Godrej Mangroves: Symbiosis of Industry & Nature since Seven Decades

Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd
Published: 07 July 2022
Last edited: 06 February 2023
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Summary

Godrej has protected large mangrove patch at Thane Creek. The forest harbor 16 mangrove, 209 bird, 82 butterfly, 82 spider, 75 insect, 22 fish, 13 crab,  7 prawn, 6 mammal species. it is managed by Wetland Management Department with strategy of Research, Conservation, Awareness. We conducted research on Biodiversity Index, Carbon sequestration, Camera trap of Jackals, Butterfly & Spider diversity of Godrej mangroves. Our conservation includes protection, development of theme gardens (medicinal, butterfly, palm), marine aquarium, mangrove nursery, maintenance of nature trails and rescue of wildlife in distress etc. Awareness includes nature trails, webinars, presentations in conferences, articles in magazines newspapers, Mangroves mobile app, storybook, mangrove information centre, mangrove website. We are audited every year for ISO 14001. The initiative contributes to SDG 3, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17. 

Classifications

Region
South Asia
Scale of implementation
Local
Ecosystem
Coastal forest
Mangrove
Marine and coastal ecosystems
Urban ecosystem and build environment
Urban wetlands
Theme
Access and benefit sharing
Biodiversity mainstreaming
Cities and infrastructure
Coastal and marine spatial management
Disaster risk reduction
Ecosystem services
Erosion prevention
Flood management
Forest Management
Genetic diversity
Health and human wellbeing
Indigenous people
Land management
Mitigation
Outreach & communications
Pollution
Protected and conserved areas management planning
Restoration
Science and research
Standards/ certification
Sustainable financing
Sustainable livelihoods
Urban planning
Urban and Disaster Risk Management
City management, governance and finance
Resilience and disaster risk management
Sustainable urban infrastructure and services
Challenges
Floods
Land and Forest degradation
Loss of Biodiversity
Sea level rise
Tropical cyclones / Typhoons
Erosion
Ecosystem loss
Poaching
Pollution (incl. eutrophication and litter)
Sustainable development goals
SDG 3 – Good health and well-being
SDG 9 – Industry, innovation and infrastructure
SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 13 – Climate action
SDG 14 – Life below water
SDG 15 – Life on land
Aichi targets
Target 1: Awareness of biodiversity increased
Target 2: Biodiversity values integrated
Target 4: Sustainable production and consumption
Target 5: Habitat loss halved or reduced
Target 8: Pollution reduced
Target 10: Ecosystems vulnerable to climate change
Target 11: Protected and conserved areas
Target 13: Safeguarding genetic diversity
Target 14: Ecosystem services
Target 15: Ecosystem restoration and resilience
Target 17: Biodiversity strategies and action plans
Target 19: Sharing information and knowledge
Target 20: Mobilizing resources from all sources
Sendai Framework
Target 4: Reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health and educational facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030
Target 5: Increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020
Business engagement approach
Direct engagement with a company
Direct engagement with associations

Location

Vikhroli East, Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Maharashtra, India

Challenges

Impact of air, water, solid waste pollution on mangroves,

Tree cutting, poaching & encroachment, 

Sedimentation, siltation of Thane creek

Lack of Godrej control on external stakeholders of Mumbai

 

Beneficiaries

56000 awareness participants.320000 website users of 215 countries.106 app user nations.Breeding for fish prawn.carbon sequestration, temperature, flood control. 40000 employee recreation. Support to fisherfolk livelihood

How do the building blocks interact?

The Wetland Management Department effectively uses building blocks with guidance from Planning & Development Team and with assistance from other departments such as environmental engineering, horticulture & construction teams to plan and implement and monitor scientific mangrove management. All initiatives & outputs are reviewed every year by Godrej Management Committee for upgradation of building blocks as required

Impacts

Our ecosystem services impact includes prevention of east coastline erosion, carbon sequestration of 11 lakh ton carbon & recurring sequestration of 60,000 tons carbon every year, providing livelihood to fisherfolk, habitat to the wildlife, mitigating GHG emission from two garbage dumping grounds of the Government.

Awareness: Mangroves mobile app downloaded by 116 countries, awareness in 67000 people in 5 yrs, Godrej website used by 320000 users from 215 counties, participation in 22 conferences, release of two chapters on Godrej case study in book by Springer Publications

Conservation: Rescue of 200 animals in 5 years, mangrove plantation in 200 hectares area in Gujarat, addition of species in Medicinal, Butterfly & Palm gardens, zero incidents mangrove destruction, donation of mangrove saplings to Municipal Corporations, first mangrove plantation in Maharashtra

Research: Camera trap on Golden Jackals, Survey of spider diversity, ecosystem assessment of Kasadi creek, participation in HSBC Mumbai Race, Documentation of 75 insect species. 

We won 3 national awards. Also Godrej mangroves case study has been recently published in UNDP's Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECM) in June'21

Story

Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd

Godrej mangrove conservation has become leading case study of forest conservation by an Indian industry for seven decades. It is included in India Business & Biodiversity Initiative for international presentations. Godrej has been awarded National Biodiversity Award by UNDP & MoEF&CC of Government of India and Earth Care Award by Times of India & JSW Foundation for exemplary biodiversity conservation. We are ISO 14001 certified for 15 years demonstrating continual improvement. In 2013, Prince Charles visited & appreciated Godrej mangroves. 

Contributed by

amar.deshpande_40376's picture

Laxmikant Deshpande Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd