mangroves and the tsunami

[Guest guest]

Tsunami spurs interest in Asian coasts

By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental WriterThu Sep 7, 3:34 AM ET

 

For much of his life, Viroj Dedsongprak paid little attention to the mangrove

forests that surrounded his Thai village. He thought nothing of it when

neighbors chopped down trees for firewood or plowed them under for shrimp ponds.

 

Then came the 2004 tsunami. Viroj's village was largely spared while more

exposed communities down the road were devastated. The 46-year-old fisherman

credits the spidery network of mangrove trees, nipa palms and malaleucas for

saving his home, and is now doing what he can to preserve his region's

biodiversity.

 

" Before the tsunami, we really didn't understand the importance of mangroves, "

said Viroj, who is among nearly 40 people from three villages taking part in a

World Conservation Program to plant up to 10,000 nipa palm and mangrove

seedlings on an abandoned charcoal kiln.

 

" Since the tsunami, there is an increased awareness about mangroves and people

are getting more involved in protecting them, " he said. " We know that they are

important to protect us from the waves and other natural disasters. "

 

Conservationists say Viroj's newfound enthusiasm is catching on in many Indian

Ocean communities hit by the December 2004 tsunami, which killed more than

216,000 people and leveled hundreds of fishing villages. Environmentalists say

the tsunami has prompted many governments to reconsider how they manage their

coastal ecosystems, with many looking to strike a balance between development

and preservation.

 

" The tsunami brought an understanding that the ecosystem is a lot more fragile

than people thought, " said Austin Arensberg, a World Conservation Union official

who is part of a team working on a $240,000 Spanish-funded project to restore

mangrove forests in Thailand and Sri Lanka. " People took them for granted a

little bit. "

 

The World Conservation Union is teaming up Monday with the United Nations

Development Program to launch the biggest program yet for mangrove conservation

in Asia: a five-year project to fund ecosystem restoration and sustainable

development in 10 countries affected by the tsunami.

 

The two agencies estimate it will cost $62 million and will hold a donor

conference Monday in New York to raise the funds. The program, called " Mangroves

for the Future, " will help governments address long-term problems — including

reckless development, shrimp farming and industrial pollution — that have

resulted in the loss of 25 percent of the mangrove forests in Indian Ocean

countries.

 

" Right now, mangroves are being devastated. The urgency to do something keeps

growing by the day because coastal development just presses ahead, " said Sergio

Feld, a Bangkok-based U.N. policy adviser who helped draft the mangrove

strategy. " These ecosystems need to be valued for the services they provide. "

 

The campaign aims to recover coastal areas — estuaries, brackish lagoons, beach

forests and mangroves — that scientists credit with providing crucial protection

from storms, along with important nurseries for fish and habitat for birds,

reptiles and mammals.

 

Officials say involving coastal communities is key, not only because they depend

on the ecosystem for fishing and crabbing but also because they will determine

whether a project succeeds.

 

Within weeks of the tsunami, planting mangroves became the rage among

non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam International. Seeing it as an

easy way to promote the environment while employing tsunami survivors, NGOs

planted tens of thousands of seedlings. Most died because the NGOs lacked any

understanding of where and when to plant the fragile plants that grow in fresh

and brackish water.

 

Since then, conservation groups have stepped in to provide the expertise and

launched a number of programs in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and

Thailand.

 

Among them is the Green Coast project run by Wetlands International, the World

Conservation Union and others. Since last year, it has spent nearly $2 million

from Dutch charities on more than 100 projects in tsunami-hit countries to

assess the impact of the disaster, change government land use policy and rebuild

damaged coastal regions.

 

The projects range from a mangrove nursery in India, coral reef cleaning in

Indonesia and an educational campaign in Sri Lanka to increase awareness of

mangroves among tsunami survivors.

 

" When you see a portion of your village destroyed, it really brings about how

much you have to conserve them, " Arensberg said of the mangroves. " It's not just

rebuilding houses but looking at the natural environment and finding a way it

can come back for them. "

 

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On the Net:

 

The World Conservation Union: http://www.iucn.org/

 

United Nations Development Program: http://www.undp.org/

 

Wetlands International: http://www.wetlands.org/