Adopt a Mangrove Sapling

Let Your Legacy Take Root in the Sundarbans.

Adopt a Mangrove Sapling · Restore an Ecosystem · Rebuild Resilience

Seeking Your Support

We take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as Breathing Roots — a grassroots, community-led initiative working from the Lower Hingalganj Block at the last inhabited frontier of West Bengal's Sundarbans, where rivers meet the sea and villages sit exposed to a fast-changing climate. This is the final buffer between Kolkata city and the Bay of Bengal — and the first line of defence against destruction.

Once covered by dense forests on 102 tidal islands, the Indian Sundarbans has now lost over half of its mangrove-covered islands. The remaining 48 are rapidly shrinking under pressure from urban expansion, soil erosion, and salinity intrusion, worsened by rising sea levels.

The increased frequency of cyclones — Aila, Amphan, Yaas, Bulbul, Remal and others — coupled with weakening natural barriers, means Kolkata is now more frequently hit — because the mangrove shield is fading. With every submerged island and eroded riverbank, the Sundarbans loses its ability to absorb windspeed, trap tidal surges, and block saline water from flooding inland fields and aquifers.

High salinity can prevent even salt-tolerant mangroves from surviving. Satellite imagery of the Indian Sundarbans reveals these losses in stark detail.

Our Response: Community-Based Mangrove Restoration

We work with native mangrove species adapted to different zones, including: Avicennia marina (Baine), Rhizophora mucronata (Garjan), Bruguiera gymnorhiza (Kankra), Ceriops decandra (Goran), Excoecaria agallocha (Gewa), Sonneratia apetala (Keora) and others.

All saplings are nurtured from seeds that germinate only during monsoon, when salinity is naturally diluted. This limited 2–3 month window defines the annual plantation cycle — making timely funding absolutely critical.

You Can Adopt a Mangrove Sapling – Reconnect with a Lost Legacy

Once, mangroves stretched from the Sundarbans to Nadia and Murshidabad. Today, only scattered temples and shrines of Bonbibi and Dakshin Ray remain — living reminders of that vanished forest.

By adopting a mangrove sapling, you can help revive this legacy — in the Sundarbans or even near these sacred inland sites.

No space at home? We’ll plant it for you along fragile riverbanks, care for it over three years, and tag it in your name. Let your tree become a living prayer for the land.

Your adoption ensures:

Mangroves Meet Music: Bonbibi & Dakshin Ray Folk Festival

Each year, Breathing Roots hosts a 3-day Folk Festival named after the forest deities of the Sundarbans — Bonbibi and Dakshin Ray. It brings together storytellers, folk musicians, migrant workers, and youth to celebrate culture while promoting environmental responsibility.

The festival transforms conservation into a living, musical, participatory tradition — unique to the delta.

Learn more about the upcoming edition: The Bon Bibi & Dakshin Ray Festival 2026

Where We Work

Lower Hingalganj Block, bordering Bangladesh, is our core site. Here, the Kalindi and Raimangal rivers meet the sea. Available plantation areas cover 15–20 acres, some with long, narrow riverbanks where erosion is intense and embankments are weak.

Our work has been supported by:

Mangrove Adoption Cost Breakdown
(Per Sapling | 3-Year Cycle)

Programme Costs:
Mangrove restoration & maintenance → INR 300
Community engagement: 3-day Bonbibi & Dakshin Ray Folk Festival promoting ecological awareness through culture → INR 150
Basic infrastructure support → INR 50
Total: INR 500 per sapling

Your Involvement Matters

We warmly request that you visit the plantation site at least once during the cycle — ideally during plantation time, and again during our annual folk festival. Over the three years of growth, your presence and engagement will not only strengthen local resolve but also deepen your personal connection to the mangrove you help grow.

Let us grow this green shield — together.

Banking Details

Name: BREATHING ROOTS
Account No.: 5252050000028
IFSC: PUNBORRBBGB (fifth digit zero)
Bank Name: Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank
Branch: Jogeshganj
PAN: AAETB5819J