Move was proposed to provide employment under the MGNREGS Timely intervention by environment activists has prevented the destruction of a rich mangrove forest at Azheekkal in Alapad grama panchayat in Kollam district. The forest stands in a property owned by the Fisheries Resource Management Society (FIRMA), a wing of the Fisheries Department. It was under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme that the mangrove forest was marked to be felled. The panchayat had adopted a resolution in this direction. Except for providing employment under the scheme, the move had no other purpose, it is said. The mangrove forest is notified as a Coastal Regulation Zone-1 area, which means that not only the forest but a huge area around it too is a protected zone. The one in Azheekkal is also one of the five important mangrove forests of south Kerala. In addition to serving as a habitat for migratory birds, the forest, located along a portion of the Kayamkulam lake and close to the Azheekkal estuary, is an important spawning ground for several species of marine shrimp and pearl spots (karimeen). Panchayat authorities said the FIRMA authorities had given permission to clear the mangrove forest and hence the resolution was passed. Environment activists of the area were tipped off about it by a member of the panchayat. The FIRMA authorities could not be reached for their comment. On Friday morning, the environmentalists arrived at the scene in advance and when the MGNREGS beneficiaries reached there, the former intervened. The beneficiaries were then told about the importance of mangrove forests and why such an asset should not be destroyed. In the interim, personnel from the Social Forestry wing of the Forest Department arrived there and held talks with panchayat president R. Rajapriyan. Mr. Rajapriyan then promised the forest officials and the environmentalists that the mangrove forest will not be destroyed. Incidentally, three years ago, FIRMA had cleared a good stretch of mangrove forests from the organisation's Ayiramthengu complex close to Azheekkal. The move had at that time invited strong protests from environment activists. But a good portion of the mangrove forests were lost by then.