For, of, and by the community: critical place-based reflections on mangroves regeneration in the Indian Sundarbans

Abstract Mangrove plantations are considered coastal buffers for inland territorial zones since they provide protection from tidal surges and extreme weather events like cyclones, storms, and associated floods. Based on empirical fieldwork on selected villages of the Gosaba block located within the Indian Sundarbans, the largest mangroves delta in the world, we argue that a coupled mangrove management system that draws simultaneously on institutional and community-driven knowledge can lead to enhanced and successful mangrove restoration. In most cases, mangrove management strategies and wetland persistence are largely subjected to an external understanding demonstrated mostly by ‘scientific’ knowledge that lacks community agency and invalidates local knowledge of the associated ecosystem. For instance, in the case of Sundarbans, as we observe, mangrove plantations have been subsumed under a ‘policy choice’ backed by ubiquitous institutional foundations. We demonstrate that local community knowledge has significant merits in suggesting conditions in which mangrove replantation can be successful and produce gains – ecosystem conservation, protection of local livelihoods, and bolstered socioecological resilience. The primary objective of the article is to document and underscore community perceptions and efforts in mangrove restoration, accommodating this unrecognized knowledge, and with the larger agenda of recognizing community as forerunners and agents of change – enhancing avenues of community engagement, agency, and empowerment.