Area under moderately dense mangroves fell in 10 years, shows data

Overall mangrove cover increased between 2011 and 2021

Earlier this week, India joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC), which was launched at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Egypt. Led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia, MAC also includes Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan, and Spain, and is a step by the countries towards restoring and conserving mangrove forests to help mitigate the effects of climate change. 

While India is home to one of the largest remaining areas of mangroves in the world, the Sundarbans, what is the status of the country’s mangrove cover?

A Business Standard analysis shows that in India area of moderately dense mangrove forests has reduced by 10.68 per cent to 1,481 sq km between 2011 and 2021. Open mangrove area increased by 27.14 per cent, and very dense mangrove area recorded a marginal increase of 5.13 per cent.

Moderately dense forests have a canopy density (including mangrove cover) between 40 per cent and 70 per cent; very dense forests (including mangrove cover) have a canopy density of 70 per cent and above; and open forests have a density of between 10 per cent and 40 per cent (see chart 1).

Overall, the mangrove area in India has recorded an increase of 7.07 per cent to 4,992 sq km in 2021. Analysis shows that Andhra Pradesh has recorded the highest increase of 69.05 per cent in moderately dense mangrove area between 2011 and 2021. And, Odisha recorded the highest increase of 95.35 per cent in open mangrove area (see chart 2).

Overall, West Bengal has the highest forest cover under mangroves among the nine states and three Union Territories. However, the area under mangroves in the state declined by 1.90 per cent between 2011 and 2021.

When compared region-wise, data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations shows that Asia has the maximum share of mangrove area in the world. And, according to data from five regions, only North and Central America recorded growth in the mangrove area between 1999 and 2020 (see chart 3).