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Mahesh

03/01/23 08:38 AM IST

SAIME Initiative

In News
  • In an effort to restore the unique ecosystem of the Sundarbans, the SAIME initiative has shrimp cultivators tending to mangroves around their farms as well.
  • A new initiative of sustainable shrimp cultivation provides hope for mangrove restoration in Sundarbans.
About the initiative
  • Under the initiative, Sustainable Aquaculture In Mangrove Ecosystem (SAIME), farmers have taken up cultivation of shrimp at 20 hectares at Chaital in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas, and 10 hectares at Madhabpur in adjoining South 24 Parganas.
  • Started in 2019, the community-based initiative of sustainable shrimp cultivation is being conceived by NGOs- Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS) and Global Nature Fund (GNF), Naturland, Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS).
  • The mangrove ecosystem is integrated with shrimp cultivation, but when fisheries were expanded inwards, the mangrove ecosystem was excluded.
  • Fishing, particularly shrimp cultivation, is one of the key occupations of the people of Sundarbans, which is a complex network of rivers and low-lying islands that face a tide surge twice a day.
Significance
  • Fishing, particularly shrimp cultivation, is one of the key occupations of the people of Sundarbans, which is a complex network of rivers and low-lying islands that face a tide surge twice a day. 
  • Shrimp cultivation is practised in about 15,000 to 20,000 hectares of the unique ecosystem in India. 
  • The Sundarbans forest is about 10,000 sq. km across India and Bangladesh, of which 40% lies in India.
  • There are 42 shrimp farmers engaged in the pilot project and a majority of them say that they have had higher incomes compared to previous years.
  • They are also cultivating indigenous varieties of shrimps such as black tiger shrimp (P. monodon) and giant freshwater prawn (M. rosenbergii ).
Sunderbans Delta
  • The Sundarbans hosts the largest mangrove forests in the world, lying on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. Sundarbans is the natural abode of many groups of animals and a large number of species are known to feed, breed, and take shelter in this ecosystem.
  • It is home to many rare and globally threatened wildlife species such as the estuarine crocodile, water monitor lizard, Gangetic dolphin and olive ridley turtle.
  • 40% of Sundarbans lies in India and the rest in Bangladesh. Sundarbans was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987 (India) and 1997 (Bangladesh).
  • Sundarbans Wetland, India was recognised as the ‘Wetland of International Importance’ under the Ramsar Convention in January 2019.
Source- The Hindu

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