This article is sponsored by Godrej Enterprises Group.

If you’ve ever driven from Mumbai towards Thane on the Eastern Express Highway, you might have felt a gradual dip in temperature of up to five degrees. As you pass Ghatkopar and approach Kanjurmarg, your windows fog up slightly, the air cools, and everything seems a little quieter. No, it’s not your imagination — it’s the mangroves.

To your right, hidden behind the industrial facade of the city, lies one of Mumbai’s best-kept secrets: a sprawling mangrove forest quietly flourishing within the Godrej Enterprises Group’s Pirojshanagar Township in Vikhroli.

Spread over thousands of acres, this green lung isn’t just offering a cooler commute — it’s regulating microclimates, filtering air and water, and shielding the city’s eastern shoreline from floods and erosion.

During the monsoon, rainfall in this pocket is often heavier and gentler, absorbed by the thirsty roots of the mangroves. The Creekside Colony, one of three residential clusters near the forest, enjoys what residents call a ‘good’ climate’—cleaner air, less heat, and an occasional chorus of birdsong. All of this is in the middle of a city constantly battling rising temperatures, waterlogging, and air pollution.

But this is just one visible outcome of a much deeper, long-term commitment. Since they acquired the land in the 1940s, Godrej Enterprises Group has chosen to preserve and protect this mangrove ecosystem, not as a CSR project, not for branding, and not as a compliance tick box—but as an act of belief—a belief that business and biodiversity can exist harmoniously.

That even in the heart of a concrete jungle, a forest can be nurtured — if you care enough to protect it.

From ‘wasteland’ to ecological treasure

Rewind to the 1940s — a time when mangroves were largely misunderstood. Often dismissed as marshy wastelands or potential real estate, they were left unprotected, encroached upon, and plundered for firewood by locals.

That’s when the late Sohrabji Godrej, a nature lover and industrialist, saw something others didn’t — an ecosystem worth preserving. Under his guidance, Godrej initiated one of India’s first scientific explorations in the 1980s.

The work, led in consultation with none other than Dr Salim Ali, India’s most respected ornithologist, laid the foundation for the conservation strategy that followed. “We didn’t just fence the forest and call it preservation. The early work involved a four-year baseline study — one of the first doctorate-level research projects on mangrove conservation in India,” shares Tejashree Joshi, Head of Environmental Sustainability at Godrej Enterprises Group.

This research uncovered not just which species lived here, but how they survived, coexisted or were at risk.. “At the time when the term ‘mangrove’ was confused with ‘mango’, this research provided the foundation and a science-backed roadmap: what to protect, where to intervene, and most importantly, why,” shares an expert from the team.

How science rooted the forest’s future

Armed with data and information, the Godrej team rolled out a three-pronged conservation model that still guides the initiative today:

• Research: Baseline biodiversity studies, continuous ecological monitoring, species inventory updates.
• Conservation: Securing the forest, replanting native mangroves, controlling access, and preventing........
  

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