Chennai, Aug 8 : The Tamil Nadu Forest department is aiming at cultivating and maintaining mangroves at a fast pace for which it is set to open an exclusive mangrove nursery under the Green Tamil Nadu Mission (GTM) in the Ramanathapuram district. In Ramanathapuram district, there is mangrove plantation in an area of 600 hectare along the coastal regions of the district. While the Forest department has been trying to plant new saplings annually, it faces a major challenge in sustaining these saplings and developing them into mangrove forests due to the salinity in groundwater. This, according to forest department officials is due to the lack of backwater sites in Ramanathapuram and hence the growth of mangroves is much slower in these areas. The department is now trying to improve the success rate of the mangrove plantation drives by setting up an exclusive nursery for mangrove saplings as well as proper management of the existing plantations. According to Tamil Nadu forest officials, the new mangrove nursery coming up at Ramanathapuram under the GTM will have more than 11,000 saplings and will be maintained throughout the year till the plantation drive begins. The saplings, according to officials will be grown using the soil from the sites planned for mangrove plantations and this will help the mangrove saplings to survive in harsh conditions after they are planted. According to studies conducted by the Forest department, the mangroves planted in certain areas with saline groundwater in Ramanathapuram, the growth of the mangroves was stunted. However, the mangroves which were planted in areas with abundant backwater sources have grown upto 10 feet. The mangrove saplings nurtured in the nursery will help the mangroves to grow to the required heights and thus develop lush green mangrove forests across the coastal lines of Ramanathapuram. This will be further expanded to other coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, sources in Forest department said. /IANS