Mangroves are known as "Kandal Kadu" in Malayalam.

Walking Trees

Mangroves are also called as walking trees. Mangrove habitats spread by sending down roots from its branches.These walking trees fall in the category of something called halophytes, which essentially means that they can tolerate high volumes of water for a long time. They can also survive the high salinity conditions, which are common in the coastal environments that are influenced by tides.

Largest Mangrove Forest

Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest.Sundarban forest is situated between Bangladesh and India.

Mangrove Destruction In Kerala - News

Please stop cutting down the mangroves in kuruvangad coast near koyilandy. Other wise it will cut you down in futue.

Mangroves - Buffer b/w violent ocean and the fragile coast

Mangroves are excellent buffers between the violent ocean and the fragile coast, especially during hurricanes, which can bring powerful storm surges onto shores. The massive mangrove root system is quite efficient at dissipating wave energy. This same root system also helps prevent coastal erosion. As tidal water flows through the root system, it is slowed substantially enough so that it deposits its sediment as the tide comes in, and the return flow is kept slow as the tide goes out to prevent re suspension of some of the finer particles. As a result, mangroves can build their own environment. Because of the uniqueness of the mangrove ecosystems, they are frequently the object of conservation programs including national Biodiversity Action Plans.

Mangroves - The fish breeding areas

Many people, and especially fishers, know that mangroves are important fish breeding areas as well as nursery grounds for juvenile fish. Many of the fish we eat from our coral reefs actually start out by hiding and feeding in the mangroves and then moving onto the reefs when they get big enough. This includes all of the fish listed above as well as snappers, longmaot, mustasfis, redmaot, sweetlips, sawfish and some loche.

mangroves- some statistics

In India mangroves are found mainly in West Bengal- 4,200 Square kilometers, Andaman & Nichobar Island-1,190 square kilometers, Maharastra-330 square kilometers, Gujarat- 260 square kilometers, Goa-200 square kilometers, Andhra Pradesh-200 square kilometers, Orissa-150 square kilometers, Tamil Nadu-150 square kilometers, Karnataka-60 square kilometers and Kerala-17 square kilometers.