RAMANATHAPURAM: On International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, the Ramanathapuram Wildlife Division organised a mangrove planting event in the Mandapam and Ramanathapuram ranges on Friday.
Forest department officials, students of KSIRS School, Coimbatore, Green Rameswaram NGO, and villagers of Kunthukal participated in the event, which aimed at raising awareness about the significance of mangrove ecosystems and promoting solutions for their sustainable management and conservation.
In the Mandapam forest range, with the support of Arulagam NGO, beach cleaning work was done by school students in the coastal areas. The students were later taken to Kurusadai Island for an awareness program. In the afternoon, 600 saplings of mangroves were planted. Mandapam Wildlife Forest Range Officer S Mahendran and other officials were present.
In the Ramanathapuram forest range, the students of Bukariya Matriculation Higher Secondary School and the students of Vivekananda Vidhyalaya Matriculation School in Muthuregunathapuram, under the Head of Ramnathapuram Wildlife Range Officer S Dhivyalakshmi, celebrated the mangrove day was by planting mangroves.
Forest officials said that around 70 hectares of mangroves will be restored this year under the Green Tamil Nadu Mission in Ramanathapuram Wildlife Division.