having destroyed the mangroves to expand agriculture and take up pisciculture for years, inhabitants of villages located in and around the bhitarkanika national park in kendrapara district of orissa appear to have realised their folly. the devastation wrought by the super cyclone, perhaps, injected sense into the people who never thought twice about clearing the mangroves along the coast for personal benefit. environmentalists have opined that the death toll in the rush of sea water into the ersama block in neighbouring jagatsinghpur district during the super cyclone would not have been so heavy had the mangroves on the coast not been tinkered with. and today, villagers have realised that causes of salt water intrusion into their wells, depletion in fishery resources and overall disturbance in the bio-diversity boiled down to their past indiscretion and failure to protect nature. a number of self-help groups (shg) had mushroomed in these villages who have taken upon themselves the responsibility to protect forest, says h n thatoi, project coordinator of the m s swaminathan research foundation, working in the area.