New Delhi: In the brackish waters of Tamil Nadu’s Pichavaram, mangroves sway like sentinels, their roots cradling fish that feed coastal families while trapping carbon dioxide from the air. These blue carbon ecosystems—mangroves, seagrass meadows, and salt marshes—shelter villages from pounding waves and nurture livelihoods, a role highlighted today by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh in a Lok Sabha reply. Coastal communities breathe life into these habitats, yet they face challenges in securing consistent support.
Far from the sea, along the Ganga’s muddy banks, farmers plant saplings under the National Mission for Clean Ganga (Namami Gange), a river cleanup program that doubles as a carbon-storing effort. Since 2016, forest departments in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal have covered 33,024 hectares with trees, guided by the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun. Uttarakhand leads with 12,306 hectares, followed by Uttar Pradesh (9,166), Bihar (8,554), Jharkhand (884), and West Bengal (2,115). For riverside villagers, these trees curb erosion, saving fields from floods, but many say jobs or direct benefits from the program remain out of reach, leaving them to hope for more tangible aid.
The Ganga’s greenery ties into India’s Paris Agreement pledge to create a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030 through expanded forests. Blue carbon ecosystems, though not named in the pledge, are vital allies, soaking up carbon and shielding coastal homes from rising seas. In Tamil Nadu, mangrove restoration at places like Pichavaram, funded with ₹220.43 lakhs from 2017 to 2023 under the National Coastal Mission’s “Conservation and Management of Mangroves and Coral Reefs” component, supports fishers who rely on these waters. Yet, locals note that slow funding often leaves gaps in the mangrove barriers, exposing villages to storms.
To bolster these ecosystems, the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI), announced in the 2023–24 Union Budget and launched on June 5, 2023, aims to expand mangroves while creating work for coastal residents. Funded through the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (State CAMPA), the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), and state schemes, with National CAMPA support, MISHTI could transform shorelines. Tamil Nadu’s delay in submitting a funding plan, however, keeps coastal families waiting for jobs and stronger natural defenses, raising questions about the initiative’s reach.
Carbon credits offer another possibility, through the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), launched on June 28, 2023, under the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022, with compliance and offset mechanisms. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the National Steering Committee for the Indian Carbon Market (NSCICM) provide technical support, but no state, including Tamil Nadu, has received specific aid for blue carbon projects. Coastal villagers wonder if these credits will ever translate into income for their efforts in tending ecosystems.
From the Sundarbans’ seagrass meadows in West Bengal to Tamil Nadu’s salt marshes, restoration thrives on the know-how of coastal communities. Without a clear blue carbon framework, locals lead the way, planting mangroves and nurturing seagrasses with skills honed over generations. For these families, whose lives are woven into the tides, blue carbon ecosystems are more than climate tools—they’re the heartbeat of their homes, offering resilience amid uncertainty.
– global bihari bureau
