MANGREEN Mangrove Restoration
and Ecology in India
Vedharajan Balaji (OMCAR)
Onno Gross (DEEPWAVE)
Report 2005/2006
Deepwave Report 4/06
Contents
Thousands of seeds of
mangroves are used for
the reforestation along the
Indian coast in Tamil
Nadu.
Content
1 Foreword
2 Introduction and study site
3 Mangrove restoration
4 Awarenes program
5 Community program
6 Project report
7 Finances
8 Future work
9 References
10 Acknowledgements
Appendix I Press releases
3
6
8
17
20
26
30
31
32
33
34
Photo credit and copyright: www.mangren.org, unless otherwise noted.
Please ask for permission.
Cover: Artifical restoration is needed to increase growth of mangroves in
some devasted areas. It is based on seedlings such as these 30 cm high
Avicennia marina plants growing in our MANGREEN nursery.
Foreword
Mangroves safe
PEOPLE
safe Mangroves!
In the small fishing villages Keezhathottam and
Velivayal in the Palk Bay we found first areas for
a mangrove protection. We are building an information office there and OMCAR is giving
awareness classes about the project. The locals
support the project as they learned about the
importance of a healthy nature after their experience with the Tsunami.
he coastline of Tamil Nadu in southern
India - the land of the temples - has been
hit severely by the waves of the 2004
Sumatra-Tsunami. Through contacts with local
biologists the initiative DEEPWAVE developed a
project that restores coastal protection and
gives new hope for the people of Tamil Nadu.
T
The MANGREEN project intends to be a sustainable support to the coastal protection of
India. Experts from the university of Bharathidasan and the forestry office of Tamil Nadu
government have been inolved in the project.
Mangrove forests are a natural protection from
strong waves from the sea. In fact coastlines
with existing forests were noticable less affected
by the Sumatra-Tsunami: Thousands of lives
could have been saved through mangroves.
However, most of these forests along the Indian
coastlines have been destroyed and are in peril.
A variety of work has been done in the first year.
We are very much thankful to the LIGHTHOUSE FOUNDATION, Germany, for their substantial financial support and trust in our goals.
This 1. Report will demonstrate the work process and our future efforts. We hope that this
attracts many more supporters.
Our project MANGREEN - Mangrove Ecological
Restoration in India - was developed in cooperaton with the local marine conservation group
OMCAR. The organization has been involved
before with the conservation of marine turtles
and coastal ecosystems in Tamil Nadu.
Together we wish to reafforest the mangrove
forests. UN-projects in Asia have already proven that mangrove forests can successfully be
restored.
Pattukottai & Hamburg July 2006
V. Balaji
President OMCAR
Long before the Tsunami the lives of local
people were affected by the destruction of the
mangroves already. Fishing, which was one of
the main sources of income, depends to a noticeable extend on a healthy coastline.
Information and support for the local people are
thus very important and are now given by the
local conservation group OMCAR. This guarantees longlasting coastal protection and new
hope and work for the people.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
3
Dr. O. Groß
President DEEPWAVE
About OMCAR
The Organization for Marine Conservation,
Awareness and Research (OMCAR) is a nongovernmental, non-profit organization formed
2004 by biologists from the field of marine
biology, ornithology, and social workers of the
south-east Indian town of Pattukkottai of Tamil
Nadu state.
OMCAR aims to preserve the coastline ecosystems of Palk Bay, such as sandy beaches of
Point Calimere (a nesting ground for Olive
Ridleys turtles), to protect the mangroves of the
Muthupet forest and the degraded mangroves
of the Agni estuary and to safe the sea grass
beds of the Thanjavur and Pudhukkottai coastal
districts.
current status and human impacts in the Palk
Bay coastal environment.
- To restore and manage patches of mangroves
in the Palk Bay region through community
based conservation programmes.
- To save stranded marine mammals by forming
a communication network with the volunteers of
coastal villages.
- To establish an environmental information centre that will collect data on the local environmental issues of Palk Bay.
- To study the socio-economic status of fisher
folk communities of Palk Bay.
- To create awareness among the fisher folk
communities about the importance of protecting
the Palk Bay region and its endangered species
through street plays and cultural programmes.
- To establish education and community development centers in coastal villages to improve
the educational and economic status of the fisher folks.
- To form eco-clubs in the schools in the Palk
Bay region to carry out school level environmental awareness programmes.
- To establish a plant nursery to supply seedlings of endemic plants to eco-clubs.
- To organize field trips to encourage interest
and knowledge in marine conservation.
- To co-operate with other educational, research
and social organizations in conservation and
community development.
Due to the lack of awareness, poverty and poor
education status among the fisher folk community, the Palk Bay marine resources have been
indiscriminately exploited by illegal fishing activities such as bomb fishing. On bigger scale
also the heavy trawler operations and agriculture
and aquaculture pollution by shrimp farmers
have threatned the ecosystems. The wealth of
Palk Bay marine resources such as commercial
fishes, shrimps, crabs and endangered species
like sea cows, sea horses, pipe fishes and sea
cucumbers are greatly reduced as a result of
increasing export value.
OMCAR encourages the people, government
and student community to participate in the conservation of Palk Bay coastal environment
through public awareness, school and village
eco-groups, alternative income resources and
sustainable fishery.
OMCAR strongly believes in the concept of
developing coastal environmental conservation
through fisher folks who actually can manage,
when they have adequate livelihood support,
education and responsibility themselves. So,
our projects include the participation of all age
groups of coastal villagers as volunteers, labors
and beneficiaries in community development
programmes.
Internet: www.omcar.org
Organization for Marine Conservation,
Research and Awareness (OMCAR)
56, Mannai Nager Mattusanthai Road
Pattukkottai(post)
Tamil Nadu
India - 614601
mobile: ++91 - 9360548117
Ph: ++91 - 04373236615
Some of the objectives are:
- To carry out marine ecological studies in the
Palk Bay coastal region.
- To document the marine flora and fauna, their
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
4
About DEEPWAVE e.V.
The Protection of the high- and deepsea
needs more advocates!
Our Earth is a planet of water: 60 percent of the
surface belongs to the high- and deepsea. This
ecosystem is the largest realm on earth for millions of plants and animals, a major actor in the
global climates dynamics. It is also a rich area
for food production and resource for the growing
demands of the increasing world population. But
the oceans are daily under strong attack: pollution and mismanagement of the resources
threaten the fragile balance of this unique biotope.
Only with united conservation efforts on national
and international level this environmental degradation of the high seas can be stopped.
Thus, the initiative DEEPWAVE was founded in
spring 2003 in order to develop and enforce
environmental tools to protect the ecosystem of
the high- and deepsea.
DEEPWAVE wants to
- enhance the awareness for marine environmental threats
- pressure the political parties to develope
further solutions
- spread the scientific outcome of environmental
research
- give an organisational framework for informations and opinions on marine conservational
issues.
DEEPWAVE
- promotes scientific studies
- manages public relations and information
transfer
- cooperates with other non-governmental
organisations.
DEEPWAVE Inc.
The Initiative for the Protection of the High
and Deep Sea
Hegestrasse 46 d
D-20251 Hamburg
Germany
Telefon: ++49 - (0)40 46 85 62 62
Telefax: ++49 - (0)40 46 85 62 63
Mobil: ++49 - (0)179 598 69 69
EMAIL: info@deepwave.org
Contact us and take active and financial part in
the conservation of the ocean environment!
Internet: www.deepwave.org
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
5
2 Introduction
o do a long lasting project such as
MANGREEN you need to know the local
situation and circumstances in many
details. We tried to focus on four piles of our
works: 1. Mangrove restoration, 2. Community
awareness programmes, 3. Community development programmes and 4. Establishment of
links to other NGOs, the scientific community
and the government (see graphic below).
variety of lectures in local schools were hold
and summer school programs and medicine
classes established. Street plays and media
work spread our work to the public.
T
Community development is in general a thrilling
task in such poor regions of the world. We concentrated on quick improvements, such as building a water spill and the establishment of coconut rope (coir) making and sewing units for
woman empowerment. Fisherman clubs are
also under construction.
With the efforts done by the staff of OMCAR the
villagers were addressed to support or activities
for creating protected mangroves sites.
Convincing the Tamil fishermen was one of the
first tasks, followed by obtaining permissions
from the government. Now approx. 5000 mangrove seedlings in the field and in the nursery
are under constant observation.
Stakeholder work with local social NGOs like
Bless and the government is rapidly increasing.
University experts and the international
Mangrove Action Project (MAP) are following
our work with great interest.
