The International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystems is celebrated worldwide on July 26th of every year. The day was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in the year 2015.
This day is also known as ‘World Mangrove day’
Aim: To raise awareness of the importance of mangrove ecosystems as “a unique, special and vulnerable ecosystem” and to promote solutions for their sustainable management, conservation and uses.
History
i.The day memorializes the Greenpeace activist Hayhow Daniel Nanoto who died of Heart attack on 26th July 1998 while protesting to re-establish the mangrove wetlands in Musine, Ecuador.
ii.The Mangrove Action Project (MAP) joined FUNDECOL of Ecuador as a memorial of this date as Mangrove Action day.
About Mangrove Forest
i.Mangrove forests reduce the natural hazards like, reduce coastal erosion, tsunami and reduce the height of the storm. They nourish biodiversity as nursery grounds for many coastal and marine species and support fisheries
ii.The global coverage of the mangrove forest has been halved in 40 years and the largest mangrove forest between Sundarbans and Bangladesh is being monitored by UNESCO.
iii.The recent survey puts the total mangrove area in 2005 has been reduced from 152,00 Km2 to 188,000Km2
Restoration initiatives
Bonne Challenge
- The IUCNs global effort to restore 150 million hectares of deforested land by 2020 and 350 million hectare by 2030.
- Under this project the mangrove forests are restored. The MRP Map provides a key to all these actions.
Global Mangrove alliance
- The main aim is to restore the mangrove forest globally by joining all the government, civil, local sectors and funding agencies.
Mangroves for the future (MFF)
- This was initiated by the International Union for conservation of Nature (IUCN) and co-chaired by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to restore the mangrove forests.
- The project covers places like, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles, Srilanka and Thailand.
–Godrej & Boyce, WWF India launch Magical Mangroves campaign across eight states
i.The Godrej and Boyce industries along with the WWF India (World Wide Fund) jointly organized a nationwide campaign for conservation of the Mangrove forests.
ii.Aim: To promote the awareness on the importance of the mangrove ecosystems, and invite citizens to become volunteers to help in promoting the awareness.
iii.The campaign spans 8 states including, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal.
iv.The Godrej & Boyce’s Wetland Management Services team is conserving one of the largest mangroves in Mumbai at Vikhroli.
v.WWF India is working towards the wetlands of the high altitudes, floodplains, urban centres and Ramsar sites across the country.
Recent related news
i.Nitin Gadkari launches UNDP national awareness campaign on ‘Prevention of Human and Animal Mortality on Highways’ on World Environment Day (June 05, 2020), through a video conference with the aim to reduce or eliminate cases of death on the roads.
About United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO):
Headquarter– Paris, France
Director-General– Audrey Azoulay
Members– 195 Members and 8 Associate Members
About International Union for conservation of Nature (IUCN)
The International Union for conservation of Nature (IUCN) was Formerly called as International Union for the Protection of Nature
President – Zhang Xinsheng
Headquarters- Gland, Switzerland
