Chennai, July 26 : The Tamil Nadu Forest Department is undertaking massive plantation of mangroves in the coastal areas of the state as part of the International Mangroves Day marked annually on July 26.
In Ramanathapuram, the Department is in the process of planting mangroves in 25 hectares of coastal line.
The theme of this year’s International Mangrove day is ‘Raising awareness about Mangrove’.
The Department is opting for mangrove varieties like Avicennia Maria in the Ramanathapuram coastal line as it is available in these areas.
Volunteers and forest officials are collecting seeds of the plant in the mainland and planted in bags from tomorrow onwards.
These plants will then be planted after monsoon season in coastal areas as the salinity will be less after monsoon.
Green TN Mission has been roped in by the Department to maintain the already planted mangroves as in some areas the growth of these plants are stunted.
This, according to senior officials, is due to the lack of proper backwater area.
As part of the theme of creating awareness of mangroves, the Department is planning to conduct special events on Wednesday for college students and on July 30 for the general public.
There will be boating through the mangrove forest at Karangadu mangrove site for students and general public.
Forest officials will explain the protection extended to coastal areas by the mangroves.
The Department is taking steps to maintain the mangrove forests from wilting.
aal/ksk
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