31-year-old Aparna Dhara lives in Lakshmipur village of Kakdwip Block in Indian Sundarbans with her husband, two sons (16 and 12-year-old), and in-laws. Aparna and her husband are primarily paddy farmers, who also grow some vegetables and own a small shop to sell poultry products. Since Cyclone Amphan in May 2020, Aparna’s house has been destroyed twice. She says, “Earlier there were no trees around our house or on the banks. As a result, high tides would break the banks resulting in water entering our houses and leading to huge devastation.”

But, today, Aparna along with other local women has planted trees and grown a little forest that now protects river embankments. Since the salinity in their area is high, women have planted mangroves like Avicennia (grey mangrove or white mangrove) that can tolerate saline water.

Many like Aparna have created nurseries and planted hundreds of mangroves in and around their area across Sundarbans. And today, they are reaping the benefits of mangroves in the form of a natural bio-shield, strengthened embankments, and forest products. Mangrove afforestation driven by local women has been possible due to the efforts of NGO Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS) that made these women green warriors.