Around 500 women, including those whose husbands were killed by tigers, on Wednesday launched a new initiative to plant 100 mangrove trees each in riverine areas in Sunderbans and protect them from natural damage and theft for the next three years.

The planting drive was kicked off on New Year’s Day under the aegis of the Mangrove Army on Satjelia and Kumirmari islands.

“Today, we planted around 5,000 mangrove saplings and the rest will be planted within two weeks. We have earmarked a specific embankment area for each member, who will take responsibility for at least 100 mangrove trees for three years. By that time, the stretch will have an abundant plantation,” said Swapna Mistri, one of the leaders of the Mangrove Army and a resident of Satjelia island.

The saplings weremainly garjan (Rhizophora mucronata), kankra (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza), keora (Sonneratia apetala) and byne (Avicennia alba).

Most of the 500 women involved in the new initiative in 2025 come from very humble backgrounds and at least 200 of them are tiger widows whose husbands were killed by the carnivore while fishing in the creeks and rivers of the Sunderbans.

To provide them with sustainable livelihoods, Umashankar Mondal, a geography teacher at Murshidabad High School, who earned the moniker “Mangrove Man” for his extensive planting efforts after Cyclone Aila, formed the platform.

Mondal and his team have planted around 11 lakh saplings in different parts of Sunderbans as the mangrove forest helps protect the islands from erosion and serves as a shield against natural calamities, particularly cyclones.

After Cyclone Amphan in 2020, the Mamata Banerjee government initiated an extensive mangrove planting project to establish a bio-shield zone for Sunderbans to mitigate the recurring damage caused by storms. A source said 15 crore mangrove saplings had already been planted in various parts of Sunderbans.

The women in the Mangrove Army also run small nurseries to produce mangrove saplings, which they sell to local NGOs involvedin planting drives. In addition to the small income fromthe nurseries, Mondal crowdfunded to provide the women with free livestock such as chicks or ducklings andvegetable seeds.

“We have been involved in mangrove planting for at least five years. However, we noticed that most people who planted the trees didn’t take care of the saplings. Our goal is to protect at least 100 mangrove trees planted by us and ensure that any damaged or diseased saplings are replaced with fresh ones,” said Jyotsna Mandi, 34, whose husbandwas killed by a tiger three years ago.

Umashankar, the mentor of the Mangrove Army, said the main target of the drive was to plant mangrove saplings along a 30km stretch of river embankments where mangroves are sparse.

“We also discovered that many local people fell mangrove trees for firewood. Although they don’t have ill intentions to destroy the mangroves, it causes significant damage. Since each woman is responsible for at least 100 mangrove trees, it will be easier to monitor any damage to the mangrove shield,” said Umashankar.