In the cyclone-battered Sundarbans, Swapan Suin, known as India’s “Mangrove Boy,” is restoring devastated coastlines one sapling at a time. Through his Sukher Swarga Foundation, he has planted over half a million mangroves, empowered local women via nurseries, and founded Sawalya Academy to educate children in disaster-hit Sandeshkhali, creating a rare model of climate and social resilience.
IN THE TIDAL, CYCLONE-AFFECTED REGIONs of the Sundarbans, where the Bay of Bengal regularly sweeps away villages and alters coastlines overnight, one man has spent years trying to hold the ground together — literally, one sapling at a time. Swapan Suin, now widely known across India as the “Mangrove Boy”, has become a symbol of grassroots climate resilience in the Sunderbans region by taking the initiative of mangrove forest restoration.
Mangrove forests are an essential part of the coastal ecosystem, helping to protect shorelines, storing massive amounts of carbon, and supporting diverse marine life. In India, the Sunderban delta, bordering on the Bay of Bengal, has the world’s largest reserve of mangrove forests. However, this essential flora stands at the threshold of destruction, owing to human interference, pollution, and climate change that alters their delicate coastal environments.
Mangrove forest acts as a natural barrier to the damage wrecked by recurring cyclones in coastal plains, and their destruction has immensely impacted the local communities residing there. Cyclones and storms wash away entire villages and render the agricultural land infertile.
Amidst all this, one man is quietly working towards undoing the damage and protecting coastal settlements by restoring Mangrove forests — Swanpan Suin, also known as “mangrove boy in India.” As of yet, Swapan had planted over 4.8 lakh mangrove saplings in several regions across Sunderbans, transforming the coastal plains into the lush hotspot of Mangrove reserves they used to be, protecting settlements from ecological destruction.
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Like many people from the Sunderbans, Swapan too witnessed the devastating impact of recurring cyclones and storms in his coastal hometown of Sandeshkhali, West Bengal. Swapan and his friend routinely organized relief drives in the aftermath of the disaster — handing out food, water, and supplies to those in need.
However, over time he came to the realization that emergency relief campaigns are a futile effort. These efforts would mean nothing if the broader issue of destruction of Mangrove forests — that guard the coastline and help contain the devastating impacts of cyclones in coastal areas — isn't resolved.
Mangrove forests are nature's own buffer system against cyclones— acting as a barrier that absorbs and dissipates the strong destructive sea waves. As India lost 40% of its total mangrove cover during the 20th century due to rapid coastal development, agriculture and aquaculture, many coastal settlements are routinely at the doorstep of destruction owing to recurring cyclones. Instead of accepting the problem, Swapan decided to act and worked towards restoring the Mangrove forests. In 2021, he set up the Sukher Swarga Foundation — a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental conservation and community empowerment.
Along with his team, Swapan has taken major steps towards afforestation of Mangrove forests and has planted more than 5 lakhs saplings across the delta regions of Sunderbans, earning him the moniker of “the mangrove boy of India.”
Swapan’s initiative has also rolled in local women, providing them with livelihoods and a source of income. The Sukher Swarga Foundation sources the Mangrove saplings from local nurseries manned by women. Thereby amalgamating the mangrove reforestation efforts with the creation of a steady source of income for women nursery-owners — Socio-economic upliftment alongside Ecological conversation.
The foundation’s initiatives also include the Mangrove Bachao Project (Save the Mangrove project), through which mangrove plantations are extended across vulnerable areas, and programmes are organized that involve local communities in nursery management, plantation, and other activities.
In November 2025, Swapan welcomed the arrival of his baby daughter whom he named Aranya — the Bengali word for “forest.” As per the blog post posted on Sukher Swarga Foundation’s website, Aranya’s name was a deliberate choice that tied her identity to the ecosystem her father has spent his life protecting. Hours after his daughter’s birth, Swapan planted around 7,000 Mangrove saplings in an effort to offset Aranya’s environmental footprint.
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In addition to being an environmental conservationist, Swapan Suin is also an education pioneer — helping educate kids in Sandeshkhali and other disaster-torn areas. Swapan realized that the impact of ecological disaster does not impact only the environment. As local communities are uprooted, education too suffers and poverty sets in. Through the Sukher Swarga Foundation, Swapan went on to found Sawalya Academy — a two-story, English-medium school aimed at closing the education gap between rural delta communities and urban India. What began in 2018 as a set of three small coaching centers has since grown into a functioning school currently serving around 150 students.
Suin’s foundation continues to envision initiatives beyond the existing school, including a residential facility for older students and combined examination centres to help local youth prepare for government job exams.
Along a stretch of coastline regularly battered by cyclones, salinity intrusion and erosion, Swapan Suin’s dual focus — plating Mangrove trees in the ground and teaching children in classrooms — has offered a rare, locally rooted model of resilience. Over time, this approach has earned him recognition far beyond the Sundarbans he calls home.
(Edited by Agniva Ray)
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