The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has just two day ago given its in principle clearance for the Rs 4,000-crore Navi Mumbai international airport. MoEF, in March, had deferred environment clearance for the project on the grounds that the airport would involve reclamation of low-lying areas in an ecologically fragile zone as well as destruction of several hectares of mangroves.

Large-scale destruction of mangroves contributed heavily to the damage inflicted by cyclone Nargis in Myanmar last week, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Myanmar, home to the eighth largest mangrove area in the world, has lost large swathes of mangroves over the last four decades. FAO estimates from 2005 put the loss at around 70,000 hectares between 1972 and 2005, but 2008 estimates suggest this could be much higher.

Just north of Mumbai, along the creek at Kopar Khairne in Navi Mumbai is the story of how a fragile ecosystem is being systematically destroyed. Despite a High Court ruling against cutting of mangroves, amid a continuing real estate boom in Navi Mumbai, there is clear evidence of debris being dumped on what was once a lush mangrove forest here.

Gorai Creek is a big green shelter, a belt stretching above 5,000 acres of land covered with mangroves adjoining areas in different villages like Gorai, Malad and Dahisar. A tourist place heading towards the Mumbai's favorite picnic spot Essel World and Manori Beach. The mangroves are connected with small estuary, streets and rivers moving in all locations.

The death toll from the cyclone that devastated the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar last weekend may exceed 100,000, the top U.S. diplomat in the nation said Wednesday.

A regional forum under the Mangroves For the Future (MFF) project implemented in six countries in the tsunami aftermath will begin at Hotel Heritance, Ahungalle today. According to the country office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the five-day forum will present and discuss outcomes of the preliminary programmes carried out in India, Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It will develop a framework for the actions. The IUCN sponsored forum will be attended by representatives from the six countries and resource persons.

A recent study conducted on the stunted growth of mangrove vegetation in the Sundarbans spells doom for Kolkata and parts of south Bengal in the event of a major storm like hurricane Sidr. The study comprising compilation of data regarding salinity, tidal amplitude, turbidity coupled with quantum of dissolved oxygen in the local river water points a warning finger towards the city and the unsuspecting inhabitants living in and around it.