When mangroves do what seawalls cannot

📌 Summary:

• When Cyclone Dana made landfall near Bhitarkanika on Odisha's coast, mangroves provided protection that billions of rupees of coastal infrastructure often struggle to deliver — reducing climate impacts while strengthening ecosystems and livelihoods
• Across India, mangroves, seagrass meadows and coral reefs already help communities adapt, yet seawalls, groynes and embankments dominate adaptation spending despite being costly to maintain and sometimes transferring risk elsewhere
• These nature-based measures are rarely recognised as Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), limiting their visibility in adaptation planning and finance
• India's 11,000-km coastline faces rising sea levels (Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal), saline intrusion, intensifying cyclones and storm surges, directly threatening around 250 million people
• EbA is a promising strategy to reduce climate risk while sustaining ecosystems that support fisheries, agriculture and tourism

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 environment — coastal climate adaptation, nature-based solutions versus grey infrastructure, and disaster risk reduction.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Cyclone Dana made landfall near Bhitarkanika, Odisha
• India's coastline is ~11,000 km; ~250 million people live along it
• Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) uses biodiversity/ecosystem services to adapt to climate change

🔑 Key Term: Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) — harnessing healthy ecosystems such as mangroves and reefs to buffer climate hazards.