Sustainable mangrove restoration in southern India

Fishers in Tamil Nadu are restoring mangrove forests to protect their local coast from flooding. The use of baskets weaved from palmyra leaves to grow the mangrove seedlings in, makes a big difference to the environment, to how the trees develop, and also to people from local communities, some of whom depend on the basket weaving as an important income source. Mangrove seedlings are often planted in plastic bags, which ultimately adds to the plastic waste already dominating waterways. Palmyras on the other hand, are a tree species, native to Tamil Nadu. Woven together, their leaves create sustainable, sturdy structures which support the growth of the mangrove seedlings. Sumantha Narayanan of OMCAR, which is involved in the project, says: "Palmyra bags negate the destruction of the root structure because we do not remove these bags." 
A win-win, for both climate and people.