Mangrove Mania

Working on landscape ecology, this I find is an amazing gift of nature. They live in communities, called Mangals; they enjoy space in accretion lands – again they stand so closely, if threatened, that not a single sun’s ray can pass them and reach the ground, that’s in the erosion belts. The adaptation from roots to stem, leaves, diversity keeps you awed. It’s hue in March can beat the fall colours of Vermont. The magic continues- chitinous crabs, flocking fishes, beaming birds, delicate deer and tempered tigers – all in one ecological landscape. I am fortunate to work in Sundarbans, could experience through my work assignments the mangroves in Kutch of Gujrat, Bhittarkanika of Orissa, the most diverse mangrove stretches of Indonesia and even the Everglades in Florida. I was fortunate to be introduced to mangroves by a great teacher Late Dr L K Banerjee and to have interacted with Late Dr Kumud Ranjan Naskar – the stalwarts in the field.