Mangrove Alliance for Climate-The Hindu-14-11-2022

GS-3

ENVIRONMENT

CONTEXT: During the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the UAE and Indonesia announced the "Mangrove Alliance for Climate."

Prelim and Mains:

Know about Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC)

It includes UAE, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan, and Spain.
It seeks to educate and spread awareness worldwide on the role of mangroves in curbing global warming and its potential as a solution for climate change.
parties will decide their own commitments and deadlines regarding planting and restoring mangroves.
The members will also share expertise and support each other in researching, managing and protecting coastal areas.

What are Mangroves?
About:
Mangroves are defined as assemblages of salt tolerant trees and shrubs that grow in the intertidal regions of the tropical and subtropical coastlines.
Features:
Saline Environment: They can survive under extreme hostile environments such as high salt and low oxygen conditions.
Low oxygen: Underground tissue of any plant needs oxygen for respiration. But in a mangrove environment, the oxygen in soil is limited or nil.
For the purpose of breathing, they develop special roots called pneumatophores.
Survival in Extreme Conditions: With their roots submerged in water, mangrove trees thrive in hot, muddy, salty conditions that would quickly kill most plants.
Area Covered:
Global Mangrove Cover:
The total mangrove cover in the world is one 1,50,000 sq kms.
Asia has the largest number of mangroves worldwide.
South Asia comprises 6.8% of the world's mangrove cover.

Indian Mangrove Cover:

India's contribution is 45.8% total mangrove cover in South Asia.
According to the Indian State Forest Report 2021, Mangrove cover in India is 4992 sq. Km which is 0.15% of the country's total geographical area.
Largest Mangrove Forest: Sundarbans in West Bengal are the largest mangrove forest regions in the world. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is followed by Gujarat and Andaman, and Nicobar Islands