My visit to Galgibag and Talpona-The Mangrove sites of Goa
T he Department of Botany celebrated World Mangrove Day on 26th July 2023 by organizing a field visit to Galgibagh and Talpona, the mangrove sites of Goa. I and my colleagues and students participated in the field visit. We started our journey by bus from the Government College of Arts, Science, and Commerce at 11 am. We took the road from Balli, Karmal ghat, then finally to Galjibag village. We traveled via a new highway and reached the spot. The mangrove cover in Goa is approximately 0.5% of the total mangrove cover in India (Mesta et al., 2014). As per the recent data published by the India State of Forest Report (2021), Goa has a mangrove cover of 27 km2. Mangroves are found along the estuaries of Terekhol, Chapora, Mandovi, Zuari, Sal, Talpona, Galgibag, and Cumbarjua canal (Singh et al., 2004). These mangrove sites are situated in Canacona taluka of South Goa. The Galgibag estuary is 16 km long near Galgibag village, which is close to the estuary mouth. Mangrove vegetation i...