Movement for conserving bees in the Western Ghats

I hope your all are doing well, and must have spared some of your time from your busy schedule toread our previous report. In our previous report we tried to narrate a story about one of our team member and his painstaking efforts for rearing stingless bees. We at AERF, always try to come up with interesting and unique ways to engage local communities to conserve biodiversity and forests in different landscapes.

In this report I’ll throw some more light on another unique approach to engage local communities in the Mangroves Conservation Process.

Yes, you read it right! We have approached local communities who are dependent on, and living near the “Mangrove Forests”.

A Mangrove is an ecosystem that is permanently or periodically flooded with water. It is distinguished from the terrestrial ecosystem by the composition of species that are highly adapted to the wetland. Mangroves are a type of wetland ecosystem, established along estuaries and coastlines in the interface between land and sea, restricted to tropical and subtropical regions. As per Global Forest Assessment, 2020, 113 countries have Mangrove forests covering an estimated 14.79 million hectares. The largest Mangrove area is reported in Asia (5.55 million ha.), followed by Africa (3.24 million ha.), North and Central America (2.27 million ha.), and South America (2.13 million ha.). India with a long coastline of about 7516.6 km, including the island territories has a mangrove cover around 4992 sq.km, which equals 0.15% of the country’s total geographical area. This unique and salt tolerant ecosystem provide natural infrastructure to help protect nearby areas by reducing erosion and absorbing storm surge impacts during extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tsunamis. Their dens and entangled root system help bind and build soil. The above-ground roots slows down the water flow and encourage sediment deposits that reduce coastal erosion. These complex root systems also act as natural filters to separate nitrates, phosphates and other pollutants from the water, improving the water quality flowing from the rivers and stream into the estuarine and ocean environment. In addition to this, mangrove ecosystems are considered as major carbon sequesters throughout the globe.

Even after such valuable and irreplaceable ecosystem services, in most countries, this relic ecosystem face constant pressure due to increasing human population is coastal areas and the rising demand for land, timber, fodder, fuel-wood and other non-timber forest produce. In our study area, most of the mangrove forest is owned and protected by the Indian Government. But, there are some mangrove lands which are privately owned. Also, the adjoining land of these mangrove forest is affected by the salt water. The saltwater affected privately owned lands were used to be productive rice fields for many local community members. But, due to salt water incursion and spread of mangrove saplings/seeds, these lands became unproductive and unfavorable for farming.

The situation have become extremely serious because of lack of awareness and knowledge about- the importance of mangroves, the government rules and regulations regarding mangrove conservation and benefits from mangrove conservation. This has forced the local communities to develop a negative image for this unique ecosystem.

Considering the importance of the situation, AERF team has reached out to these communities. After analyzing the on-ground situation, we have decided to start some of our conservation initiatives to spread awareness amongst the local communities and involve them in the conservation of mangroves. While exploring this amazing landscape and ecosystem, we came across several beehives of Stingless bees in the bark of mangrove tree species. Also, we have observed many individuals foraging on the flowers of mangrove trees. According to our pilot observations, the number of individuals of Stingless bees was far greater as compared to any other pollinating insects, on multiple sites.

Considering this as a pilot and our past experience/knowledge about the stingless bees, we decided to start bee rearing campaign for stingless bees for the communities living near to the mangrove forests. As part of this initiative we have identified and convinced around 20 local community members who will help us rearing the stingless bees. Also, we are arranging multiple awareness sessions and training sessions regarding the importance of stingless bees and how to rear them.

In upcoming days, we will be targeting multiple community members and mangrove areas to setup at least 20 bee boxes of stingless bees. In addition to this we are also looking forward to train 20 local people who will be our bee champions for the conservation of bees and mangroves in this region of India. This initiative will definitely help to increase pollination among the mangrove ecosystem as well as surrounding farms, orchards and land forest. And in long run it can become alternate income generating opportunities for many farmers living near mangroves.

As this won’t be possible without your help, I would like to hubly request all our donors to keep supporting this great cause.

Thanks a lot supporter once again.