FM announces MISTHI scheme in Union Budget for mangrove plantations | Latest News India | Times Of Ahmedabad

New Delhi:

Budget 2023-24 announced that mangrove plantations will be taken up along the country’s coastline apart from salt pans, wherever feasible, through the convergence of the job guarantee scheme MGNREGS, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund, and other funding sources.

“Building on India’s success in afforestation, ‘Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes’, MISHTI, will be taken up for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on salt pan lands,” Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. She also announced a scheme for wetlands called Amrit Dharohar that will help generate income for local communities through eco-tourism and other means.

“Wetlands are vital ecosystems which sustain biological diversity. In his latest Mann Ki Baat, the Prime Minister said the total number of Ramsar sites in our country has increased to 75. Whereas, before 2014, there were only 26. Local communities have always been at the forefront of conservation efforts. The government will promote their unique conservation values through Amrit Dharohar, a scheme that will be implemented over the next three years to encourage optimal use of wetlands, and enhance bio-diversity, carbon stock, eco-tourism opportunities and income generation for local communities,” Sitharaman said.

Also Read: GOBARdhan, MISHTI and other acronyms in Union Budget 2023-24

Experts say both these schemes could support biodiversity conservation and climate resilience and adaptation.

“While Budget 2023-2024 did not specifically outlay for climate adaptation, the launch of PM-PRANAM (on promoting chemical-free agriculture) brings into focus the need for building the resilience of natural resources; the programme will also lower emissions from the use of chemical fertilisers.

MISHTI comes at a time when mangrove resources are under the threat of commercialisation for aquaculture, coastal development, and industrial activities,” said Indu K Murthy, sector head of climate, environment and sustainability at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP).

“Promoting mangrove plantations will help in ecological stabilisation, provide protection against cyclones, support biodiversity, and create blue carbon sinks. Likewise, the promotion of wetland conservation through Amrit Dharohar has biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration benefits. PM-PRANAM, MISHTI, and Amrit Dharohar can all contribute to the resilience-building of agriculture, coastal and wetland ecosystems, and the communities dependent on them,” Murthy said.

“MISHTI, which focuses on mangroves, will prevent erosion and help stabilise coastline ecosystems as mangroves are natural infrastructure that protects nearby populated areas by absorbing the impacts of storm surges during extreme weather events and by preventing erosion. Their dense roots bind and build soils, and the above-ground roots slow down water flow and result in sediment deposits, reducing coastal erosion,” she added.

Environmental experts have been critical of certain mega projects that are likely to impact ecologically fragile coastal areas. Two of these are the proposed redevelopment of Lakshadweep and a township project in Great Nicobar. Lakshadweep will be developed as a tourism hub.

“Lakshadweep administration has informed that they are engaged in the development of sustainable eco-tourism projects at Kadmat, Minicoy and Suheli Islands under the aegis of NITI Aayog. They are also developing high-end tourist resort facilities in the Kavaratti, Agatti and Bangaram group of Islands on priority and are intended to strengthen the water sports activities at various tourist islands to meet the requirements of tourists visiting these islands. To promote scuba diving and to position Lakshadweep as a prime location for scuba diving on the world map, they are developing scuba diving centres in Kavaratti, Kalpeni, Minicoy, Kadmat and Bangaram Islands. The UT administration of Lakshadweep has taken steps for the development of Islands through public-private participation,” the centre informed the Lok Sabha on August 8 last year.

Also Read: MGNREGS allocation declines to ₹60,000 crore in Union Budget 2023-24

The centre on November 11 last year granted environmental clearance to an International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT), a 450MVA gas and solar power plant, an airport and associated townships over 166.1sq km in Great Nicobar Island.

HT reported on January 11 that the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department drained out the Haiderpur wetland, a protected Ramsar site that some believe to be the best upland in north India, forcing tens of thousands of migratory birds to leave the most prominent bird site in western Uttar Pradesh. The wetland was restored thereafter, following directions from the Union environment ministry. In an October 2017 order, the Supreme Court directed that 201,503 wetlands (including Dhanauri) mapped by the Union government should be protected under Rule 4 of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 but most wetlands continue to remain vulnerable as they are not legally protected.

“If such a scheme (Amrit Dharohar) for “wise use of wetlands” enables the local community to learn to respect the line between wise use and overexploitation it will greatly benefit the wetland ecosystem. Here at Haiderpur wetland, some local fishing communities are over-exploiting the wetland with excessive fishing even in the protected area. This greatly harms biological diversity,” said Ashish Loya, a birder who highlighted the plight of the Haiderpur wetland.

“Also, if local communities develop a stake in protecting the wetland, they can act as the eyes and ears of the forest department and help them take timely action to prevent ecological disasters and tackle issues such as poaching, illegal felling of trees, etc,” he said.