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on the mouth of rivers that enhances the natural seed dispersal through yearly monsoonal river flows into Palk Bay. Capacity building in local village representatives
was the first phase, which includes site selection, species identification, adjusting
land elevations for natural hydrology in the de-graded areas. The sites were selected
and after obtaining per-mission from village management, the trained villagers has
been involved in fencing, seed collection, nursery management. Several environmental awareness programmes like street plays, field trips, field research training
programmes have been conducted to create awareness among youths in the coastal
areas.
These successful, pilot mangrove restoration sites of Man-green Project are now
emerging as the platform for local NGOs and University Research students who
learn and implement the similar activities in other coastal areas. The villagers team
are continuously are visiting other coastal areas to provide consultancy on mangrove restoration techniques. Indian coast harbors richly diverse and critical coastal
habitats like coral reefs and mangroves. Mangroves form one of the most important
ecosystems of coastal and marine areas. It safeguards the ecology of the coastal
areas and provides livelihood opportunities to the fishermen and pastoral families
living in these areas. In real sense, mangrove is the Kalpvriksh (divine tree which
fulfills all the desires) for the coastal communities. The restoration and plantation of
mangroves have received a lot of attentions worldwide.
To assess the impact of mangrove plantation activities and to monitor the mangrove regeneration and restoration in various villages, a joint study under the
Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP) was taken up by Gujarat
Ecology Commission (GEC) and Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications
and Geo-Informatics (BISAG) in the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat State. The major
objective of this study was to monitor the increase in mangrove cover in coastal
areas of Gulf of Kachchh using the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite data of 2005,
2011 and 2014. The mangrove regeneration was monitored using multi-temporal
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) LISS-III and LISS-IV digital data covering
Gulf of Kachchh region. The multi-temporal IRS LISS-III data covering Gulf of
Kachchh of October-2005, November-2011 and LISS-IV data of April-2014 was
analyzed. The mangrove density and mangrove area in different talukas was estimated based on the analysis of IRS LISS-III digital data. The mangroves have been
delineated based on the pink colour observed on satellite images and the area was
estimated in the Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The taluka or
block-level mangrove areas were estimated and changes in the areas were monitored during the period of 6 years from 2005 to 2011. It was observed that the areas
where mangrove regeneration activities were carried out with active participation of
Community Based Organizations (CBOs), mangrove density as well as mangrove
area have substantially increased in the Gulf of Kachchh region.
Under the large and medium size projects, mangrove restoration in approximately 200 km2 areas carried mainly with the support of Government of India. The
restoration strategy is adopted based on the tidal amplitude. Consequently, the entire
coastal area in the five States is divided in to (i) high tidal amplitude area; and (ii)
low tidal amplitude area. In the low tidal amplitude area, ‘canal bank planting’
R. Manivanan
on the mouth of rivers that enhances the natural seed dispersal through yearly monsoonal river flows into Palk Bay. Capacity building in local village representatives
was the first phase, which includes site selection, species identification, adjusting
land elevations for natural hydrology in the de-graded areas. The sites were selected
and after obtaining per-mission from village management, the trained villagers has
been involved in fencing, seed collection, nursery management. Several environmental awareness programmes like street plays, field trips, field research training
programmes have been conducted to create awareness among youths in the coastal
areas.
These successful, pilot mangrove restoration sites of Man-green Project are now
emerging as the platform for local NGOs and University Research students who
learn and implement the similar activities in other coastal areas. The villagers team
are continuously are visiting other coastal areas to provide consultancy on mangrove restoration techniques. Indian coast harbors richly diverse and critical coastal
habitats like coral reefs and mangroves. Mangroves form one of the most important
ecosystems of coastal and marine areas. It safeguards the ecology of the coastal
areas and provides livelihood opportunities to the fishermen and pastoral families
living in these areas. In real sense, mangrove is the Kalpvriksh (divine tree which
fulfills all the desires) for the coastal communities. The restoration and plantation of
mangroves have received a lot of attentions worldwide.
To assess the impact of mangrove plantation activities and to monitor the mangrove regeneration and restoration in various villages, a joint study under the
Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP) was taken up by Gujarat
Ecology Commission (GEC) and Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications
and Geo-Informatics (BISAG) in the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat State. The major
objective of this study was to monitor the increase in mangrove cover in coastal
areas of Gulf of Kachchh using the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite data of 2005,
2011 and 2014. The mangrove regeneration was monitored using multi-temporal
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) LISS-III and LISS-IV digital data covering
Gulf of Kachchh region. The multi-temporal IRS LISS-III data covering Gulf of
Kachchh of October-2005, November-2011 and LISS-IV data of April-2014 was
analyzed. The mangrove density and mangrove area in different talukas was estimated based on the analysis of IRS LISS-III digital data. The mangroves have been
delineated based on the pink colour observed on satellite images and the area was
estimated in the Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The taluka or
block-level mangrove areas were estimated and changes in the areas were monitored during the period of 6 years from 2005 to 2011. It was observed that the areas
where mangrove regeneration activities were carried out with active participation of
Community Based Organizations (CBOs), mangrove density as well as mangrove
area have substantially increased in the Gulf of Kachchh region.
Under the large and medium size projects, mangrove restoration in approximately 200 km2 areas carried mainly with the support of Government of India. The
restoration strategy is adopted based on the tidal amplitude. Consequently, the entire
coastal area in the five States is divided in to (i) high tidal amplitude area; and (ii)
low tidal amplitude area. In the low tidal amplitude area, ‘canal bank planting’
R. Manivanan