Marine protected areas in India

Abstract

India has large coastal wetlands which cover an area of over 40,230 km². Among various types of marine ecosystems, tidal mudflats, mangroves, estuaries, lagoons, beaches, marshes, vegetated wetlands and coral reefs have a major share. A total of 97 major estuaries, 34 major lagoons, 31 mangroves areas and 5 coral reef areas have been mapped and identified in India for conservation and sustainable use. There are a total of 31 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in India, primarily in marine environment, which cover a total area of 6271.2 km² with an average size of 202.1 km². East coast and Andaman & Nicobar Islands have adequate areas in the MPAs whereas west coast and Lakshadweep Islands have poor representation. Also, another 100 PAs (10 in main Indian coast and 90 island PAs in Andaman & Nicobar) have terrestrial or fresh water ecosystems which constitute boundaries with seawater or partly contain marine environment, but they are not listed as MPAs as per the criteria. Although, India has a very long coastline and varied coastal habitats, contribution of the MPAs is only 4.0 % to the total area of the Protected Areas (PAs) and 1.3 % of the continental shelf area of the country. The common issues and problems that need to be tackled urgently for ensuring an effective management setup of the MPAs of the country are discussed.