In a time when pollution is continually affecting our ability to breathe fresh air, there’s some good news coming from Maharashtra. The State of Indian Forest Cover Report 2019 was released on Monday, revealing that the mangrove cover in the region has increased by 16 sq km in the last two years alone.
Raigad district, in particular, has seen an increase of 15 sq km in mangrove cover, which is reportedly due to the revenue department donating some land to the forest department in 2018. However, in Mumbai, the report notes that there has been no change in terms of mangroves.
In Thane, the mangrove cover has increased by 0.7 sq km, while the suburbs of Mumbai have seen an increase of 0.3 sq km.
This boost in mangrove conservation, as well as the growth, has been due to a 2005 Bombay High Court order which ordered a ban on construction on mangrove land while also ordering mangroves to be classified as forests.
N Vasudevan, who was heading the Mangrove Conservation Cell (MCC) until recently said: “The overall increase during the last three assessment periods is 134 sq km, which is a 72% increase in six years.”
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