Gujarat Nears 2027 Mangrove Restoration Target, India Launches Mangrove GIS Portal

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, at a mangrove conservation workshop in Bhuj, Kachchh on September 13, 2026, announced that Gujarat has restored 27,652 hectares of mangrove cover since 2023 under the national MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes) scheme — approaching the state's 2023–27 target of 29,250 hectares. The Kori Creek stretch, where Gujarat's coastline meets the Arabian Sea near the Pakistan border, accounted for 12,450 hectares of that total, using site-specific plantation methods adapted to the creek's terrain. Yadav launched the Mangrove GIS (MGIS) Portal for technology-driven habitat monitoring and released a Coffee Table Book on Kachchh Mangroves and a Mangroves Atlas of Gujarat. The Guneri Inland Mangrove Village Biodiversity Management Committee was felicitated; Guneri was declared Gujarat's first Biodiversity Heritage Site in January 2025.