Chennai: Officials of the Chennai District Forest Department, along with National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets from AMET University, observed International Mangrove Forest Day by planting 50 mangrove saplings in the estuary area of the Buckingham Canal.Chennai District Forest Officer V A Saravanan said this was the second batch of plantation carried out in the estuary, saying that the open space between the estuary and the canal was an ideal site for mangrove restoration.Ahead of the plantation, eight fish-bone canals were dug in the area, allowing water from the estuary to flow in naturally and aid the survival of the saplings.Saravanan said 20,000 saplings across six mangrove species were planted in the same open area last year, and that these had established well and were growing steadily.
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Separately, the department recently planted 1,500 saplings of native species along the eastern banks of the Buckingham Canal, with funding from the Green Tamil Nadu Mission.Saravanan said that a large stretch on the western banks of the canal has been overrun by Prosopis juliflora, an invasive species locally known as Seemai Karuvelan. He said clearing this invasive growth could pave the way for converting the entire western embankment into a green corridor, eventually developing into a green lung for the city.At the estuary site near Kanathur, forest officials have also planted mangrove species native to Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal on an experimental basis. “We have planted mangrove saplings found in other parts of the country on a trial basis. This is to observe how they adapt here. We are monitoring the growth of these species planted in Kanathur,” Saravanan said.The department said the continuing plantation efforts, combined with restoration of invasive-infested stretches, are aimed at strengthening the ecological cover along the Buckingham Canal and enhancing the coastal green belt around Chennai.
