mangroves created for shrimp ponds contributed to the catastrophe in Southea

December 28, 2004

/afp/20041227/sc_afp/asiaquakeenvironment_041227160302

Despite the fact that this was the worst quake - 9 on the scale - in 40 years,

it

is undoubtedly true that greed and lack of outsiders' caring contributed to the

devastation. But the resort owners will simply rebuild, the shrimp farm owners

will start up again, and all will be well for the well-heeled tourist and world

restaurateurs and their suppliers.

Thanks for the link, Maida!

Best, Pat

December 28, 2004

> I could not get this story to come up, and I could not find the story in the

files.

You had to cut and paste - or attack the problem as Piers has suggested.

>it is hard for me to imagine how a grove of trees could contribute to an

earthquake.

No, it is about the *mangrove* trees along the coast being eliminated to make

way for tourist resorts as well as shrimp farms - and that absence of

mangroves meant that there was nothing there to slow down the tsunami that

was a *result* of the earthquake. Thus the absence of the mangroves

contributed to *the devastation*, as stated in Maida's post, not to the

earthquake itself.

The article is worth digging out. I wasn't too thrilled with what I considered a

cavalier attitude (but I'm feeling a bit fragile this am) toward non-endangered

species, but no doubt the environmentalist was speaking from a very specific

and correct (in its context) point of view.

Our *help* is needed. Good thoughts give little comfort to those who don't

know they are there and are rarely as effective as a bowl of food and a

blanket.

Best, Pat

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