The need to conserve wetlands is on a rise now more than ever. India has nearly 4.6% of its land as wetlands, covering an area over 15. million hectares. These wetlands are crucial to human and plant life with more than a billion people depending on them for a living. In an effort to strengthen its commitment towards environmental stewardship, Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group has been contributing towards the conservation of wetlands, especially the mangroves through strategic partnerships and community engagement.
On the occasion of World Wetlands Day, Tejashree Joshi, Head (Environment & Sustainability), Godrej & Boyce commented, “Wetlands serve as the lifeblood of communities, sustaining both livelihoods and biodiversity. At Godrej & Boyce, biodiversity and ecosystem conservation are not mere principles but an unwavering commitment. For decades we have been at the forefront of wetland conservation, in particular the Mangroves. We invite active participation from not only our teams, other corporates but also the local communities around these areas. This has resulted into improvement on the knowledge on mangroves conservation through research and spreading awareness on the importance of these ecosystems which in turn has also benefitted the community with livelihood protection, sustenance and increase in their income. Our dedication to wetland preservation extends far beyond ecological boundaries, positively impacting human lives.”
In addition to various industry collaborations with CII, MoEF, WWF India and others, the 125-year-old Indian conglomerate also conserves the expansive ‘Lungs of Mumbai’ in Vikhroli for close to 7 decades; along the western banks of Thane creek constituting an important part of the one of India’s recognized wetlands under the Ramsar Convention. Their commitment is celebrated through initiatives like ‘Magical Mangroves,’ a campaign launched in 2020 with WWF India for spreading the awareness on Mangroves conservation through volunteer participation. Focused on research, advocacy, and on-the-ground efforts, this partnership has successfully rallied about 30000 citizens in the past 4 years with over 300+ awareness programs.
In 2021, the company launched the ‘India Wetland Coalition’ (IWC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, CII, WWF-India, GIs, and Wetlands International. This initiative actively contributes to policy dialogues, promotes nature-based solutions, engages in mangrove restoration, and offers a dedicated website with a knowledge repository of mangrove-related publications.
A pioneering initiative that was started by Godrej & Boyce decades ago for mangrove conservation is now being echoed by businesses in India with a pledge to be committed to climate action and integrating the value of biodiversity in business decisions.
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