{"id":13431,"date":"2023-07-26T05:25:34","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T23:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=13431"},"modified":"2025-04-02T04:19:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T22:49:52","slug":"international-day-for-the-conservation-of-the-mangrove-ecosystem-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/international-day-for-the-conservation-of-the-mangrove-ecosystem-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>About International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is celebrated every year on <strong>July 26.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>This International Day was <strong>adopted by <\/strong>the General Conference of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization <strong>(UNESCO) in 2015.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Purpose<\/strong>: <strong>To raise<\/strong> <strong>awareness of the importance of mangrove ecosystems<\/strong> as \u201ca unique, special and vulnerable ecosystem\u201d and to promote solutions for their sustainable management, conservation and uses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h3>What are Mangroves?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Mangroves are unique <strong>coastal ecosystems found in tropical and subtropical regions<\/strong> around the world.<\/li>\n<li>They are characterized by<strong> dense, salt-tolerant trees and plants<\/strong> that <strong>thrive in the intertidal zones<\/strong>, where land and sea meet.<\/li>\n<li>They are typically<strong> found in sheltered coastal areas<\/strong>, <strong>estuaries, lagoons, and tidal flats<\/strong>, where they play a crucial role in <strong>maintaining the balance of the ecosystem<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Some common species<\/strong> of mangrove trees include the <strong>Red Mangrove <\/strong>(Rhizophora spp.), <strong>Black Mangrove<\/strong> (Avicennia spp.), <strong>White Mangrove<\/strong> (Laguncularia racemosa), and the <strong>Buttonwood<\/strong> (Conocarpus erectus).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Features<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Respiratory or knee roots:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>They have specialized adaptations to cope with high salt levels in both the soil and water, such as <strong>unique root systems called &#8220;prop roots<\/strong>&#8221; or <strong>&#8220;pneumatophores<\/strong>&#8221; that <strong>help with gas exchange in waterlogged soils.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>They project above the mud and have small openings<\/strong> (<strong>lenticels) through which air enters,<\/strong> passing through the soft spongy tissue to the roots beneath the mud.\n<ul>\n<li>They can <strong>survive extreme weather conditions<\/strong> and require <strong>low oxygen levels to survive.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>They <strong>cannot survive freezing temperatures<\/strong> and thus are <strong>found mainly in tropical and subtropical latitudes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Mangrove forests <strong>can store ten times more carbon per hectare<\/strong> <strong>than terrestrial forests.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>They can s<strong>tore carbon up to 400 per cent faster than land-based tropical rainforests.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Mangroves improve water quality by <strong>filtering pollutants and trapping sediments<\/strong> <strong>from the land<\/strong>, and they reduce coastal erosion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h3>Mangroves in India:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>India contributes to <strong>nearly half of the total mangrove cover in South Asia<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>According to the India State of Forest Report, 2021, the mangrove cover in India is <strong>4,992 square km,<\/strong> which <strong>is 0.15 per cent of the country&#8217;s total geographical area.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>West Bengal has the highest percentage<\/strong> of mangrove cover in India, mainly <strong>because it has Sundarbans<\/strong>, the largest mangrove forest in the world. It is <strong>followed by Gujarat and Andaman, and Nicobar Islands.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Other states that have mangrove cover are Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Kerala.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1)\u00a0What is an Estuary?<\/h3>\n<p>An estuary is a unique and ecologically important coastal ecosystem where a river meets the sea or ocean. It is a transitional zone where freshwater from the river mixes with the saltwater of the sea, creating a dynamic and productive environment. Estuaries are characterized by their brackish water, which is a mix of freshwater and seawater. The salinity of the water in estuaries can vary depending on factors such as tides, river flow, and rainfall.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.latestly.com\/lifestyle\/festivals-events\/international-day-for-the-conservation-of-the-mangrove-ecosystem-2023-date-significance-of-the-day-that-stresses-the-importance-of-mangrove-ecosystem-5293006.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem 2023 Date: Significance of the Day That Stresses the Importance of Mangrove Ecosystem<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem is celebrated every year on July 26.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}