Awarness creating was another constant tool. A
The 4 piles of the project
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
6
The site
Location: Agni estuary: N 10º 17.782' / E 079º 22.190' Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu, India
MANGREEN site
Palk Bay
The estuary of Agni River - the fire river - is the area under investigation. Four villages surround this former greenish
mangrove forest area were shrimps ponds (white squares) are now very abundant. (maps: Google Earth)
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
7
3 Mangrove restoration
A canal-fisherman in Velivayal. This special harvest of small
fishes in the mangrove creeks has a long tradition in Tamil Nadu.
An empty coast: Canoes are still in use to find
the daily sparse protein resources.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
8
Mangrove restoration and research
In the narrower sense, mangroves are evergreen, deciduous plants, of several angiosperm
families, which are not related to each other.
They are growing as shrubs or sympodial trees,
which are growing in the intertidal and adjacent
wetland areas of the tropical and subtropical
zone.
However, the word "mangroves" is also used to
refer to the forest community, which contains
both, the halophil flora and salt tolerant fauna.
Due to extreme and fluctuating abiotic factors
(e.g. anaerobic soil conditions, high and low
salinity and continual raise and fall of the water
level) the plants and animals of mangroves
show several astonishing adaptations.
Flowering mangroves like this Avicennia are needed for
natural and artificial restoration.
ties and adjacent terrestrial areas, the need for
restoration, sustainable management and even
conservation should be more than obvious.
As an ecotone between aquatic and terrestrial
ecosystems, mangroves are dwelled by aquatic
and terrestrial as well as littoral organisms and
they provide a high biodiversity. Their ecological
value is also attributed to an enormous biomass
production and a high production of primary producers, like phytoplankton. It is not only the
wood or eatable animals itself, but also the short
term nutrient cycle and the functions of mangroves as shelter, barrier and soil trap, which have
a great influence on adjacent terrestrial and
marine areas and therefore represent an inexhaustible source of goods for subsistence and
commercial use. Of course, this is bound to
proper use and protection.
The first focus should be to intensify the
people´s livelihood living within the mangrove
environment. By simply creating awareness for
their environment and involving them into environmental and communal development programs one can achieve great success. Hence
the people itself are an important mean for
nature protection and - conservation in so called
"community based programs", like OMCAR.
Pitchavaram and Muthupet forest
The Tsunami killed 165,000 people in Southeast Asia. Now, all the countries are looking for
the implementation of a Tsunami warning and
protection system. But, we have been ignoring
the gift of nature, the mangroves, which can
considerably protect the coastal areas from
heavy storms and tsunamis.
Referring to Krishnamurthy et al., 1987, Indian
mangroves are distributed in about 6,740
sq.km, of which 70% are recorded on the east
coast, 12% on the west coast and 18% on the
bays of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The
same report indicates a mangrove cover in
Tamil Nadu of about 150 sq. km, which constitutes 2.3% of today´s India´s mangrove stock.
For example, Tamil Nadus 1100 km of coastal
stretch was one of the worst affected place in
India. However, villages that are situated
behind mangrove forest have escaped from tsunami, while other nearby open coastal villages
were completely devasted. Thus, mangrove
protection is here urgently needed.
The need for mangrove restoration and proper
management in Tamil Nadu results at least from
the fact that only during the last century 40% of
the mangrove area of this federal state has
been lost.
Pitchavaram and Muthupet are the two reserved
mangrove forests of Tamil Nadu, both are located on the estuary of tributeries of River
Cauvery. The distance between them is appro.
100-200 kilometer. While the Muthupet
With regard to the discoveries so far, that have
been made of the narrow link between mangrove communities and aquatic ecosystems and
also the studies of benefits to coastal communiMangrove Ecology and restoration
9
mangroves in the south is a nearly monospecies dominannt forest dominated by Avicennia
marina and has no plants of the family
Rhisoporaceae the Pitchavaram mangrove
forest in the south is higher in mangrove
diversity.
Only few estuaries have similar, suitable environmental conditions for mangroves, but increased human population and coastal development
have kept mangroves in check. The remaining
forests are facing today dramatic threats from
aquaculture forms and over exploitation.
Restoration methods of mangroves
A selection of methods can be used for artificial
and natural restoration of mangroves. These
two methods have been used before in the
restoration of degraded mangrove areas.
Collected Acicennia seeds are used for the nursery, but
sampling is restricted to the post monsoon season only.
Natural Regeneration: It uses naturally occuring mangrove propagules as the source for
regenaration by protecting the forest. The
species composition of the areas depends on
the species composition of the natural sources
of the forest.
Artificial Regeneration: Artificial regeneration
of mangroves involves hand planting of desired
propagules and saplings at the selected intertidal areas. It is an important challenge to organise plantations in time when propagules are
available in the particular season.
However, regeneration of mangroves needs the
support of village communities and government
departments. The pressure of the local population will influence the structure and functions of
mangrove forests that surrounds the people.
More recently, mangroves have been managed
for integrated fish culture (Primavera 1995) and
for eco-tourism (Bacon 1987). With the realisation of ecological importance of mangroves and
the passage of laws protecting them from
destruction, many small plantations for mitigating environmental damages have occurred for
example in Hawaii, Burma, Fiji Oanama and
Kenya. Mangroves have also been planted to
restore a forest killed because of an oil spill
(Duke 1995).
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
Young seedlings are fragile and can be severely damaged during the flooding season.
10
Factors for success
Techniques in artificial regeneration method
have remained virtually unchanged since
Wateson (1928), but they are continuously
being rediscovered worldwide as the prerequisite to restoration efforts.
For mangrove rehabilitation, special attention
must be paid to soil stability and flooding regime
(Pulver 1976), site elevation (Hoffman et al.
1985), salinity and fresh water runoff (Jeminez
1990), tidal and and wave energy (Lewis 1992,
Field 1996) propagule availability (Loyche 1989,
Kairo 1995a, 2001), propagule predation
(Dahdouh-Guebas et al 1997, 1998, DahdouhGuebas 2001), spacing and thinning of mangroves (FAO 1985, Kairo, 2001), weed eradication
(Saenger and Siddique 1993), nursery techniques (Siddique et al 1993), monitoring (Lewis
1990), community participation (Kairo 1995b)
and total cost of restoration measures (Field
1998a).
Plantation is a hard work under the tropical sun. With
care, the seedlings are distributed in the canals.
First steps of the project
1. Collection of literature, manuals, reprints and
expert advice for artificial and natural regeneration.
2. Meeting with forest department officials, in
order to get the permission to collect seeds and
propagules from the reserve mangrove forest
and to select plantation sites.
3. Communication with local village heads and
NGOs to discuss about the project goals in
order to seek their cooperation.
4. Conducting awareness programmes in villages and schools that are nearby to the plantation sites.
5. Propagule or seed collection during suitable
monsoon seasons.
6. Establishment of a mangrove nursery.
7. Desiltation of canals before plantation
8. Plantation, fencing, regular monitoring and
documentation of sites.
9. Growth studies with Rhizophora and
Avicennia seedlings.
10. Mapping of the whole Agni estuary area
11. Cleaning projects in the mangrove forest
park.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
Water canals have to be free of debris in order to have
constant and successful growth of mangroves.
11
Mangrove Nursery
Within the MANGREEN project, we established
protected sites at the northern and southern
side of the Agni estuary. The northern area ia
now protected by fences and has three artificial fish bone canals. In total 11,000 seeds of
Avicennia sp. and Rhizophora sp. were sown in
the site initially by the forest department. The
monitoring and studying of the growth of this
canal plantation and plant communities is being
carried out at standard time intervals.
We also established a nursery in the forest area,
in which approx. 1200 propagules of
Rhizophora sp. and 750 seeds of Avicennia
marina are growing. Both artificial and ecological methods are being applied in the MANGREEN project to find out their merits and
demerits in the Palk Bay region.
An OMCAR volunteer team also has surveyed
the coastal village of Keezhathottam, located on
the northern side of Agni estuary in order to
understand the socio-economic structure. The
report revealed the village level basic needs
and problems, and was forwarded to governments and non-governmental organizations to
promote the village needs.
Assessment of community structure of
Keezhathottam mangroves
During the stay of Josefine Krüger from the
International Forest University Eberswalde, we
assessed in more detail the distribution of mangroves in the Agni estuary in Keezhathottam. We selected randomly 5 plots of 30m x
20m in the field. We than fixed and marked the
areas with GPS and ground markers.
The mangroves were studied for their canopy
height and breadth, diversity, impact of grazing,
soil texture and associated salt marshes floral
communities. The observation of similar studies
will be continued periodically to find out the spatial and temporal variation in vegetation structure of the Keezhathottam mangroves.
