The power of mangroves over seawalls, Pg9

Key Highlights:

• Mangroves in Bhitarkanika, Odisha, significantly reduced the impact of Cyclone Dana, demonstrating their protective power over engineered structures.
• India shows a strong preference for hard protection measures like seawalls, spending ₹2,641 crore over the last decade, while the National Coastal Mission's budget decreased from ₹195 crore in 2022-23 to ₹50 crore in 2024-25.
• Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), utilizing natural buffers like mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs, remains an underutilized asset despite India being a global 'hotspot' for coastal EbA.
• The Sundarbans saw 18,000 women restore 4,600 hectares of mangroves, which mitigated cyclone damage and boosted livelihoods through activities like honey collection.
• Ambiguity in terminology and fragmented mandates hinder the recognition and scaling of EbA interventions in India's climate adaptation strategy.
• The Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) program aims to restore 540 square kilometres of mangroves across nine states and four Union Territories over five years (2023-28).

Detailed Insights:

• India's 11,000-kilometre coastline faces increasing threats from climate change, including rising sea levels, saline intrusion, and intensifying cyclones, impacting 250 million people.
• While grey infrastructure is necessary in some urban areas, it is expensive to maintain and can displace risks, as seen in Kerala where hard armoring accelerated erosion in adjacent areas.
• EbA offers a sustainable strategy by reducing climate risk while supporting vital ecosystems for fisheries, agriculture, and tourism.
• Barriers to EbA implementation include fragmented mandates, weak monitoring, and a preference for visible infrastructure projects.
• Overlapping concepts like Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) create confusion, leading to underreporting of successful EbA initiatives.
• Many ecosystem-based interventions are often categorized under broader development or conservation programs, obscuring their specific adaptation benefits.
• Clear classification and recognition of EbA are crucial for effective monitoring, evaluation, and for reflecting socio-economic benefits in adaptation planning and finance, aligning with the Global Goal on Adaptation.
• The MISHTI scheme, implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), focuses on both ecological restoration and livelihood generation for coastal communities.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA): An approach that uses biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people and communities adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.
• Hard Protection Measures: Engineered coastal defense structures such as seawalls, groynes, embankments, and tetrapods designed to prevent erosion and protect infrastructure.
• Nature-based Solutions (NbS): Actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.
• Global Goal on Adaptation: A framework under the Paris Agreement aimed at enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience, and reducing vulnerability to climate change globally.