Meet the women who are protecting India's mangrove forests

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The memory of the 1999 supercyclone in Odisha is as vivid as a nightmare for Bina Kandi of Biluamundali village in Puri’s Astarang block. She was pregnant and the flooding in her village was catastrophic. “The water rose up to my neck, the walls of my house were damaged and my family had to take shelter in a nearby structure to survive,” says Kandi, 55.

The households in Astarang struggled for long after the waters had receded. This was not a stray incident; in the years before and after, the block had been hit by successive cyclones and storms accompanied by strong tidal waves. However, over the last couple of years, they have found a saviour in the tidal mangrove forest, standing strong against the raging winds.

Women such as Kandi have worked hard to rejuvenate the mangrove zone and protect the trees from illegal cutting and degradation. “We understand their importance more deeply as they protect us from natural calamities and soil erosion. They also support our livelihoods by sustaining fish, shrimp and wood,” says Kandi.She became aware of the importance of mangroves after joining the ‘Women for Mangroves’ initiative started in 2022 by climate change activist Soumya Ranjan Biswal, 29, founder of the not-for-profit organisation, Odisha Paryavaran Sanrakshan Abhiyan (OPSA).

What started with five women has now grown in scope and scale to include 145 women from five villages leading mangrove conservation efforts at the Devi river mouth in Odisha. The women have established mangrove nurseries and take turns to monitor them. “Nearly 48,000 mangroves have been planted, and around 60,000 saplings are currently being nurtured in community-managed nurseries,” says Biswal, who continues the