From seeds to plants: Avicennia plants can grow high
within nine month. Thus our MANGREEN nursery proved
to be a successful way for restoration of missing mangroves. Here insects and other mortal effects can be monitored and prevented.
Assessment of growth of mangrove seedlings in fish bone canals in Keezhathottam
Two field studies were carried out to study the
directly planted seedlings of Avicennia marina
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
12
and Rhizophora apiculata during October and
December of 2005. The total number of survived plants, total number of diseased plants,
morphological characters such as plant height,
number of leaves, leaf breadth, leaf length,
internode length, diseased and damaged leaves
were recorded.
Canal Work
Without cleaning the natural and artificial waterways of debris beforhand, the planted and wild
mangrove seedlings are under additional survival stress. Therefore, in August 2005 one of the
first steps of OMCAR was to recruite labours in
the nearby villages to help us to clear the channels from the debris in order to reach the best
abiotic conditions for the palnt growth.
Desiltination! This canal cleaning program is a constant
task since rivers and tides bring in a lot of debris to the
waterways daily.
At a monthly basis now the wetland rivers and
creeks have been kept free from disturbances although during the monsoon season the river is
sweeping in constantly new materials. This fruitful debris may be, however, a worthwhile
resource for recycling in future times.
First maps of our fenced field site (in red) in Kheezathottam (left) and Velivayal, two villages next to the Agni river.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
13
A dirty work for a cleaner environment
Report by V. Balaji
Date: 23.3.2006
Place: Muthupet Mangrove Reserve Forest
In the early morning of 23.3.2006, I started my
journey at Pattukkottai to move to Muthupet
Forest Department office. Feeling the little bit
cold environment I accelerate my bike on the
unmanned roads that await the sun raise. After
reaching the village of Pettai located close to
Muthupet mangroves, I first talked with the
Ranger, who arranged the boat for our trip. Our
team includes now 9 volunteers, 3 staff members of OMCAR and me.
Wooden paths are build in the Mhuthupet mangroves- a
speciality for India. However tourist are not so clean.
Back ground of the mission
Mullimunai
The Muthupet Mangrove Reserve Forest is a
natural paradise and the best place to find
peace at weekend for local tourists. The forest
department has constructed boardwalks - for
the first time in India - to walk through the mangroves without disturbing them. The wooden
sheds in areas such as Chief's corner,
Mullimunai and Rettai Vaikkal are wonderful places to get relaxed by the natural beauty of this
fragile ecosystem.
This is the central place for tourists. Here they
can enjoy seeing the vast lagoon and mangrove
canopy. Well we all are not burning under the
hot sun and salty wind. When get down there, it
seemed to be a small place when compared to
Chief's corner, but we found two times more
garbage in this small area, most of it is hiding
under the bushes. Hundreds of broken bottles,
drinking water pockets, plastic wrappers and
carry bags were collected.
For the recent years, the increasing number of
tourists tells about the attraction of this place.
However, the tourism has its own effects because of the carelessness of the tourists. They just
throw their plastic waste and bottles into the
mangroves, which concentrate now densely
around the resting sheds of the three places.
We are here to clean this up!
Some of our volunteers are now totally exhausted by the heat, while others got injured in the
arms while searching for plastics in the short
bushes. Four bags full of garbage were collected, and this place shines again, showing its
natural beauty. After a short break with oranges
and lemon rise we all get refreshed and felt better to move to the next place. The time already
passed 1pm.
Chief Corner
After a 55 minutes boat journey through the
Korai river creek, we reached our first target:
Chief's corner. As decided before, two of our
members walked fastly on the walking boards to
identify the trashes. With gloves and big bags,
the remaining team starts to collect
whatever pollutants is found on the site, while
two members collect the bottles inside the
dense bushes of mangroves and associated
plants. They look all over even under the floor of
the walking boards. With 2 bags full of
garbage, we moved towards the second place.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
Rettai Vaikkal
As the shed is newly constructed here, the
garbages reduces to «only» one bag in Rettai
Vaikkal. However, we could see a large amount
of fishing nets thrown out by the fishermen. The
clogged nets between mangroves have been
catching the wild crabs and fishes. These nets
inside the sea will catch continuously fishes,
turtles and dolphins for several years, but no
one will collect the fish! This phenomena is
14
called "Ghost Fishing". Finally, we could
remove some mud crabs from the clogged nets
and we collected the large number of fishing
nets inside our bags. Then, the nets were directly transported on the boat deck.
Free of ghost nets!
Though the hot sun burns our skin, especially at
our German volunteer Miss. Jule Appelt, we
have successfully completed the mission "Clean
Mangroves". The garbage was then transported
out of the forest through boat and van. We finally disposed it in the municipal garbage place of
Muthupet town.
The notable point that happened was that our
rental boat driver did not know about our mission. However, when he realized this he was actively participating throughout our programme.
It may be a small work, which is unknown to
each person who has thrown at least a water
bottle inside the mangroves. Nevertheless,
OMCARs volunteer team will clean those places
every 6 months now - even if the outer world
does not know what is happening to a volunteer
student's hand while picking up broken bottles,
inside dense bushes of fragile mangroves.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
A very hard work is it to collect plastic garbage from the
mangroves. The volunteer team and the OMCAR people
sampled a lot of waste and will continue to do so.
15
Assessment of nearshore coastal benthic
ecosystem and its associated fishery
In order to find out the benthic community structures and spatial differences in associated
faunal assemblages between sites along the
northern Palk Bay region, an under water survey was carried out between Mallipattinam and
Kottaipattinam.
The weekly, preliminary survey started in
January 2005 in Mallipattinam and continued up
to Pudhukudi. Variation in submerged aquatic
vegetation and their distribution was mapped in
order to select suitable study sites with significant differences in fauna.
Coconut canoes were formerly used for fishing. But this
old way of fishuing is overtaken by modern boats.
Based on this extensive survey, three sites
namely Kalumanguda, Adaikkathevan and
Seetharamanpattinam were selected for our
research programme. After the site selection,
three transects were fixed underwater, with 50
meter rope on the seafloor of each site. The
transects were marked with Global Positioning
System and further collections. Data on environmental parameters such as salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, water temperature, atmospheric
temperature, rainfall, humidity, nutrients, depth,
visibility, tidal and lunar phases were recorded
for the period of six months.
Traditional fishermen in Palk Bay Tamil Nadu. The red
dye of the sails was once made by mangroves trees.
Trap net fishery
Bimonthly observation on trap net fishery in two
sites such as Mallipattinam and Seethara-manpattinam was started from the end of March to
August 2005. Voucher specimens of fish fauna,
sea grasses and seaweeds were collected and
identified using standard methods. This monitoring of the fishery and their impact to the coastal
ecosystems will be furhter enforced in the
future.
New threats to the coast are destroying the country site.
The shrimp farm industry drains salty water to the hinterland grounds thereby polluting the drinking wells of the
villages.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
16
4 Awareness programs
Daily live in the village is based on cleaning and repairing the fishing gears. They are essential tools for gaining
food and income - despite an increasingly empty sea.
A Ganesh: the spiritual lord for wealth and business.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
17
Monthly Coastal Environmental Awareness
Lessons
OMCAR presently has been undertaken monthly environmental awareness programmes at
three coastal village schools - namely in
Karaiyur, Aripurakkarai and Keezhathottam - in
the last project year. With visual presentations
the students were explained facts about the
coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, coral
reefs, sea grasses and their values to the local
fishery. They were also taught in conservation of
sea turtles, marine mammals, sharks and rays
and especially dugongs, sea horses, pipefishes,
and other interesting features of marine flora
and fauna along their coast. In Keezhathottam
the first three rank holders of the school classes
were also provided with writing desk and materials for their efforts.
Teaching in classes is important to have long lasting
awareness effect in the fishermen community.
Eco Clubs
Student eco-clubs of the 6h, 7th and 8th standard were formed in schools. The eco-club
members are actively involved in tree plantation; maintenance of hygiene in drinking water
and classrooms. OMCAR distributed seedlings
of endemic trees and bamboo fences to these
coastal schools. Eco-club members planted the
seedlings inside the school campus on the 26th
January 2006 and manage them since then. By
this they learn responsibility and sustainability.
With Eco-Clubs school students are learning conservation issues e.g. by caring for OMCAR campus plants.
Field trip with students
A batch of school students were organized for
an education field trip inside the Muthupet mangroves on December 31st 2005. The team started its boat journey in morning from Muthupet to
the Mullipallam lagoon. The students were interested to see the zonation of mangroves along
the river creeks, the adaptations of mangroves,
the artificial plantation of Rhizophora apiculata,
the wildlife with birds, the lagoon islets and the
canal fishing. After a board walking at
Sethukuda and Chief's Corner they took their
lunch in a shed constructed of the Tamil Nadu
forest department. The team returned to
Muthupet in the evening with a great enthusiasm on mangrove conservation.
