2012年5月1日

Dahanu connects the dots!

Phiroza Tafti (a teacher from S.D.I.L.A school and INTACH convenor from Dahanu) and her super group of young environmental enthusiasts got to the beach early in the morning to kick start India’s climate impacts actions in India. Here is her account of the action-                                                                                                                                       “Save the mangroves” was what I      thought would be the most effective way to create awareness about climate change and its impacts on our community. The mangroves act as buffers between the sea and the land and prevent further damage to the coastal infrastructure. The town of Dahanu has a 35 km coastline dotted with mangroves. But because of the pollution in the sea and on land, the mangroves are tangled in plastic and debris.For Climate Impacts Day, we thought we would free the plants from their man made noose and draw attention to the importance of mangroves in protecting our coast from climate change impacts. The region is already experiencing climate change with fish catch going down, mango crop being affected because of erratic rainfall, paddy transplantation delayed because of torrential rain in bursts and the delay in ripening of Chikoo fruits.Over 60 enthusiastic students, ex-students, teachers and some concerned citizens gathered on the beach bright and early on April 30, 2012 to be part of 350.org’s Connect the Dots – Climate Impacts Day. The group had a quick discussion about the major impacts of climate change and how we were all jointly responsible for intensifying climate change. The editor of the Sakaal (a local Marathi paper), Praveen Dhawne, added that the fisher folk respect and worship the mangroves too. The task on hand was a delicate one as the participants proceeded to disentangle the mangrove plants from their bonds. And while they were gathering the waste, the students also observed the tidal pools and the different algae, shellfish, crabs and small fish they harbored. The lesson we drew from the action was that we need to be more careful on how we dispose our waste which is choking our marine ecosystems. And we took a pledge to stop littering.Check out more pictures of the action here.

Phiroza Tafti (a teacher from S.D.I.L.A school and INTACH convenor from Dahanu) and her super group of young environmental enthusiasts got to the beach early in the morning to kick start India’s climate impacts actions in India. Here is her account of the action-                                                                                                                                       

“Save the mangroves” was what I      thought would be the most effective way to create awareness about climate change and its impacts on our community. The mangroves act as buffers between the sea and the land and prevent further damage to the coastal infrastructure. The town of Dahanu has a 35 km coastline dotted with mangroves. But because of the pollution in the sea and on land, the mangroves are tangled in plastic and debris.

For Climate Impacts Day, we thought we would free the plants from their man made noose and draw attention to the importance of mangroves in protecting our coast from climate change impacts. The region is already experiencing climate change with fish catch going down, mango crop being affected because of erratic rainfall, paddy transplantation delayed because of torrential rain in bursts and the delay in ripening of Chikoo fruits.

Over 60 enthusiastic students, ex-students, teachers and some concerned citizens gathered on the beach bright and early on April 30, 2012 to be part of 350.org’s Connect the Dots – Climate Impacts Day. The group had a quick discussion about the major impacts of climate change and how we were all jointly responsible for intensifying climate change. The editor of the Sakaal (a local Marathi paper), Praveen Dhawne, added that the fisher folk respect and worship the mangroves too. 

The task on hand was a delicate one as the participants proceeded to disentangle the mangrove plants from their bonds. And while they were gathering the waste, the students also observed the tidal pools and the different algae, shellfish, crabs and small fish they harbored. The lesson we drew from the action was that we need to be more careful on how we dispose our waste which is choking our marine ecosystems. And we took a pledge to stop littering.

Check out more pictures of the action here.