News: The Tamil Nadu Government has launched the Tamil Nadu Sustainably Harnessing Ocean Resources and Blue Economy (TN-SHORE) initiative, also known as the Tamil Nadu Coastal Restoration Mission, with a total investment of ₹1,675 crore over the next five years.
About Tamil Nadu Coastal Restoration Mission (TN-SHORE)
The Tamil Nadu Government has signed MoUs with the United Nations Environment Programme and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation to support environmental projects under TN-SHORE.- Aim: TN-SHORE aims to restore 30,000 hectares of seascapes, safeguard endangered species like turtles and dugongs, and promote sustainable practices such as eco-tourism and plastic waste management.
- Funding: TN-SHORE is a ₹1,675-crore initiative approved in September 2025 to strengthen Tamil Nadu’s coastal resilience and economy. About ₹1,000 crore will be funded by the World Bank, while the State Government will contribute the remaining share.
- Monitoring Mechanism – The entire mission will be overseen by the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company, ensuring transparency, effective implementation, and outcome tracking.
- A key component of TN-SHORE focuses on mangrove plantation and restoration, with plans to rehabilitate a total of 1,000 hectares of mangroves.
- Community Benefits: Under the mission, World Bank funds will go directly to village mangrove councils, which consist of local residents. Each council will have a community member as president and the Forest Range Officer as the member-secretary
- Tamil Nadu Blue Carbon Agency: A special-purpose vehicle, the Tamil Nadu Blue Carbon Agency, will be established to oversee the preservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass, and salt marshes. This agency will also create a framework for trading carbon credits.
- Legal Protection for Mangroves – The State Government is moving to bring mangroves under legal protection by notifying them as reserve forests. Potential new plantation sites include abandoned aquaculture ponds, disused salt pans, degraded lands, and gaps in existing mangrove patches.