Field trips to intact mangrove forests help to explain the
ecological importance to many interested people.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
18
Public street plays
The villages closely situated to our mangrove
sites were selected for a public street play programme. The names of the villages and dates
were:
Aripurakkarai
30.3.2006
Keezhathottam
31.3.2006
Velivayal
01.4.2006
Mallipattinam
02.4.2006
Sambaipattinam 03.4.2006
Theme of the Drama
Public street plays along the coastal villages helped in
education on marine conservation issues.
Two hours lasted the OMCAR street play about
the normal day in the life of a fishermen.
Additional messages on marine conservation
were added throughout the program on the personal, ecological and commercial benefits of
mangroves, migratory birds, eco-tourism, soilerosion, mangroves supported fishery, personal
hygiene, gender equality, child-hood marriage
and self-help group formation. It helped clearing
doubts on our MANGREEN project by questions
and answers performances on land issues, fencing and sustainability of the project.
Understanding process
The programme was only a short introduction to
the scientific and ecological benefits of the mangrove project. OMCARs objectives were spread
to all age groups in the fisher folks community
and especially children and village heads who
inaugurated the program at first. This created a
mutual understanding between villagers and our
team members. We will continue our efforts by
adressing community support, socio-economic
survey, alternative livelihood arrangements and
skill development training programmes in the
coming months.
With comedy, street play, folk songs and music villages
created awareness for the mangrove protection idea.
In the middle of towns the play attracted many people.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
19
5 Community programs
Josefine Krüger, a student from the university of Ebers-walde from
Germany, within a group of local Tamil woman. Traditions and new faces
meet for the first time - a bothside benefit for the development programs.
Childrens are the key to future development.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
20
Strating from the base
In September 2005, when Dr. Gross, President
of DEEPWAVE, Mr. Hofman, the district forest
officers, academicians from the Bharathidasan
University and villager heads have participated
in the first MANGREEN village meeting, the
road for community developemnt was paved.
While OMCAR/DEEPWAVE explained the
objectives of the project to the villagers, they
responded on the other hand their socio-economic and environmental problems that they are
facing with daily.
Education in a Baldawi - constucted by OMCAR- is important in the development of fisher folk towns in Tamil Nadu.
Since that start our community development
actionsfocused on theri urgent needs and included:
Self-help groups for fishermen
Tailor Training for women
Cocunut rope making programme
Village Self-help groups
Village Self-help groups are formed to encourage
money savings among poor fishermen. By this
they are able to avoid borrowing money from
moneylenders. The group was trained for implementing "alternative livelihood resource arrangements through sustainable fishery" in addition
to their traditional methods.
OMCAR conducted a training programme for
fishermen, which explained the procedures and
benefits of such a self-help groups. A group of
16 fishermen were organized and they elected
their group representatives. Our field staffs helped them to approach government and bank
officers to establish a bank account and registration. The group members saved a part of
their income into the group account, which is utilized for emergency or essential needs in case
one of the group members applies for it.
Gathering together is an important step in taking actions
against pollution and other issues.
After the stabilization of the group through
weekly meeting and a considerable bank balance, the group will get subsidy from the bank.
OMCAR prepares to empower the team through
a future crab fattening or dry fish processing
units.
Desolated houses with no toilet and no electricity. There
is a lot to do for development in coastal villages.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
21
Woman Empowerment program
Daily life of fisherwomen along the Palk Bay village is restricted since they lack exposure to
education, a stable family system and poverty.
They spend their day in assisting the husbands
to repair the nets, collecting fuel wood or cooking. Hence, they are not in a position to spend
money to learn new skills.
To empower the village women, OMCAR started
a sewing tailor training programme in
Keezhathottam village on February 1st 2006.
Our field office was used as a training centre
and a professional guide from nearby teached
them working with two sewing machines. This
creates a chance for fisherwomen to develop a
new labour skill. About 20 young village women
are now getting their daily training.
Woman meetings are an information centre. However,
not all everyone is participating due to family restrictions.
Socio-economic status report of the
Keezhathottam village
The OMCAR team has carried out an extensive
survey on socio-economics of the Keezhathottam village to understand their basic needs
and problems. Our study reveals the actual
status of Keezhathottam village.
Total number of families
Total population
Total number of male (> 18 yr)
Total number of female (>18 yr)
Male/female ratio
Government co-operative society
Over head water tank
Fresh water reservoirs
Government middle schools
Total number of students
Total number of teachers
School toilet
School water tank
Free food plan
Balwadi (kindergarden)
No. of children in balwadi
= 381
= 1812
= 479
= 537
= 47.3/52.7
=1
=2
=3
=1
= 249
=6
= not in use
= Yes
= Yes
=1
= 25
Sewing machines are a small step in development of an
alternative livelihood.
In addition to the above information, our report
gives the information about education status,
monthly income, house structures, electricity,
hygiene, level of impact of tsunami and aquaculture farms (see www.omcar.org/downloads).
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
The future of elderly people is based on intact familes.
22
NEWS for the Village
Republic day plantation program (26.1.2006)
On the date of republic day of India, OMCAR
has distributed 25 bamboo fences and seedlings of endemic plants to eco-club members in
the village schools in northern Palk Bay. The
seedlings were planted inside the school campus and the eco-club members are maintaining
the seedlings everyday.
MANGREEN tailoring unit (1.2.2006)
School work - a daily job for OMCAR staff.
In the coastal village of Keezhathottam,
OMCAR has started a tailor training programme
for village woman. This offers them a possibility
to learn a new skill in their own village. The tailor training unit was opened by the village president, vice president and all villagers with a holy
Hindu ceremony
Fishermen Self help group (2.2.2006)
A group of 16 fishermen from Keezhathottam
village were organized by OMCAR to start a Self
help group. They met local bank and government administrative officers to start a group
savings accounted. Each member of this group
agreed to save a part of his earnings to the
group account, which will be used for emergency or credit to one among them.
Village meetings are often consulted for discussion.
Jobs for the MANGREEN project are well appreciated.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
23
Coir making program
Women play a major role in Indian families,
when compared to other cultures. In the coastal
villages, the daily life of a women depends on
collecting fuel wood, drinking water and cooking. This busy work schedule restricts their
time for new learning and opportunities. It
results in poor socio-economic conditions and
dependency on husband earnings.
Coirs - cocunut ropes - are made form fiber waste.
The situation has now slowly changed through
self help groups in the last ten years. They were
also formed among the women of
Keezhanthottam and Velivayal villages and
through these groups the fisherwomen benefited from easier bank loans for marriages and
urgent needs.
However, there is still a lack of alternative livelihood arrangement programmes carried out by
the government or by local NGOs. OMCAR with
its MANGREEN project is slowly changing the
situation: with two women groups on tailor learning and on coconut coir making.
Spinning the rope is a nice women group experience.
Any alternative livelihood programmes in the villages will succeed and achieve its sustainability,
only when it uses the local, cheap natural
resources. The sewing unit was an easyily
accepted prgroam, fulfilling basic needs and
wihes. The coir unit on the other hand is using a
simple machine to make a strong rope out of the
dry fibres of coconuts. We provided the machines in different phases to the village women and
arranged for professional trainers for making the
coir ropes.
A bunch of coconut fibres that weigh 35kg can
be converted into long ropes within a day of 7hour hard work using this machine. This effectively gives an alternative job (and Rupies) and
self-confidence to a now skilled rural woman
and improves the daily income for her family.
As OMCAR believes in the concept of such coastal ecosystem conservation through the socioeconomic development of the fisher folk community, the coconut coir-make training unit is
considered as one of the main activities of
MANGREEN project. We now seek for profitable ways of marketing the coconut products.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
With a hinduistic ceremony this new rope machines was
blessed by the whole village.
24
Water Pump Installation
Water is an universal issue that solves and
creates problems between states and nations
across the world. While severe droughts take
hundreds of human lives in countries, floods
can destroy the towns and cities.
Such catastrophes produce unhygienic drinking
water as a main source of water born diseases,
which can mainly affect the young children.
Tamil Nadu - the most south-eastern state of
India - is also facing drinking water scarcity
especially in the coastal regions due to the
increase of salinity of ground water.
Such water hole was once the only
drinking water facility in Velivayal.
Thus, the destruction of sand dunes, construction of shrimp farms, urbanization and the pollution through industries are making the availability
of traditional drinking water resources of fisher
folk community - the open sand pits - now very
sparse.
