Bio-shield in place in coastal belt against the waves

A mission for greening the coastal belt and creating a bio-shield
against invading waves has been completed by the Social Forestry Wing
of the Forest Department. Though the project may sound attractive, it
was not an easy task for the department to implement it, given the
weather conditions and the socio-economic specialities of the coastal
belt. During the project that concluded recently, a green cover of 15
hectares was developed in Ernakulam district, said Siddappa, Chief
Conservator of Forests (Social Forestry), Ernakulam region. The Forest
Department was mostly in the role of facilitator for the project. It
also supplied saplings of casuarinas for planting and supported the
Theera Vana Samrakshana Samithies in planting them. Mangroves were
also planted in some places. It is estimated that around 1.5 lakh
saplings were planted in the district alone. This was one of the
projects of the Social Forestry Department that was implemented with
people's support. One member each from the houses in the coastal belt
was part of the samithi which implemented the project. As the
department has completed its responsibility regarding the project, now
it is the turn of the local panchayats to take it further. Though the
ownership of the Theera Vanam will be with the samithis, the local
panchayats can plan the future course of action, Mr. Siddappa said.

The Hindu, June 19