Chapter

3. Mangroves Cover
3.1 Introduction
Mangroves are Salt tolerant plant community
found in tropical and sub-tropical intertidal
region of the word receiving rainfall between
1,000 to 3,000 mm and temperature ranging
0
between 26-35 C. They exhibits a variety
adaptation in morphology, anatomy and
physiology to survive in a hostile environment
which is marked with water logged soils
and high salinity regime frequented by
storm and tidal surge. Prominent among
these adaptations are presence of
pneumatophores, buttress, stilt roots,
vivipary etc.
Biotic pressures and natural calamities are
the enemies of mangrove ecosystems.
Growing industrial areas along the coastlines
and discharge of domestic and industrial
sewage are polluting these areas. Many
studies have highlighted these problems and
intensive conservation efforts are needed to
conser ve the sensitive ecosystem of
mangroves.

3.2 Status of Mangrove Cover

Mangroves occupy an area of 4,628 sq km in
India accounting for nearly three per cent of
the world's mangrove vegetation. Sundarbans
in West Bengal accounts for almost half of the
total area under mangroves in India. The
Forest Survey of India has been assessing the
mangrove cover using remote sensing data

since 1987. In the first assessment, the

estimated extent of the mangrove cover was
4,046 sq km which was carried out at 1:1 million
scale. Subsequently, from 1989 to 1999 the
mangrove covers were assessed regularly on a
two-year cycle at 1:250,000 scale. Assessment
from 2001 onwards has been carried out at
1:50,000 scale. State/UT wise mangrove cover
as assessed by FSI in different assessments is
given in Table 3.1. This assessment pertains
only to the mangrove cover and does not
include the tidal creeks and water bodies
within the mangrove forests.

3.3 Mangrove Cover: 2013

Assessment
Mangroves show conspicuous tone and
texture on the satellite images, which have
been used in the mapping of mangrove cover
of the country. The mangrove cover in this
assessment has been categorized into very
dense (canopy density of 70% and above),
moderately dense (canopy density of 40%
and more but less than 70%) and open
categories (canopy density of 10% and more
but less than 40%). Table 3.2 presents status
of mangrove cover in 2013 assessment and
also the change with respect to previous
assessments.
The current assessment shows that
mangrove cover in the country is 4,628 sq km,
which is 0.14 per cent of the country's total
geographical area. The very dense mangrove

India State of Forest Report 2013

2

(Area in km )

Table 3.1 Mangrove Cover Assessment in States/UTs

States/UTs
Andhra Pradesh
Goa
Gujarat
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Odisha
Tamil Nadu
West Bengal
A&N Islands
Daman & Diu
Puducherry
Total

1987
495
0
427
0
0
140
199
23
2,076
686
0
0
4,046

1989 1991
405
399
3
3
412
397
0
0
0
0
114
113
192
195
47
47
2,109 2,119
973
971
0
0
0
0
4,255 4,244

1993
378
3
419
0
0
155
195
21
2,119
966
0
0
4,256

Assessment Year
1995 1997
1999 2001 2003 2005 2009 2011
383
383
397
333
329
354
353
352
3
5
5
5
16
16
17
22
689
901 1,031
911
916
991 1,046 1,058
2
3
3
2
3
3
3
3
0
0
0
0
8
5
5
6
155
124
108
118
158
186
186
186
195
211
215
219
203
217
221
222
21
21
21
23
35
36
39
39
2,119 2,123 2,125 2,081 2,120 2,136 2,152 2,155
966
966
966
789
658
635
615
617
0
0
0
1
1
1
1 1.56
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
4,533 4,737 4,871 4,482 4,448 4,581 4,639 4,663

comprises 1,351 sq km (29.20 per cent of the

mangrove cover), moderately dense
mangrove is 1,457 sq km (31.49 per cent) while
open mangroves constitute an area of 1,819 sq
km (39.31 per cent). Compared with 2011
assessment, there has been a net decrease of
34 sq km in the mangrove cover of the country.
It is pertinent to mention here that in West

Bengal the decrease of mangrove cover is

mainly due to exclusion of creeks area within
the mangroves on account of better
radiometric resoluation of satellite data. In
case of Gujarat, signatures of forest cover and
mangrove cover could not be discerned in
some areas due to mixing of the signatures of
these two classes in the previous assessment.