For example, the sand dunes are the natural
rainwater harvesting systems, which hold filtered rainwater from the surface at depth between
5 to 15 feet. The fisher folk community depend
on this sand pits for drinking and cooking water
particularly in the summer months. The abovementioned salinity problems are slowly making
these pits to the sources of water born diseases.
The same problem has faced the villagers of
Keezhathottam and Velivayal where the MANGREEN Project is carried out. To solve the
water scarcity and to help them to obtain hygiene drinking water, OMCAR has installed hand
pumps in the two villages.
Engineers installed a new pump
It offers now safe drinking and cooking water to
the students in the school of Velivayal and to the
people. Solving the problem of water scarcity is
an important step to help to reach a improvement in personal hygiene. It has helped in the
acceptance of the villagers for the issue of conservation and protection of mangroves through
the MANGREEN project.
Life is much more convenient with the new device.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
25
MANGREEN Project report
by V. Balaji
to carry out fence construction. Locally available
eucalyptus woods were used for the fences.
Implementation of the MANGREEN project
work started in August 2005 and this report
gives details of the monthly project activities.
2. Nursery construction
A site near the coastal mangrove stretch in
Keezhathottam was selected for nursery construction, which is close to a tidal creek. The
square shaped nursery has 15 sunken nursery
beds with a shadow of coconut thatches to prevent mortality and desertification by the sun.
August 2005
1. Office Establishment and staff recruitment
The MANGREEN office was established in the
south-eastern coastal town of Pattukkottai, T.N.
Office materials like furniture, computer and its
accessories, communication equipments and a
two-wheeler were purchased for the project.
3. Seed collection and plantation
4000 propagules of Rhizophora were collected
from Pitchavaram mangrove forest through
forest department. 900 propagules were planted
in the nursery and the remaining 3100 propagules were directly sowed into the desilted fish
bone canals in the protected site.
2. Meeting with villagers and district forest
department
The project leader participated in the monthly
village meeting to explain about the project and
to get support and acceptance of the village
heads to launch the project. The villagers
accepted to support the project by a letter from
the village head. The project leader met District
forest officers of various level to get permission
from the district forest department. The acceptance was confirmed through their permission
letter.
4. Visit of Dr. Onno Groß and Mr. Herbert
Hoffman
Dr. Onno Groß, president of our project partner
DEEPWAVE and Mr. Herbert Hoffman visited
theoffice and MANGREEN field from
10.11.2005 to 21.11.2005. The programme was
as follows
a. Field visit to Agni estuary and Muthupet
mangroves
b. Village meeting with forest officers
c. Field visit to Palk Bay
d. Seminar on MANGREE Project at Max
Muller (Goethe) Institute
e. Seminar at CAS and Madras University
f. Meet with solicit general of Germany
3. Desiltation of canals
20 hectares of the restoration site were split in
to 5 parts to carry out a step-by-step extension
of the project area. The first site was selected
on the northern side of the Agni estuary. There
the fish bone canals and a main connecting
canal that supplies natural estuarine water to
the mangroves were desilted in order to enhance the natural regeneration.
5. Volunteer group formation
School students were invited for the seminar on
"Protect Palk Bay". A group of students were
organized for an OMCAR volunteer team and
trained for conduction socio-economic and field
research in field.
4. Monthly Environmental Awareness Class
With the permission of the district assistant education office, the project started to explain about
the importance of conservation of coastal ecosystems and the endangered species in Palk
Bay, to school students in the coastal villages.
The number of schools increased two folds till
the end of December 2005.
6. Socio-economic survey
A team of OMCAR staff and volunteers were
involved to carry out a socio-economic survey at
the coastal villages. Keezhathottam was studied
for population, male-female ratio, availability for
basic living facilities, house structures, education status of adults and children, personal hygiene status, tsunami impacts, diseases and
essential needs. The report was sent to other
non-governmental organizations and government rural development departments to focus
their problems.
September 2005
1. Fencing
MANGREEN site 1 in Kheezathottam was encircled with wooden fences to prevent further cattle grazing. A team of local villagers was formed
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
26
October 2005
1. Field office construction
A field office was constructed near the coast of
Keezhathottam village in order to store field
equipments, conduct village meetings and community development activities.
flood and monsoon rains in November.
1. Beach way clearing and mud bag construction
As per the request of villagers, the way to the
beach was cleared from dense Prosophis
plants in order to enhance their access to the
boats. A small bridge was supported with the
addition of sand bags on both sides for preventing further erosion of the beach path.
2. Canal maintenance work
The siltation of few fishbone canals and formations of dense debris of washed ashore sea
grasses like Cymodocea sp. and Syringodium
isoetifolium were removed from all canals to
protect the newly planted propagules.
2. Avicennia marina nursery bed preparation
Seeds were collected from southwestern side of
Muthupet mangroves. 700 pockets of A. marina
(2 seeds/pocket) were prepared in the nursery.
A small fencing with fishing nets supported by
wooden poles was arranged for protection.
3. Addition of Prosophis sp. on fences
The wooden fence of eucalyptus were strengthened with the branches of spiny Prosophis
plants to prevent small sheep come through.
3. Mangrove vegetation study in plots Nr. 4 and 5
This study was carried out in an islet that is located in the western side of mangrove swamp
near Keezhathottam. The continuous monitoring of these plots will be helpful to know the
changes in the mangrove community structure.
4. Internship Programme
Miss. Josephine Krueger, studying international
forest ecosystem management at university of
Ebereswalde came for a three-month internship
programme. She joined with volunteers and
staff in studying community structure of
Keezhathottam wetlands, mangrove nursery
maintenance and project development.
December 2005
1. Mapping of abandoned shrimp farms
Abandoned shrimp farms were counted and
mapped on the central islet, for later shrimp
farm restoration by mangroves. The suitable
ponds were searched throughout a 3 km stretch
towards the northern direction.
5. Canal Plantation study
The plantation of mangrove seedlings in three
fish bone canals A, B and C was studied for their
morphological parameters, health and survival.
This data will be used to compare results with
future studies.
2. Monthly environmental awareness programme
A power point presentation on "Coral Reefs and
its role their ecological role and fishery" were
shown to school students of the coastal villages.
After the class, the school head teachers were
signed in as our school programme managers.
6. Introductory meeting
A power point presentation of MANGREEN project was shown to local reporters and the public
at the office in Pattukkottai. Interested participants joined afterwards the volunteer team.
3. Fencing in MANGREEN Site 2
Fencing of mangroves in site 2 started at 11th
and ended at 26th of December 2005. Local villagers were selected for fencing work. This
fence covers the Plot.1 of AMANGREEN site 2,
and will be used as an evidence of the benefits
of the restoration programme by the growth of
shoreline mangroves through the prevention of
cattle grazing.
6. Provision of writing materials.
In order to address school students, writing
material and small handy desks were given
through schoolteachers to those students who
had achieved the first three ranks in classes.
7. Avicennia Plantation
6000 seeds of Avicennia marina were collected
and planted in MANGREEN site 1 the fish bone
canals of southern side of Agni Estuary.
4. Field Trip
School students and volunteers started for a
field trip to the Muthupet mangroves. This oneday trip was very useful for them to understand
November 2005
The fieldwork was not possible due to heavy
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
27
the zonation of mangroves along the riversides,
to see the natural beauty of Muthupet lagoon
and to walk inside a mangrove forest.
Muthupet mangrove reserve forests and to
monitor its fauna (jackals, insects, fishes, migratory birds and sustainable resource management for local villagers).
5. Avicennia seed collections and sowing
Seeds were collected from Keezhathottam
mangroves and were segregated and directly
planted inside MANGREEN site 1 and 2. The
remaining seeds were planted along the opposite Agni river shore.
February 2006
1. Women empowerment programmes
The women empowerment programmes and
alternative livelihood arrangements such as the
tailor units in Keezhathottam continuated in
February 2006. The beneficiaries are mostly
young village women who used to depend on
the mangroves and nearby estuaries heaily for
their daily life. Thus, with the money pressure
from the nature can be reduced hopefully.
6. Canal plantation II study
The study was carried out in three fish bone
canals in the last week of December. Total number of plants survived, growth, diseased and
damaged leaves and morphological parameters
were studied. The study reveals that the heavy
floods in November and December caused the
death of seedlings of Avicennia marina especially through thick algal coverage.
2. Banking class and coconut roof
Self-help group of fishermen was also formed
and registered. This group of fishermen is
saving their money in the common account
which will be increased by the provision of loan
from the bank. An additional financial support
helps them to fulfil their own needs without borrowing money from moneylenders. Mangrove
nursery was thatched with coconut roof again to
protect from summer heat. The damaged fences on the mangreen site1 were closed and
maintenance work was carried out.
