Therefore, the highest priority was given in the research and training
agenda of the Centre for Research on Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (CRSARD)
established in Madras in 1990 to the conservation and sustainable management of mangrove
forest areas. In 1990, I was elected the first President of the International Society of Mangrove
Ecosystems (ISME) with its headquarters at Okinawa, Japan and I took this opportunity to
suggest the preparation of a Charter for Mangroves on the model of the World Charter for Nature
adopted by the United Nations in 1982