Over the past 12 years, the residents of Badakot have converted degraded land into a 25-acre mangrove forest that protects their village from eroding away
The state of Odisha has witnessed 10 cyclones in the last 22 years. The state has suffered some of the worst cyclones in history, including the 1999 supercyclone that killed nearly 10,000 people and displaced almost a million others.
In northern Odisha, along the periphery of the Bhitarkanika National Park (RAMSAR Site), lies the village of Badakot, which is vulnerable to natural disasters and highly prone to erosion.
During the past 50 years, a major chunk of people has migrated from the area as the neighbouring villages were eaten away by the sea. But despite all this, Badakot has a unique success story of how its people revived a large patch of wasteland into a dense mangrove forest to make their new habitat climate-resilient.
Over the past 12 years, the residents of Badakot have converted degraded land into a 25-acre mangrove forest that protects their village from eroding away. which was mobilised by an animal lover in the late 2000s — Bijay Kumar Kabi. This is their story.
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