January 2006
1. Formation of Self Help Group - SHG
In response to the support of local fishermen for
the project and mangrove conservation, our
team started to improve their socio-economic
status through the formation of a SHG group. 20
fishermen organized themselves to form such a
group. These persons will save money in their
bank account every month. OMCAR will help
them to apply for bank loan and subsidies from
the government. This will help them to get relief
from the rude moneylenders who fetch 10% of
the interest for lending money. A training programme for the poor SHG fishermen members
will be periodically given from OMCAR staffs.
March 2006
1. Second mangrove site selected
A second village - Velivayal - was selected for
the extension of the mangrove restoration in
northern Palk Bay. A student from technical university of Berlin started her documentation on
the socio-economic status of Velivayal village
and overall work progress of OMCAR. A village
meeting was conducted at Velivayal to introduce the MANGREEN goals. Forest department
officers, village leader and panchayat members
participated in the meeting.
2. Tailor training Programme
To enhance the woman empowerment in the
coastal villages, OMCAR has established a training centre in Keezhathottam village. As a first
phase, a 6-month tailor training programme was
arranged and started from the first week of
February 2006. Approx. 20 women will be trained for making dress materials, bags and
embroidery works. They will be then trained and
organized to start a small cloth-manufacturing
unit in the future.
2. Hygiene and awareness programmes
In addition to the monthly environmental awareness education programmes, hygiene education also started in the coastal schools. The
importance of hygiene drinking water and water
born diseases were explained to school students through charts, lessons and feedback
forms. Reference photos were taken to documented changes in the mangrove sites. A team
of volunteers and staffs of OMCAR participated
in a mangrove cleaning programme. The team
collected the plastics from Muthupet mangroves
3. Joint Ecological Research Programmes with
Government
We met higher forest officials in the third week
of January and applied to get the permission to
scientifically support the management of
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
28
and the local newspapers were informed about
the impact of pollution from plastics to the fragile mangrove ecosystem.
The backwater mangroves of Velivayal were
fenced with villagers. The canals in keeyhathottam were desilted again. A meeting was arranged in velivayal to explain about the benefits of
forming self-help group among the fishermen.
May-June 2006
As per the second part of the objectives of the
MANGREEN project, village level awareness
programmes on mangrove conservation and its
benefits were explained through street plays
and folk songs. A group of professional drama
group was involved in the one-week programme, which held at five villages along the northern Palk Bay such as Arippurakarai,
Keezhathotta, Velivayal, Mallipattinam and
Sambaipattinam. A community centre was constructed at Velivayal village for enhancing the
weekly meeting of villagers and women self
help groups. The same place is utilized by the
kinder garden students during rainy days.
Canal work is a monthly duty for OMCAR staff.
A two-week summer camp was conducted in
Keezhathottam village that includes computer
education, drawings, traditional songs and
games. Hand pumps were fixed on the second
village to facilitate the safe drinking water. A
pipeline for drinking water was arranged in the
part of Keezhathottam. First aid boxes and fences were provided to eco-club members.
German students helped to clean the Muthupet forests.
Coir making training programme started in
Velivayal. A batch of ten women is trained for
ten days. At the end of the programme, about 50
women will be trained with coir making technique. OMCAR will approach the local bank to
give loan for them after six months.
Monitoring mangrove changes is done routinely.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
29
Finances
A variety of donations has helped to start with
the MANGREEN project. But especially the
German Lighthouse Foundation is thanked
herby for their generous funding.
List of donors:
among others....
Ilsemari 100 €
Y8 910 €
Schott 300 €
Nehring 10 €
Patricia 25 €
School Hamburg 100 €
Grewes 100 €
Anonymous 4100 €
University Vienna 100 €
...
to be continued
From 1. July 2005 to 31. June 2006 approx.
25,000 Euro were spent in the project. As this is
at the starting phase of the project, quite a lot
went into office equipments, websites, documentation etc. However, staff salaries, fencing
materials and a lot of other expenses were supplied from the local region.
Finances 2005
OFFICE
ESTABLISHMENT
FIELD OFFICE &
TRAINING CENTRE
NURSERY
1500
2361
360
STAFF SALERY
489
257
2500
PROJECT SALERY
MANGROVE
RESTORATION WORK
1692
1000
105
WEBSITE
1500
1083
SCHOOL
PROGRAMMES
TRAVEL COST
PRESS
EUROPE
Finances 2006
OFFICE
ESTABLISHMENT
FIELD OFFICE &
TRAINING CENTRE
NURSERY
1300
1500
400
743
STAFF SALERY
606
1500
PROJECT SALERY
1195
MANGROVE
RESTORATION WORK
SCHOOL
PROGRAMMES
1000
1500
635
WEBSITE
2357
TRAVEL COST
PRESS
EUROPE
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
30
Future studies
With the network of other experts we are confident that our approaches can fulfill the long
lasting goal: the conservation of the coastal
mangroves and to preserve it from further
destructions. The mangroves are now protected
not only by fences but also by the local communities. Some special further issues include:
1. Fish framing projects
The commercially valuable crab species Cylla
serrata is abundantly available in the Agni
estuary. However, the fishermen get low income
as they sell it for low prices. Thus, they catch all
the size groups of crabs. OMCAR is planning to
leave back brooders and undersized crabs
which will be introduced in to crab cages and
owned by the fishermen self help group.
Lord SHIVA protects this Rhizophora mangrove tree in
Velivayal. Such signs are respected in the fisher folk and
create awareness to future wetland conservation.
2. Mangrove awareness and cultural programme in coastal villages
Through street plays, video shows, puppet
shows and folk songs the mangrove conservation and its role in commercial fishery will be
explained in all the coastal villages of Thanjavur District, of northern Palk Bay coast.
3. Extension of project to other areas
The project wants to extend to other estuaries of
Palk Bay when community and government
accept this. The methods of the MANGREEN
project implementation in Agni estuary will be
used and modified depending on landscape,
soil condition, species distribution and threats.
Further programs
Socio-Economic Development:
1. Developing of villages as model for "Coastal
Bio-Shield through community involvement"
2. Documentation of socio-economic status of
other Palk Bay villages
3. Skill development and orientation of jobless
youths in coastal villages
4. Water and sanitation programme
5. Initiation of fishermen coastal conservation
federation
Community awareness:
1. Kayak Awareness Expedition along the Tamil
Nadu coastal region in autumn 2006
2. Extension of number of schools up to 30 by
March 2007
Research:
1. Building of an information centre for Palk Bay
coastal biodiversity and conservation
2. Yearly monitoring of entire Palk Bay mangroves and their associated ecosystems
3. Impact assessment of shrimp culture on coastal fishery and mangroves
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
31
Selected reading
Appelt, J., 2006. OMCAR and its mangrove restoration and ecology programme MANGREEN in India. see
http://www.mangreen.org
Balaji V., 2003. Dangerous Threats to Coastal Tamil Nadu. Centre of Advanced Science in Marine Biology, Annamalai
University, Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India, 56 p.see http://www.omcar.org
Balaji V., 2005. Socio-economic Status of Keezhathottam. Omcar Report, Organization for Marine Conservation,
Awareness and Research, 25 p. see http://www.omcar.org
Blasco, F. & M. Aizpur, 2000. Mangroves along the coastal stretch of the Bay of Bengal: Present Status.
Indian Journal of Marine Sciences, Vol. 31(1), March 2002:
Chadha, R.K. et al., 2005. The tsunami of the great Sumatra earthquake of M 9.0 on 26 December 2004 - Impact on
the East Coast of India. Current Science, Vol. 88, No 8, 25 April 2005.
Check, E., 2005. Roots of Recovery. Nature, Vol. 438, 910-911.
Clarke, A. and Johns, L., 2002. Mangrove Nurseries: Construction, Propagation and Planting: Fisheries Guidelines,
Department of Primary Industries, Queensland, Fish Habitat Guideline FHG 004, 32 p.
Dahdouh-Guebas, et al., 2005. How effective were mangroves as a defence against the recent tsunami?
Current Biology, Vol. 15, No 12, 443-447.
EJF 2004. Farming The Sea, Costing The Earth: Why We Must Green The Blue Revolution. Environmental Justice
Foundation, London, UK.
FAO, 2003. Status and trends in mangrove area extent worldwide. Ed. Wilkie, M.L. and Fortuna, S. Forest Resources
Assessment Working Paper No. 63. Forest Resources Division. FAO, Rome.
Danielsen, F. et al., 2005 Asian Tsunami: A Protective Role for Coastal Vegetation, Science Vol. 310. no. 5748, p. 643.
