in the

03:59 palmyra bags, the root had spread evenly across the entire palmyra bag, whereas in plastic

04:06 bags, the roots had coiled at the bottom of the plastic bags.

04:12 What we found out was it was due to limited aeration and water seepage.

04:16 But whereas in palmyra bags, as the water seepage was excellent, the roots held the

04:21 soil very much firmly."

04:24 By the end of monsoon season, the seeds have turned into saplings and are ready to be transplanted.

04:31 They are loaded onto a boat and ferried to a 20-hectare parcel off the coast in nearby

04:37 Adhirampatinam.

04:42 Local fishermen working with OMCAR have prepared the ground ahead of their arrival.

04:49 Over the years, the land turned saline and barren.

04:55 The fishermen have diverted water to the site by digging channels in a fish-borne pattern.

05:02 "Palmyra bags, it negates the destruction of the root structure because we do not remove

05:11 these bags over a period of few weeks.

05:14 It gets totally degraded and mixes with the soil, which also avoids the plastic pollution."

05:22 To date, the project has cost around 23,000 euros.

05:27 Some 15,000 saplings are planted each year.

05:32 "There is a lot of focus on industrial development, but at the same time we need to understand

05:40 the importance of natural resources that protect us from disasters and support life.

05:45 We need to pool our efforts to protect habitats like mangroves to save our coastal regions."

05:52 This region at least has benefited from the use of palmyra bags in mangrove restoration,

05:59 a grassroots initiative that's boosted both the local ecology and the economy.

06:05 (upbeat music)

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