Skipper to Restore Mangroves and Empower Vulnerable Families in Sundarbans with Hariyali

News Desk, News Nation 360 : Skipper Limited, in collaboration with Joygopalpur Gram Vikas Kendra (JGVK), has taken a bold step towards empowering Sundarbans through a planned planting and community-based green initiative called 'Hariyali' in Basanti Block 24 Parganas South. The Sundarbans, which are stretched across twisting waterways, dense mangrove forests, and scattered island villages, have traditionally been a location of beauty and fragility. Families who reside here have faced adversity to continue their lives, and the difficulties have grown throughout time. Global warming has already turned vulnerable landscapes into even riskier ones by rising sea levels, cyclone frequency, and saltwater intrusion that threatens land and livelihoods as communities struggle to protect their homes. The Hariyali project addresses these challenges by setting up a community-based mangrove nursery to plant 20,000 mangrove saplings and 10,000 fruit-bearing plants, selling the latter to the region’s most needy families. These new mangrove forests protect against coastal erosion, buffer storms, and block saline water intrusion, offering long-term security to at-risk families, while fruit trees support household nutrition and open up opportunities for added income. Two years on, with an impressive 80% plant survival rate, these efforts boost carbon sequestration and blue carbon production, empowering local people with climate resilience and sustainable, nature-based solutions. When elaborating on the ‘Hariyali’

initiative, Sajan Bansal, CMD, Skipper Limited, stated that humans are expected to learn that when nature is threatened, the community takes the first and most serious impact. As they began to appreciate how quickly this equilibrium was changing, they realised that they couldn't afford to wait too long to interfere. Their Hariyali initiative, which will be partnered with JGVK, is a combined effort to assist the region in reclaiming what has been gradually drained away year after year. Planting mangroves and fruit-bearing vegetation at the community level aims to re-establish the preservation of the natural environment on the ground while also providing households with materials to sustain their lifestyles. Skipper sees this as a long-term investment in the local community, who rely on it.

Pic - Courtesy