Fishermen in India's southernmost state of Tamil Nadu are helping plant mangroves to protect their coastlines. Mangrove seedlings are grown in biodegradable containers made from palmyra leaves.
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00:00 Here on the shores of Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu, local fishermen are planting mangrove saplings,
00:07 cultivated to protect their coast.
00:10 What makes this restoration project special is that the bags used to grow the seedlings
00:15 are made of natural palmyra leaves, an eco-friendly alternative to plastic.
00:21 "If we plant a hundred thousand trees, then we also throw away a hundred thousand plastic
00:28 bags, so we need to ask ourselves, is this conservation or are we just adding to plastic
00:32 pollution?"
00:34 This is Dr. Balaji Vaidharajan.
00:36 He is a marine biologist and the founder of Organisation for Marine Conservation, Awareness
00:40 and Research.
00:41 It's popularly known as the Omkar Foundation.
00:44 His team works on protecting the ecosystem of the Porc Bay, located between India's
00:49 south-east coast and Sri Lanka.
00:51 Since 2014, they have been restoring the region's mangrove forests.
00:56 "Natural mangroves are vanishing from places that are seeing rapid urbanisation and industrial
01:02 development along the coast.
01:05 On the other hand, they are also vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal disasters.
01:10 The latter is due to climate change."
01:17 The first step in restoration efforts is to determine the site and method of plantation
01:22 before the rains start at the end of summer.
01:24 The Omkar team collaborates with the state forest department and local fishermen to ensure
01:30 that everyone in the community understands the plant changes to the existing landscape.
01:36 "We held numerous meetings to lay out our plans and raise awareness about the impacts
01:42 of the climate change and how it's affecting our lives today.
01:45 For example, the intensity and frequency of cyclone is increasing.
01:48 When we explained all this, they understood the urgency of the situation."
01:53 In the second step of the project, Satya, the field coordinator at Omkar, goes door-to-door
01:59 to personally meet with local residents, who will be a key part of the reforestation.
02:04 They are the ones who make the biodegradable bags from palmyra leaves.
02:07 These are used to grow mangrove seedlings in the nurseries.
02:12 "This is the dried leaf.
02:20 We first cut them to this size, then we fold them into smaller bundles like this.
02:24 This process takes a whole day before we can even begin weaving the baskets."
02:29 Currently, 12 local families produce the bags.
02:37 They earn 15 rupees per piece.
02:40 For most, it's a welcome side job.
02:42 But some elderly residents, like Swabhagyam, depend on the income to sustain themselves.
02:48 To help such families, Omkar wants to ensure that the region's palmyra economy continues
02:54 to grow.
02:55 This year, they have purchased more than 3,000 leaf bags for the mangrove nursery.
03:02 "Coastal communities are most affected by climate change.
03:07 They are the victims of someone else's crime.
03:09 So, they deserve to be compensated.
03:11 You don't need to give them money as compensation.
03:13 Instead, you can include them in the efforts we take to balance the injustice and the harm
03:18 we have caused the earth.
03:19 The 15 rupees they earn with each bag works as an incentive for them to take part."
03:27 The bags have to be ready in time for the monsoon.
03:32 They are packed with clay soil dug out from the delta region.
03:40 And then brought to nurseries located at sites that regularly get inundated during high tides.
03:46 This is where the seeds are planted and left to grow through the monsoon rains.
03:54 "So, when we looked into the root system of the mangroves which was planted in the
03:59 palmyra bags, the root had spread evenly across the entire palmyra bag, whereas in plastic
04:06 bags, the roots had coiled at the bottom of the plastic bags.
04:12 What we found out was it was due to limited aeration and water seepage.
04:16 But whereas in palmyra bags, as the water seepage was excellent, the roots held the
04:21 soil very much firmly."
04:24 By the end of monsoon season, the seeds have turned into saplings and are ready to be transplanted.
04:31 They are loaded onto a boat and ferried to a 20-hectare parcel off the coast in nearby
04:37 Adhirampatinam.
04:42 Local fishermen working with OMCAR have prepared the ground ahead of their arrival.
04:49 Over the years, the land turned saline and barren.
04:55 The fishermen have diverted water to the site by digging channels in a fish-borne pattern.
05:02 "Palmyra bags, it negates the destruction of the root structure because we do not remove
05:11 these bags over a period of few weeks.
05:14 It gets totally degraded and mixes with the soil, which also avoids the plastic pollution."
05:22 To date, the project has cost around 23,000 euros.
05:27 Some 15,000 saplings are planted each year.
05:32 "There is a lot of focus on industrial development, but at the same time we need to understand
05:40 the importance of natural resources that protect us from disasters and support life.
05:45 We need to pool our efforts to protect habitats like mangroves to save our coastal regions."
05:52 This region at least has benefited from the use of palmyra bags in mangrove restoration,
05:59 a grassroots initiative that's boosted both the local ecology and the economy.
06:05 (upbeat music)