The current emphasis on coastal fisheries has elevated the interrogation of why coastal ecosystems are so significant. The modest answer is that vigorous coastal ecosystems are the essence of Pacific Island communities, providing sustenance, revenue and corporeal protection.
OVERVIEW
Their longing for supportable administration of the coastal fisheries replicates the prominence of the coastal ecosystems, comprising of mangrove woodlands, seagrass beds, coral ridges and other nearshore nautical areas, and all the classes that these environments fund. Healthy coastal ecosystems are acute for food refuge. Finfish and shellfishes from coastline areas are trusted upon by the individuals of the Pacific Islands area as an important constituent of their nutritional consumption, as it is habitually the chief source of protein.
ECONOMICAL ASSISTANCE
Many people’s incomes are essentially secured in with food manufacture. Coastal societies catch or gather fish and lobsters from mangrove and nearshore areas, and then vend them to other people and community members without complete access to these bulks. In tallying, marketable fishing procedures within nearshore coastline areas deliver service and royalties to communities. Tourism to coastal areas is also sparingly important, with visitor’s side seeing the silver sandy beaches and coral reefs through the Pacific Islands, providing employment for indigenous people. These income-generating actions are trusted upon by societies.
MAINTAINING BIODIVERSITY
It is vital that the survival and moneymaking actions are commenced at maintainable rates, as coastal zones are havens of biodiversity. Fish, turtles, sea snakes, sharks, dolphins, crayfishes, invertebrates, seagrasses and mangroves are just some of the imperative biotic mechanisms of coastal ecosystems. All this biodiversity has fortes within the ecosystem, and achieves essential roles in how the ecosystem functions. Defending this biodiversity and preserving the ecosystem functioning is consequently desirable in order to deliver food refuge for populations.
Other welfares include:
- Safeguarding of coastal communities from flooding, tsar tides, tempest surges and tsunami events, as mangroves and coral reefs break up wave vitality.
- Shields coral reefs that are imperative for tourism, by mangrove woodlands purifying sediment from overflow and modifying water quality.
- Requisitioning and storing carbon from the atmosphere in the wood and mud of the mangrove plantations, which is a facility that seaside ecosystems in the Pacific convey to the globe.
PREDICTION OF OIL SPILLS
Opportunities come with tests and trials. One is that coastline aquatic components are much too complex for modest examination. Because of detrital material due to shore erosion or transported from the airstream or from rivers, associations between composites fall down. Therefore, to totally define coastal waters, more composite procedures such as materially based algorithms should be used, which frequently relate to the dangerous transmission theory or backscattering model. For illustration, speaking of oil spills, not each case study is prosperous in its identification. It still poses dilemmas to the experts that how to discriminate amongst real oil spills and natural oil generated by nautical organism, as they look similar or very close to each other in satellite SAR imageries. Furthermore, the depth of oil cover is hard to notice or estimate. It carries great problems in providing oil spill alarms before it is found, which is extremely valuable virtually. Many more tests lie in pollution distribution pattern scrutiny and replication, sea level change studies and red tide prediction and anticipations.
SOLUTIONS
Nonetheless, isolated sensing offers the occasion and foundation of frequent high-resolution multi-spectral observing on all types of environmental data at on package, which is particularly valid for seaside zone studies. Contemporary exploration trends of extra interdisciplinary assistance and enhanced international communication also fetches an optimistic prospect. For the forthcoming of coastline zone studies, more efforts and assistance are still necessary. Coastal zone study has now entered the age of trailing high-resolution mapping, in-time observing and lucrative output product, and that is why open admission of statistics and research findings are vastly favoured.
