KOZHIKODE: Showing signs of improvement in the mangrove cover across the state, the Annual Report of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) 2011-12, which was released recently, notes that the mangrove cover in Kerala has increased for the first time since 2005.According to the report, the total mangrove cover in the state is now spread across a total area of 6 km2. Though the mangrove was spread across an area of 8 km2 in the year 2003, it had declined to 5 km2 during the last survey conducted in 2009.Terming 1 km2 increase as positive, K M Sreekumar, Assistant Conservator Social Forestry, Kannur, said, “the increased mangrove cover across the state can be attributed to the actions initiated by the Social Forestry Department and other conservation groups to protect and increase the cover. Kannur is having the largest cover of mangrove forests in the state. For the past couple of years, we have been engaged in distributing and planting mangrove saplings and now it has started to yield results and we will continue this initiative.”The Forest Survey of India has been assessing the mangrove cover regularly on a two year cycle using remote sensing since 1987. The current assessment shows that the mangrove cover in the country is 4,662.56 km2, which is 0.14 per cent of the country’s total geographical area.Out of it, very dense mangrove comprises 1,403 km2 (30.10% of the mangrove cover), moderately dense mangrove is 1,658.12 km2 (35.57% of the mangrove cover) while open mangrove cover an area of 1,600.44 km2 (34.33% of the mangrove cover).Compared with 2009 assessment, there has been a net increase of 23.34 km2 in the mangrove cover of the country. Report says that this can be attributed to increased plantations particularly in Gujarat and regeneration of natural mangrove areas.West Bengal has the maximum of mangrove cover (2,155 km2) in the country followed by Gujarat (1,058 km2) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (617 km2). The Ministry of Environment and Forests has already identified 38 mangrove areas on a country wide basis for intensive conservation and management. Out of that, two identified mangrove covers in Kerala are at Vembanad and in Kannur. The annual report says that during the last financial year (2010-11), a sum of Rs 7.10 crore was released to various coastal states and Union Territories under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for ‘Conservation and Management of Mangroves’.
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