(Area in km2)

Table 3.2: Mangrove Cover Assessment 2013

States/UTs

Andhra Pradesh
Goa
Gujarat
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Odisha
Tamil Nadu
West Bengal
A&N Islands
Daman & Diu
Puducherry
Total

34

Very Dense
Mangrove
0
0
0
0
0
0
82
0
993
276
0
0
1,351

Moderately Dense
Mangrove

Open
Mangrove

Total

126
20
175
3
3
69
88
16
699
258
0
0.14
1,457

226
2
928
0
3
117
43
23
405
70
1
1.49
1,819

352
22
1,103
3
6
186
213
39
2,097
604
1
1.63
4,628

Change with
respect to
ISFR 2011
0
0
45
0
0
0
-9
0
-57
-13
0
0.07
-34

Forest Survey of India

Mangroves Cover
However, the same has been resolved in the
present assessment based on the better
radiometric resolution of satellite data along
with intensive field visits, Google Earth data
and other ancilliary data.

3.4 District wise Mangrove Cover

The district wise mangrove cover in coastal
States/UTs is given in Table 3.3.

(Area in km )

Table 3.3: District-wise Mangrove Cover

States/UTs and
Districts
Andhra Pradesh
East Godavari
Guntur
Krishna
Nellore
Prakasam
Total
Goa
North Goa
South Goa
Total
Gujarat
Ahmedabad
Amreli
Anand
Bharuch
Bhavnagar
Jamnagar
Junagarh
Kuchchh
Navsari
Porbandar
Rajkot
Surat
Vadodara
Valsad
Total
Karnataka
Uttar Kannada
Udipi
Total
Kerala
Kannur
Kasaragod
Total
Forest Survey of India

Very Dense
Mangrove

Moderately Dense
Mangrove

Open
Mangrove

Total

Change
w.r.t.
ISFR 2011

0
0
0
0
0
0

63
28
35
0
0
126

125
21
74
5
1
226

188
49
109
5
1
352

0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0

16
4
20

1
1
2

17
5
22

0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

1
0
0
16
6
28
0
118
0
0
1
5
0
0
175

35
2
8
28
5
139
1
671
13
1
3
16
3
3
928

36
2
8
44
11
167
1
789
13
1
4
21
3
3
1,103

6
1
8
1
-8
8
0
11
12
1
2
1
1
1
45

0
0
0

1
2
3

0
0
0

1
2
3

0
0
0

0
0
0

3
0
3

2
1
3

5
1
6

0
0
0

35

India State of Forest Report 2013

States/UTs and
Districts
Maharashtra
Mumbai city
Mumbai Suburb
Raigarh
Ratnagiri
Sindhudurg
Thane
Total
Odisha
Baleshwar
Bhadrak
Jagatsinghpur
Kendrapara
Puri
Total
Tamil Nadu
Cuddalore
Nagapattinam
Ramanathapuram
Thanjavur
Toothukudi
Total
West Bengal
Medinipur
North 24 Pargana
South 24 Pargana
Total
A&N Islands
Andaman
Nicobar
Total
Daman & Diu
Daman & Diu
Total
Puducherry
Yanam
Total
Grand Total

36

Very Dense
Mangrove

Moderately Dense
Mangrove

Open
Mangrove

Total

Change with
respect to
ISFR 2011

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
23
10
12
2
22
69

2
20
52
11
1
31
117

2
43
62
23
3
53
186

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
82
0
82

0
7
2
79
0
88

2
14
5
22
0
43

2
21
7
183
0
213

-2
-2
0
-4
-1
-9

0
0
0
0
0
0

0
9
2
5
0
16

7
10
1
3
2
23

7
19
3
8
2
39

0
0
0
0
0
0

0
13
980
993

0
11
688
699

3
1
401
405

3
25
2,069
2,097

-8
-1
-48
-57

276
0
276

256
2
258

69
1
70

601
3
604

-13
0
-13

0
0

0.14
0.14

1.49
1.49

1.63
1.63

0.07
0.07

0
0
1,351

0
0
1,457

1
1
1,819

1
1
4,628

0
0
-34

Forest Survey of India

Mangroves Cover

Satellite Imagery showing Mangrove Forest using band 4,2,1 as RGB

Mangrove Forest of Sundarban, West Bengal

Forest Survey of India

37