Coastline zone, the primary area of oceanic possessions and the ‘golden area’ in marine social-economic advances, plays a significant role in regional and national economics of near coast countries and districts. Recent unusual disasters around the world counting the floods in New York from super storm Sandy and severe Typhoon Vicente that knockout Hong Kong should have drained global courtesy to coastal area disasters. The coastal zone can be demarcated as the group of dry land and neighbouring ocean space (water and submerged land) in which terrestrial practices and land uses unswervingly affect oceanic processes and usages, and vice versa. Actually, for the reason that the interaction amongst land and ocean, an exceedingly complex biological system dwells at this area. They are thoughtful to numerous inner or outer influences that could carry great change to the whole scheme, as well as manipulating urban setups, marine properties and human health. This effects in coastal zone studies to be highly complex and interdisciplinary. The problem is that this complexity is still increasing with evolution in mistreatment technology, marine logistics and social routine.
PROMINENCE OF MANGROVES FOR MUMBAI
Mangroves characterize the spirit of Mumbai; they are courageous survivors. But each day, millions of inhabitants in Mumbai pass these hardy plants visualizing they are little more than murky, muddy weeds increasing meaninglessly along the coastline. But people do not comprehend that how important mangroves are for the superiority of life of the citizens of Mumbai. By trapping silt, mangroves preserve the integrity of Mumbai’s shoreline. This is a vital amenity to the city of Mumbai as it is very disposed to erosion, having been built on domesticated land that is battered by the sea on all three sides. The ecology has a very large unexplored prospective for natural products useful for therapeutic purpose and also for Salt production, Apiculture, Fuel and Fodder etc. Mangroves deliver livelihood for the fish workers by refinement and nursing the Fish, Prawns, Molluscs and Crabs etc. The Koli community in Mumbai worships mangroves because they know that these are breeding and nursery grounds for the marine entities on which their nourishment depends. Costal biodiversity including the million migratory birds that visit Mumbai are accommodated by mangroves. Mumbai mangroves can deliver a large base for research opportunities for researchers in Botany, Flora and Fauna of Mumbai coastline studies.
MANGROVE DESTRUCTION IN MUMBAI
Rapid developments like housing, industrialization, pollution and increasing population of Mumbai has resulted into degradation of mangroves. There are two essential creeks, Vasai Creek towards north and Thane Creek toward south where luxuriant mangrove patches are still left. Otherwise the State Govt. agencies have failed to defend this important, prolific mangrove ecosystem from building mafias. In India, a legal protection is afforded to this ecosystem by way of legislation in the form of Coastal Regulation Zone Notification. Recently Mumbai High Court has ordered freeze on destruction of mangrove forests in Maharashtra and has banned construction within 50 metres of them. The court has also directed to notify mangrove areas as protected forests. Thus, there is already a machinery provided for management of this ecosystem. In such a situation, protection of the mangrove ecosystem is possible only through the participation of the local community and by building up pressure groups for safeguarding management of this ecosystem and strict implementation of the legal provisions by the Government. Thereby, integrity of habitats critical for spawning, juveniles and feeding and for biodiversity, apart from ecological sustainability and community sustainability could be preserved. In the past few years there has been an increase in the awareness of the people in Mumbai. Residents connotations are coming together to spread this awareness. They comprehend that the rapid destruction of mangroves along the coast of Mumbai will have far-reaching effects on the city. The NGOs in Mumbai are making efforts to highlight the issues like land reclamation, coastal regulation zone notification and illegal destruction of the mangrove areas through the interventions of the local state government and local bodies
CONCLUSION
Coast of Mumbai suffered substantial loss of the mangroves in last decade. Study reveals that lack of knowledge of the local mangrove species growing condition, soil composition and microenvironment and lack of manpower are two of the major motives responsible for the failure of restoration projects. Mangroves have well renowned reputation due to their environmental worth although their economic exploitation adds more value to their presence and hence provide reason for their protection by local individuals and government. Role of local societies cannot be neglected in the restoration programs. Knowledge of the mangroves habitat, growth requirement and their uses are key to successful renovation and supervision project. NGOs can also play a noteworthy role in terms of collecting funds and manpower which are integral components of restoration and management programs. Mangroves can be used to save Mumbai and other coastal areas in India from an ecological disaster so that we don’t become environmental refugees.