I 'm guided by these words - Blogger mangroveskerala - 51th Post

Each time a man stands up for an ideal,
or acts to improve the lot of others,
or strikes out against injustice,
he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope ,
and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring
those ripples build a current that can
sweep down the mightiest walls of
oppression and resistance.
- Robert Kennedy

"Sometimes, I feel I’m another mad mangrove tree." - By Pokkudan

His real name is Pokkan, quite an earthly name for an untouchable pulaya (a downtrodden caste group of agricultural labourers and fisherfolk) born in the 1930s in Kerala. When he was born, his umbilical cord was like a blown-up balloon, or the bloated, elongated, seeds of the common mangrove tree. Out of affection, his kith and kin called him Pokkudan. He is now known as Kallen Pokkudan.
All his life, Pokkudan has lived close to the wetlands and, for over a decade, he has been collecting, preserving and planting the seeds of the ‘mad mangrove’ tree (long-fruited, stilted mangrove know as rhizophora mucronata). The association between the man and the tree is so close that Pokkudan says, "Sometimes, I feel I’m another mad mangrove tree." His name is now synonymous with mangrove conservation in Kerala.
When Pokkudan started planting mangrove seedlings in 1989, at the age of 52, he was all alone. Environmentalists had not begun to pay attention to the destruction of mangrove forests, the rainforests of the coastal ecosystem. The Coastal Regulation Zone Act had not come into force. Researchers had not begun to make a beeline to the pockets of wetlands in Kannur district in north Kerala, where Pokkudan lived. In just four decades, the extent of mangrove forests in the state had dropped from over 700 sq. km to a paltry 17 sq. km. Yet, Kannur still possessed nearly 45 per cent of the remaining wetlands in the state.

(Crusader who saves mangroves By Surendranath C.)

A Sea Turtle - Scene from Kolavipalam

Recently i visited kolavipalam near payyoli in kozhikode district , famous for sea turtle protection. Bhavya a B.Com final year student , voluteer of this movement narrated about the behaviour of sea turtles and its egg laying seasons. she also explained about their activities in order to protect the sea turtles and mangroves in the region.

How does one calculate the worth of a 50 year-old tree's services, in Rupees?

if it is a mango tree, you might think of adding up all the mangoes, and timber you have got and working out their cost. But , it is not so simple.
Even a tree that has no fruits to yield could ask for a mind-boggling amount of over 60 lakhs for all the services it has rendered in fifty years. Let us take a look at the details.

The cost of 50,000 kilograms of oxygen @ Rs 20/- per Kg 10,00,000

Wages for controlling atmospheric pollution 10,00,000

Wages for holding water and converting it into vapour 8,00,000

Wages for preventing erosion and producing manure 5,00,000

Rent for providing shelter to birds and animals 3,00,000

Returns for the medicines given in raw form 25,00,000

Total 61,00,000

Munnar Eviction - A good lesson to encroachers.

The war against encroachments in Munnar, idukki district kerala continues.By demolishing a six-storeyed unauthorised resort on Nadayar Road and slapping summary eviction notice against five others on Sunday, the Special Task Force (STF) has sent a clear message to the encroachers in Munnar that they mean business.

Environment Day - News From Kerala

Students from Kerala would plant a record 20 lakh trees on environment day. The kerala state Govt notified 9,500 hectares of forested areas at mankulam as reserve forest.

Silent Valley - We want to protect it

Silent Valley is famous for its population of the rare Lion Tailed Macaque. Besides this it also hosts healthy numbers of Tigers, Leopards, Elephants, Gaur (Indian Bison), Leopard cats, Jungle cats, Fishing cats, Civets, Mongoose, Wild dogs, Sloth beer, Otter, Flying Squirrels, Malabar Giant Squirrels, Indian Pangolins, Porcupines, Wild boars, Sambar deer, Spotted deer, Barking deer and Mouse deer. Just like its vegetation, it also boasts of rare bird species such as the Ceylon Frogmouth, Black Crested Baza, Shaheen Falcon and the Nilgiri Laughing Thrush among 170 species found there. It is also home to over 100 species of butterflies and 400 species of moths.

The mangrove ecosystem

The word "Mangrove" is considered to be a combination of the Portuguese word "Mangue" and the English word "grove". Mangroves are salt-tolerant plants of tropical and subtropical intertidal regions of the world. The specific regions where these plants occur are termed as 'mangrove ecosystem'. These are highly productive but extremely sensitive and fragile. Besides mangroves, the ecosystem also harbours other plant and animal species.

Red Mangrove

Red Mangroves are even more special because their roots provide rich marine habitat since they are submerged in sea water. ( Special thanx to Reefball team to give me the permission to publish the photo in my blog)

Reeef Ball Foundation - International environmental NGO

The Reef Ball Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c) 3 publicly supported non-profit that functions as an international environmental NGO. Our mission is to restore our world's ocean ecosystems and to protect our natural reef systems. To accomplish our mission, we use Reef Ball artificial reef technology, our innovative coral propagation and transplant system, public education, and training communities to build, restore and protect reefs. We work with governments, other NGOs, businesses, schools, research institutes, private individuals and community organizations. We have placed Reef Balls in 56+ countries (list of countries) plus we have projects in 14+ additional countries giving us a global reach of 70+ countries. Our projects include artificial reefs, estuary restoration, red mangrove plantings, oyster reef creation, coral propagation, advise for biological recovery from disasters, erosion control (often beach erosion), education on preserving natural reefs and include the world's most practical and advanced reef rehabilitation systems now in use.

Silent Valley National Park, Kerala - Please Join hands to protect

Silent Valley National Park, KeralaLocation: 40 Kms From Mannarkkad, Kerala

Coverage Area: 77 sq. kms

Attraction: ButterfliesBest

Time To Visit: September to March

Silent Valley has a very eventful history in comparison to the other wildlife parks in the country. The local name for the park is Sairandhrivanam (the forest in the valley) and had been a centre of hot debates and protests in the decades of the 70's and 80's of the 20th century. The history of the park goes way back to 1888 when the region was declared a reserved land under the Forest Act and later notified as a Reserved Forest by the Government of Madras in 1914.

Reaching There: By Rail : The nearest railway station is Palakkad, 75 kms. By Air : Nearest airport is at Coimbatore, 55 kms.