MISHTI Scheme for Mangrove Plantations

What is MISHTI Scheme?

• The Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) scheme is a new programme that will facilitate mangrove plantation along India’s coastline and on salt pan lands. 
• The programme will operate through “convergence between MGNREGS, Campa Fund and other sources.
• This new programme will aim at intensive afforestation of coastal mangrove forests.
  • India has such forests on both its Eastern and Western coasts with the Sundarbans in Bengal being one of the largest mangrove forests on the planet.

What are Mangroves?

• Mangroves are the characteristic littoral plant formation of tropical and subtropical sheltered coastlines. 
• Mangroves are trees and bushes growing below the high water level of spring tides which exhibits remarkable capacity for salt water tolerance. ( As per Food and Agriculture Organization).

Current State of Mangroves

• South Asia houses some of the most extensive areas of mangroves globally, while Indonesia hosts one-fifth of the overall amount.
• India holds around 3 percent of South Asia’s mangrove population. 
  • According to the Indian State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2021, India has about 4,992 sq km (0.49 million hectares) of mangroves.
    • As per the IFSR report, there has been an increase in the mangrove cover from 4,046 sq km in 1987 to 4,992 sq km in 2021.
    • However, India lost 40% of its mangrove cover during the last century with Kerala losing 95% of its mangroves in the last 3 decades.
  • Mangroves in India are distributed across nine States and three UTs with West Bengal having the highest mangrove cover of 2,114 sq km
  • Besides the Sundarbans in West Bengal, the Andamans region, the Kachchh and Jamnagar areas in Gujarat too have substantial mangrove cover..

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Importance of Mangroves

• Protection of coastlines: As climate change increases the incidence of extreme weather events across the world, mangrove plantations have shown to make coastal lands resilient, preventing flooding, land erosion and acting as a buffer for cyclones.
• Reducing coastal erosion: Their dense roots bind and build soils, and the above-ground roots slow down water flow and result in sediment deposits, reducing coastal erosion.
• Act as excellent carbon sinks: Mangrove trees can grow in saline waters, and can sequester up to four times more carbon than tropical rainforests.
  • Mangroves cover only about 0.1 per cent of the planet’s surface. Yet, they can potentially store up to 10 times more carbon per hectare (ha) than terrestrial forests.
• Support services: They also support a rich food web, with molluscs and algae-filled substrate acting as a breeding ground for small fish, mud crabs and shrimps, thus providing a livelihood to local artisanal fishers.

Threats to Mangroves

• As per the 2022 report of the  Global Mangrove Alliance, between 2010 and 2020, around 600 sq km of mangroves were lost of which more than 62 per cent was due to direct human impacts.
• Threats to mangroves include,
  • Infrastructure projects — industrial expansion and building of roads and railways. 
  • Shifting coastlines
  • Coastal erosion and storms
  • Urbanization
  • Pollution
  • Aquaculture: Shrimp farming alone destroyed 35,000 hectares of mangroves worldwide. 
  • Agriculture: Conversion to rice paddies.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

News Source: Indian Express

https://indianexpress.com/article/upsc-current-affairs/upsc-essentials/upsc-essentials-one-word-a-day-mishti-union-budget-2023-8417629/

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