panaji among all the coastal states in the country goa is lagging behind in plantation and replantation of mangroves said vinod dhargalkar of the mangrove society of india msi at the international mangrove day organised by the state environment department and the goa state biodiversity board on wednesdaythe central government has initiated the programme mishti or mangrove initiative for shoreline habitats tangible incomes the programme started as per indias commitment at the global alliance for climate change but in goa so far though some plantation of mangroves has been carried out it is not much all other coastal states like tamil nadu west bengal karnataka maharashtra and gujarat have carried out plantations but in goa the efforts have been far less said dhargalkar he said that if any individual or organisation comes forward to carry out mangrove plantation msi will offer the seedlings for it as well as the technical knowhow mangrove is an important ecosystem no other plant can survive in saline water mangroves are unique because they have different type of roots for adaptations carbon sequestration by mangroves is five times that of any other plant mangroves store tonnes of carbon dioxide and imagine if mangroves are cut all this carbon stored in the mangroves will be released in the atmosphere again said dhargalkar member secretary of goa state biodiversity board pradip sarmokadam said that it is still not late for goa and efforts need to be sped up to save the states mangroves this year we are expecting to receive the highest rainfall if there are floods storm or stormy winds no technology or clouding computing can save us only nature will guard us and nature will guard us if we guard the nature please save mangroves so that mangroves can save us he said based on a suggestion by late scientist arvind untawale the goa state biodiversity board on wednesday released a childrens book to educate kids about the importance of mangroves