India's Mangrove Cover
Coringa Mangrove - It lies in the east Godavari district near Kakinada port along the Bay of Bengal.The habitat is suitable for salt water crocodile. The area is cut up with a number of creeks of river Godavari. It was declared as a sanctuary in July 1978 to conserve the mangrove vegetation of the estuary. Mangroves in India account for about three per cent of the world's mangrove vegetation. The report says mangrove cover in India is 4,662 sq. km, which is 0.14 per cent of the country's total geographical area. Sundarbans in West Bengal accounts for almost half of the total area under mangroves in the country. The very dense mangrove comprises 1,403 sq. km (30.10 per cent of the total mangrove cover), moderately dense mangrove is 1,658.12 sq. km (35.57 per cent) while open mangroves cover an area of 1,600.44 sq. km (33 per cent). Mangrove forests are regarded as the most productive wetlands in the world on account of the large quantities of organic and inorganic n