IUCN January 2005. Early observations of tsunami effects on mangrove and coastal forests www.iucn.org
Jeyaseelam, M.J. Prince & K. Krishnamurthy, 1980. Role of Mangrove Forests of Pitchavaram as Fish Nursery.
Centre of Advanced Science in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India
Kannan, L., 1990. Mangroves- their importance and need for conservation. Centre of Advanced Science in Marine
Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India
Kathiresan, K., N. Rajendran, V. Palaniselvam, 1999. Growth of Rhizophora apiculata in degraded areas of
Ariyankuppam estuary along Pondicherry coastline, southeast coast of India, Centre of Advanced Science in Marine
Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India
Kathiresan, K. and N. Rajendran, 2005. Mangrove Associated Communities. Centre of Advanced Science in Marine
Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India
Krishnamurthy, K. M.J.P. Jeyaseelam, 1983. The Pitchavaram Mangrove Ecosystem. Int. Ecol. Environ. Sci.9: Centre
of Advanced Science in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India
Lewis, R.R., 2003. Ecological engineering for successful management and restoration of mangrove forests. Ecological
Engineering 24, 403-418.
Lewis, R.R, 2005. Mangroves, Hurricanes and Tsunamis. Environmental Concern: All About Wetlands, Vol 1, No 3.
Mangrove Action Project http://www.earthisland.org/map
Melana, D.M.,et al. 2000. Mangrove Management Handbook. Department of Environment and Natural Resources,
Manila, Philippines through the Coastal Resource Management Project, Cebu City, Philippines. 96 p.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis. World
Resources Institute, Washington, DC.
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Mühlig-Hofmann, A., 2005. Local marine resource management - the role of Fijian villagers in co-managing a smallscale fishery. Proceedings of the International Conference 'People and the Sea III', 7-9th July 2005, Amsterdam,
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AVVM Sri Pushpam College, Poondi Seshaiyana Vol.6 Nb.1.
Pauly, D., 2005. Rebuilding fisheries will add to Asia's Problems. Nature 433, p. 457.
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Information System Center, Centre of Advanced Science in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamil
Nadu, India ENVIS Publication Series: 3/2001.
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Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India ENVIS Publication Series: 1/2002.
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Shrimp Hatcheries of Andhra Pradesh, India. Environmental Conservation. 30: 344-352.
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11 pp1328-1336
Acknowledgements
We like to thank all the workers and volunteers
of the MANGREEN project for their various assistances. Thanks are especially due to G.
Murugesan and M. Rajendran for their help in
establishing the mangrove plantation and running the fieldwork. Thanks are also due to
Josefine Krueger of University Eberswalde for
monitoring the first plantations and Jule Appelt
of University Berlin for the socio-economic
studies. Maren Lütjens and Herbert Hofmann
did a great job establishing the web site. We
also like to thank the MAP Mangrove Action
Project for inviting V. Balaji to the Mangrove
workshop in November 2005. This work is also
part of the PhD. thesis of V. Balaji in the working
group of Prof. S. Raveendran at the University
of Bharathidasan. The project MANGREEN was
fully sponsored by the German LIGHTHOUSE
FOUNDATION together with DEEPWAVE - The
Initiative for the Protection of the High and Deep
Sea.
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
A holy tree - more trees will come.
33
APPENDIX I
Press releases
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
34
ots: Hamburger Initiative fördert Tsunami-Schutz in Indien
Hamburg/Pattukkottai 1. September 05. Mit dem Beginn der Monsun-Regenzeit startet jetzt ein
internationales Umweltprojekt zur Anpflanzung von Mangroven als Tsunami-Schutz im südindischen Tamil Nadu. Entwickelt wurde das Projekt MANGREEN - Mangrove Restoration in India von der Hamburger Initiative DEEPWAVE und der Umweltschutzorganisation OMCAR (Ocean
Marine Conservation, Awareness and Research).
Das Seebeben von Sumatra hat im "Land der Tempel" Tamil Nadu viele Menschenleben gekostet
und Fischerdörfer, Infrastrukturen und Küstenregionen zerstört. Die Katastrophe zeigte, dass
Küsten mit noch bestehenden Mangrovenwäldern weit weniger durch den Tsunami verwüstet wurden. Das Bollwerk aus dichten Pflanzenwurzeln hat viele Menschenleben vor der Wucht der
Wellen gerettet.
In Indien und anderen tropischen Regionen sind jedoch im letzten Jahrzehnt mehr als eine Million
Hektar Mangroven verschwunden. Der natürliche Küstenschutz wurde achtlos durch
Flächenrodung, Deichbau oder Shrimpsfarmen zerstört und die Küsten dadurch entwurzelt.
"Durch das MANGREEN-Projekt möchten wir die lokale Bevölkerung zu nachhaltigem Mangrovenund Küstenschutz anregen." betont Dr. Onno Groß, 1. Vorsitzender von DEEPWAVE. Der Kontakt
zu dem Biologen Vedharajan Balaji, Gründer von OMCAR, besteht seit 2003. Durch die
Tsunamikatastrophe entstand der Gedanke, gemeinsam Aufbauhilfe in Indien zu leisten.
Ein erstes Gebiet von 20 ha für eine Baumschule und die Mangrovenanpflanzung ist nahe dem
Fischerdorf Keezhathottam an der Palk Bucht mittlerweile ausgewiesen. OMCAR informiert in
Abendschulen über das Projekt und führt nötige Renaturierungsarbeiten durch. Mit den MonsunRegenfällen beginnt nun das Sammeln und die Zucht der Setzlinge.
Das Projekt wird von der lokalen Bevölkerung, der Waldbehörde und Experten von der Universität
Annamalai unterstützt. Eine Anschubfinanzierung übernimmt die Hamburger Lighthouse
Foundation. Am 12. September wird DEEPWAVE das Projekt vor Ort einweihen. In Kombination
mit dem Tsunami-Frühwarnsystem kann die Wiederanpflanzung von Mangroven dazu beitragen,
zukünftig Katastrophen wie die des vergangenen Dezembers zu vermindern.
Kontakt:
Dr. Onno Groß, 0 179 598 69 69
Fotos unter www.mangreen.org
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
35
India
Mangrove Ecology and restoration
36
MANGREEN PROJECT
Autor: Elena Knolle
ag für Tag werden wir in den Nachrichten
mit immer neuen Schreckens- und Katastrophenmeldungen konfrontiert, und oft
folgen darauf unzählige Spendenaufrufe, etliche
Hilfseinsätze und Tränendrüsen anregende
Talkshows mit Betroffenen. Doch was
geschieht, nachdem die erste Welle der Hilfsbereitschaft und Aufmerksamkeit abgeebbt ist
und sich wieder neueren Ereignissen zugewendet wird?
T
Genau an dieser Frage setzt das von dem
Meeresbiologen Dr. Onno Groß und seiner
gemeinnützigen Initiative zum Schutz der Hochund Tiefsee Deepwave e.V. im Juli 2005 initiierte Hilfsprojekt Mangreen Project an. Als
Reaktion auf die Tsunami-Katastrophe gegründet,
handelt es sich beim Mangreen Project um den
langfristig angesetzten Versuch, mittels des
Anbaus von Mangrovenpflanzen in den von
Überflutung gefährdeten Gebieten Südindiens
einen natürlichen, biologisch sinnvollen und
unschädlichen Schutz vor weiteren Flutwellen
und die durch sie verursachten Schäden zu
schaffen.
schwemmten Unrat abfangen können. Zudem
erfahren sie auf diesem Wege auch, wie sie
unter Beibehaltung ihrer Traditionen umweltverträglicher leben können. Und sie lernen aus
erster Hand, wie sie selbst Mangroven anpflanzen können und somit Selbsthilfe und Umweltschutz gleichermaßen praktizieren.
Somit kommt das Mangreen Projekt der
Forderung nach, die Betroffenen nicht von ihrer
Hilfestellung abhängig zu machen, sondern sie
zur Autarkie zu befähigen, was gerade angesichts der Tatsache, dass es kaum eigentliche
NGOs und Umweltschutzinitiativen in der
Region gibt, von höchster Relevanz erscheint.
So tragen Deepwave und OMCAR durch ihre
Informationsarbeit auch dazu bei, den
Einheimischen die Ursachen für die
Umweltzerstörung zu vermitteln, die in der
Industrieentwicklung begründet liegen.
