July 24, 2019: A delegation of the Wildlife Conservation Society-India met members of the Mangrove Cell, Maharashtra Forest Department at the Mangrove Cell Headquarters in Mumbai yesterday. WCS-India Director Ms. Prakriti Srivastava, IFS along with Dr. Vardhan Patankar (Head, Marine Program), Mr. Avik Banerjee (Project Associate) and Ms. Zoya Tyabji (Project Associate) met and held talks with Mr. N. Vasudevan, IFS (Addl. PCCF (Mangrove), Maharashtra Forest Department), Ms. Neenu Somraj, IFS (DCF, Mangrove Cell) and Mr. Manas Manjrekar (Deputy Director, Research and Capacity Building Wing, Mangrove Cell).
Ms. Prakriti Srivastava presented the mandate of WCS - India, and introduced the marine team and the immediate objectives of notifying Angria bank as an MPA. Following this, Mr. N. Vasudevan provided insights into the pros and cons and the roadmap to notify an MPA. Details about various other projects that are in pipeline were discussed.
Ms. Neenu Somraj presented the goals of the Mangrove Foundation and gave a brief summary of different activities of the Mangrove Foundation. Detailed aspects of finance and the organisational structure of the Mangrove Foundation were presented.
Mr. Manas Manjrekar and Mr. Vasudevan suggested potential collaborative activities such as capacity building programs for the staff of the Forest Department on illegal marine trade and joint expedition to the Angria Bank.
Following positive and productive interactions, ways of collaboration between the two organisations was discussed in order to work together towards marine conservation in Maharashtra.