Villagers turn friends of mangrove

KENDRAPARA:  In a novel initiative, the Forest department has started a mangrove plantation programme around Bhitarkanika National Park which encourages villagers to donate fallow land on which new plantations can be grown. 

Aimed at regeneration of mangrove species, the drive is being carried out with help of ‘mangrove mitras’ or villagers who have started giving their fallow land to the Forest department. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Bhitarkanika, JD Pati said mangrove mitra committees were recently formed in around 45 villages and names of all land donors will be written on a board near the park’s main gate to encourage others to follow suit.

“We will provide them saplings to regenerate mangrove forests over around 100 hectares of land. The Forest department has initiated the project to plant mangroves in the monsoon season with their help,” he said. 

On Monday, marking the International Mangrove Day, two villagers Dilip Kumar Mandal of Rajendranarayanpur and Satyapriya Sahoo of Nalitapatia donated two acres where mangrove species were planted.

Bhitarkanika has 82 species of mangroves including many sub-species. Regeneration of mangrove forest near the coastline is the need of the hour to save coastal people from the natural disasters like cyclone, storm, tsunami and soil erosion.