Forest Dept. to plant mangrove seedlings on 20 acres of marshy land in Mangaluru

Talking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the launch of Centre’s Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) programme here on Monday, Deputy Conservator of Forest Y.K. Dinesh Kumar said the department has planned to plant seedlings of Mangroves on about 20 acres of marshy area in Boloor, Bengre, Jeppinamogaru and Munnoru.

In continuation of the mangrove afforestation exercise, the Forest Department is set to plant mangrove seedlings on about 20 acres of marshy land close to estuaries in Mangaluru.

Talking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the launch of Centre’s Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) programme here on Monday, Deputy Conservator of Forest Y.K. Dinesh Kumar said the department has planned to plant seedlings of mangroves on about 20 acres of marshy area in Boloor, Bengre, Jeppinamogaru and Munnoru.

The department, he said, has been carrying out the mangrove afforestation exercise for 30 years. Therea are about 750 acres of mangrove forest near estuaries of Netravathi and Phalguni rivers, he said.

Earlier, speaking at the programme held at an island close to the site of Mangrove afforestation in Boloor, Mr. Kumar said mangroves are know as barriers of cyclones. Mangroves grow as a network and this is place where fish and other marine species germinate. The Centre has launched MISHTI for the protection of coastline in 11 States and two Union Territories, he said.

Shivakumar Magada, Dean of College of Fisheries, Mangaluru, said mangroves are found in marshy areas and are tolerant of saline water. There are 108 species of mangroves and four of these are found in the 320-km long coastline of Karnataka. Among the coastal Karnataka districts, the coastline in Uttara Kannada has good presence of mangroves, he said.

Students from different colleges of the city joined Member of Parliament and State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel and Forest Department personnel in planting mangrove seedlings. Chief Conservator Forest V. Karikalan also took part in the programme.