Born into a marginalised family in 1937 in Kerala, his umbilical cord looked almost like a bloated seed of a common mangrove tree. So, his parents who worked as farm labourers named him Pokkudan, which in the local language, refers to infants with such umbilical cords. The man, who was unable to complete elementary school education due to poverty and caste-based discrimination, died on September 27, 2015, leaving behind a rich legacy of protecting 22 species of mangroves from local extinction.
Better known as Kallen Pokkudan, the Dalit from Kannur district became a celebrated guardian angel of Kerala’s mangrove forests through dedicated interventions over the years. Pokkudan travelled across Kerala’s coast telling the local communities, especially fish workers, that only mangroves could protect coastal assets during hazards such as cyclones. On his travels, he collected seeds of 22 species of mangroves. There were only a few takers in those years for his argument that mangroves are one of the vital long-term solutions to sea erosion and storms, which turn coastal communities into climate refugees.
To prove his point, Pokkudan had created mangrove walls at Choodat beach in Kannur and Arattupuzha in Alappuzha and prevented sea erosion-related issues that concerned the respective local fishing communities.
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Keeping alive a mangrove conservationist’s legacy to protect Kerala coast