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An Assessment of Mangrove Management during the Colonial and Post-Colonial Periods


Affiliations
1 M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, 3rd Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area, Taramani, Chennai 600 113, India
 

Mangroves of the east coast of India were brought under intensive management by the colonial authorities during the late 19th century. They were treated as forests rather than as wetlands, and hence management procedures developed for the terrestrial forests were applied to mangroves. Apart from this, the British foresters had limited mangrove tree mensuration data. This inadequacy in data led to the application of inappropriate silviculture methods such as clear felling to harvest mangrove wood products. This method triggered a chain reaction, that changed the biophysical condition of the clear-felled areas, which in turn prevented the regeneration of mangrove species. The same silvicultural system was followed during the post-colonial period leading to extensive degradation of mangroves.

Keywords

Biophysical Changes, Clear Felling, Forestry Management, Large-scale Degradation, Mangroves.
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  • An Assessment of Mangrove Management during the Colonial and Post-Colonial Periods

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Authors

V. Selvam
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, 3rd Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area, Taramani, Chennai 600 113, India

Abstract


Mangroves of the east coast of India were brought under intensive management by the colonial authorities during the late 19th century. They were treated as forests rather than as wetlands, and hence management procedures developed for the terrestrial forests were applied to mangroves. Apart from this, the British foresters had limited mangrove tree mensuration data. This inadequacy in data led to the application of inappropriate silviculture methods such as clear felling to harvest mangrove wood products. This method triggered a chain reaction, that changed the biophysical condition of the clear-felled areas, which in turn prevented the regeneration of mangrove species. The same silvicultural system was followed during the post-colonial period leading to extensive degradation of mangroves.

Keywords


Biophysical Changes, Clear Felling, Forestry Management, Large-scale Degradation, Mangroves.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv120%2Fi5%2F766-771