[acx_slideshow name=”Mangrove Day 27072017″]

^{Awareness activities held at the Mangrove Interpretation Centre on July 26}

Kunhimangalam, Kerala, July 27, 2017: A programme on the ecological importance of mangrove ecosystems was organised yesterday at the site of Wildlife Trust of India and Apollo Tyres’ Kannur Kandal (Mangrove Conservation) Project, located in the coastal backwaters of Kerala’s Kannur district.

The programme not only marked the UNESCO mandated International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, but also the first anniversary of the Kannur Kandal Project, launched last year with the objectives of furthering research and awareness on mangroves, and promoting the restoration of mangroves in Kerala through community and government participation.

The Kannur Kandal Project aims at the ‘social fencing’ of mangroves by local communities to ensure the long-term survival of this key ecosystem.

The event, which was held at the project’s Mangrove Interpretation Centre in Kunhimangalam, was inaugurated by P Biju, the Assistant Conservator of Forests and Divisional Forest Officer, Kasargod Social Forestry Division. Mr Biju underscored the forest department’s support of the project and hoped that it would inspire similar initiatives across Kerala.

M Saseendran, Standing Committee Chairman for Health & Education, Payyanur Block Panchayat, chaired the morning session. CA Abdul Basheer, a former Divisional Manager of the Kerala Forest Development Corporation conducted a class on ‘Mangrove Awareness’ for the botany and zoology students of Payyanur College. Dr Sapna Jacob, who heads the Department of Zoology of the college, expressed her appreciation of the session, as did PP Ranjan of the local Kandal Protection Committee. WTI Field Officer Ramith M delivered the welcome speech while Field Assistant Afsal AG delivered the vote of thanks.

In the evening session, members of the local community attended a talk at the Interpretation Centre by TP Padmanabhan, eminent environmentalist and Director of the Society for Environmental Education in Kerala (SEEK). This was followed by the screening of environmental films.

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Meanwhile, in Donna Paulo, Goa, Kannur Kandal Project Head Sajan John and Apollo Tyres CSR specialist Smitha R represented the project at the two-day ‘Silver Jubilee Conference on Mangrove Ecosystem’ organised by the Mangrove Society of India (MSI) and National Institute of Oceanography (NIO).

Nearly 200 delegates from the coastal states of Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal attended the conference, which was inaugurated by Dr Sailesh Nayak, Earth System Science Organisation, Ministry of Earth Sciences.

People from various walks of life were felicitated for their efforts towards mangrove conservation, including Bala Kiran, IAS, a former District Collector of Kannur, who re-surveyed 2000 acres of mangroves under his remarkable ‘Mission Mangroves Kannur’ initiative.

A presentation on the Kannur Kandal Project was on display at the conference venue and mangrove awareness posters developed under the project were made available to delegates.

^{A delegate views a mangrove awareness poster developed under the Kannur Kandal}

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In 2006, with the assistance of World Land Trust, WTI had acquired 18.65 acres of species-rich mangrove habitat in Kunhimangalam. A year ago this became the hub for the WTI-Apollo Tyres Kannur Kandal Project.

The project’s nursery in Thuruti is already supplying saplings for volunteers to plant in the area. And schoolchildren, college students and members of the general public from across Kannur regularly visit the brilliant Mangrove Interpretation Centre, which has been functioning as a focal centre for various awareness activities over the last year.

The project ultimately aims at the ‘social fencing’ of mangroves by local communities to ensure the long-term survival of this key ecosystem.