In Zusammenarbeit mit der lokalen, in Tamil
Nadu ansässigen Naturschutzorganisation
OMCAR (Organisation for Marine Conservation, Awareness and Research) sollen die
bereits vorher in den Küstenregionen Südindiens existierenden, nun durch die Industrieentwicklung größtenteils zerstörten und stark
bedrohten Mangrovenwälder, wieder aufgeforstet werden. Durch die Mitwirkung von OMCAR
wird der Schutz der Pflanzen und hiermit
sowohl der nachhaltige Küstenschutz als auch
die daraus resultierende Arbeit für die dortige,
meist verarmte Bevölkerung, gesichert. Zudem
verstärkt sie durch ihr Zutun auch die Akzeptanz
und Unterstützung des Mangreen Projekts bei
den betroffenen Einheimischen.
Waren die Bewohner vorher aufgrund mangelnder Information den Machenschaften der
Industrie - die durch das Anlegen von Shrimpsfarmen die Mangrovenvorkommnisse zerstörten
- ahnungslos und dadurch vollkommen ausgeliefert, werden sie nun mithilfe der
Wissensvermittlung dazu befähigt, die Missstände zu erkennen und zum Teil produktiv
gegen sie anzugehen. Neben dem Schutz von
Land und Leuten durch die angebauten
Mangroven, der Förderung der Umwelt, wird
durch das Projekt auch die Armut als zweites
Durch Informationszentren und Abendschulen
werden die Bewohner von Tamil Nadu darüber
aufgeklärt, wie die Mangroven als im Salzwasser lebende Baum - und Straucharten durch
ihre biegsamen, elastischen Wurzeln als natürlicher Schutzwall gegen die Flut wirken und
gleichzeitig den durch das Wasser angeMangrove Ecology and restoration
37
Kernproblem gemindert: "Die zehn einheimischen Arbeiter, die bei uns mitarbeiten, erhalten
täglich einen Euro Lohn, dadurch werden täglich zehn Familien ernährt und schaffen den
Absprung aus der Armutsspirale", erläutert
Herbert Hofmann, der als Freiwilliger an dem
Hilfsprojekt in Indien mitwirkt.
nete Erde, sowie zum anderen das Fachwissen,
um ein solches Projekt solide anzugehen und
durchzuführen.
In Tamil Nadu scheint dies jedoch zu funktionieren, und als durch Studien in seiner
Wirksamkeit bestätigtes und wissenschaftlich
begleitetes Hilfsprojekt kann das Mangreen
Project so sicherlich als "Leuchtturmprojekt", so
Dr. Onno Gross, verstanden werden und im
Idealfall vielen weiteren derartigen Projekten
vorausgehen. Damit dieser Weg weiter
beschritten werden kann, ist noch viel
Missionierungsarbeit in den Dörfern zu leisten
und viele Kooperationen mit anderen NGOs
sind einzugehen.
edeutsam erscheint auch, was die
Initiative des Mangreen Projects in Tamil
Nadu exemplarisch in Gang gesetzt hat:
So wurden im Anschluss an das Projekt
Selbsthilfegruppen gegründet, in denen z.B.
Blätter von Kokosnüssen genutzt werden, um
als Kunsthandwerk verkauft werden zu können,
ein Fischer-Sozialfonds wurde ins Leben gerufen, und Umweltschutzunterricht sowie Ökoclubs an Schulen wurden gegründet.
B
Am wichtigsten erscheint jedoch die finanzielle,
ideelle und praktische Unterstützung des
Projektes durch Sponsoren, Ökotouristen oder
freiwillige Mitarbeiter: Jede Art von Hilfe ist willkommen, um, so Dr. Onno Gross, «den
Auswirkungen der Globalisierung zu begegnen
und Bewusstsein zu schaffen und zu leben,
Bewusstsein und Verantwortung für eine
gemeinsame Welt, in der wir als Erste-WeltBürger nicht nur nehmen, sondern auch geben
können und sollen». Das Mangreen Project will
in diesem Sinne Bewusstseinsarbeit leisten und
Brücken bauen. Zwischen Kulturen, Menschen
und Welten.
Die Mangroven selbst können neben dem
Umweltschutz, je nach Verarbeitung auch als
Arzneimittel, Tee oder Feuerholz fungieren, tragen also auf vielfältige Weise zur Verbesserung
der Lebensbedingungen der Bevölkerung bei.
Der oft von Kritikern vorgebrachte Einwand,
durch das Eingreifen fremder Organisationen
werde Abhängigkeit geschürt und Unselbstständigkeit befördert, kann neben der Zusammenarbeit mit OMCAR auch durch die Berücksichtigung der Traditionen entkräftet werden.
So zum Beispiel bezüglich der Fischerei, die die
Haupteinnahmequelle für die Dorfbevölkerung
der Küstenregion darstellt: «Um Tintenfische zu
fangen, wird normalerweise ein Floß aus
Mangrovenholz verwendet. Nun verwenden die
Fischer einfach Bambusholz. Sie behalten also
ihre Tradition im Grundlegenden bei, nur
Umweltschädliches wie die Verwendung von
Mangrovenholz oder das Fischen von
Schildkröten wird geächtet», erläutert Dr. Onno
Gross den sicherlich nicht immer einfachen
Balanceakt zwischen Tradition und (umweltverträglicher) Moderne. Auch die religiöse Tradition
der ansässigen Inder wird geachtet: So segnete
ein Puja, ein Brahmane, das Projekt im eigens
einberufenen Gottesdienst spirituell ab.
P*U*S*H*-Info:
www.mangreen.org
http://www.pushmagazin.de/cms/push/2006/10
_2006Mai/Mangreen_Project.html
Nicht nur in Indien sind Regionen gefährdet,
und so wird aus vielen anderen Ländern, unter
anderem aus Kenia, Projekthilfen angefragt.
Doch nicht überall ist die Basis für ein Gelingen
gegeben. Unabdingbar ist diesbezüglich zum
einen reife und für den Mangrovenanbau geeigMangrove Ecology and restoration
38
rechnet die indische Palk-Bucht als
Wirkungsfeld ausgesucht?
heute in bremen
Mangroven wehren Tsunamis ab
Dort kam es bei der Tsunami-Katastrophe im
Dezember 2004 zu schweren Schäden. Das
soll sich nicht wiederholen. Deshalb hat die
Organisation for Marine Awareness,
Conservation and Research (OMCAR) mit
deutscher Hilfe dieses Projekt zur
Mangrovenaufzucht ins Leben gerufen.
Heute stellt das Überseemuseum das
Küstenschutzprogramm Mangreen vor
taz: Wie schützen Mangrovenbäume überflutungsgefährdete Küsten?
Peter-René Becker, Leiter der NaturkundeAbteilung im Überseemuseum: Durch ihr oberirdisches Stelzwurzelgeflecht. Die Wurzeln brechen die Energie des Wassers so stark, dass
es zu keinen Zerstörungen kommt. Zudem stabilisieren sie die Stämme der Bäume - und
schützen sie so vor dem Umknicken.
Hätten Mangroven-Schutzwälle diese
Katastrophe tatsächlich verhindert?
Das ist anzunehmen. Auf den Nikobaren und
Andamaren hat der Tsunami keine großen
Verwüstungen angerichtet, weil sie einen intakten Mangroven-Schutz besitzen. Leider ist das
eine Ausnahme. Insgesamt sind
Mangrovenbäume bereits zum großen Teil
abgeholzt. Eine Aufforstung ist also dringend
notwendig. Fragen: Thorsten Steer
Können das nur Mangroven?
Sie sind besonders dafür geeignet. Palmen
nützen dagegen gar nichts, weil sie einen zu
schlanken Stamm haben. Im Gegenteil: Sie
entziehen sich elegant dem Wasserfluss. So
kann das Meer mit ungebremster Wucht über
die Küste strömen.
Vortrag mit Vedharajan Balaji, Direktor von
Mangreen, 20 Uhr, Überseemuseum Bremen
taz Nord Nr. 8032 vom 27.7.2006, Seite 24, 64
Interview Thorsten Steer
Warum hat sich das Mangreen-Projekt ausgeMangrove Ecology and restoration
39
Make your donations now or online!
Bank account 1208 116 713
Hamburger Sparkasse
Banking Code 200 505 50
IBAN DE10 2005 0550 1208 1167 13 BIC HASPDEHH
(receipt for tax purposes will be provided)
Online: www.mangreen.org
Or write to:
DEEPWAVE. Inc.
The Initiative for the Protection of the High and Deep Sea
Hegestrasse 46 d,
D-20251 Hamburg, Germany
Telefon: ++49 - (0)40 46 85 62 62
Telefax: ++49 - (0)40 46 85 62 63
info@deepwave.org
http://www.deepwave.org
Citation: Vedharajan Balaji & Onno Gross, 2006, MANGREEN - Mangrove Ecology and Restoration
in India. REPORT 2005/06 (DEEPWAVE Report 04/06), 40 p.