Attempts to conserve mangroves in Goa

Goa has been blessed with a wide spread of mangrove cover and over the years environmental groups are helping create awareness around them. On this International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, here are some of the activities that have been held around the mangroves in Goa.A WALK AROUND THE MANGROVES
Walks along the mangroves are extremely important, says Tallulah D’Silva, enviromentalist and architect, who has been organising such walks. “The reason for these walks is to sensitise people about the importance of mangroves and how they can help protect us during natural disasters like tsunamis, carbon sequestering and act as wind/wave breakers,” says Tallulah.

The Chicalim Youth Farmers Club has been organising mangrove plantations where the locals have planted the saplings at various locations like Sancoale, Chicalim, Divar and Candolim. “We must have planted over 10,000 propagules of different species. Divar has shown a highest survival rate of around 70%. While Chicalim has shown the lowest of 10% mostly due to the rough weather,” says Fr Bolmax Pereira, the co-ordinator of the initiative.