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Kill the Mangroves, Lose the Coast
August 2003

By Denis Chabrol, CERN correspondent, Guyana

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For many people mangroves are nothing but mosquito-infested bush and swamp, to be cleared away for more productive development.

The low coastal plain of Guyana is one place where the destruction of mangroves has severely weakened the coastal defences causing the sea to wash away the shore. On the seashore in Morris Village in Guyana's East Coast, at the point the drainage canal meets the Atlantic Ocean, stands "a poker," a sturdy wooden and concrete structure, 10 feet high, with a heavy door. During low tide, the door is manually taken up, to allow the coast to drain. It is taken down during high tide to prevent the Atlantic Ocean water from flooding the coast.

But these days, nobody operates the poker. This is mainly because erosion overtime has washed away about one mile of land off the village, between the present seashore and where the old poker now stands, says George Howard, an environment defence officer.

The tidal movement has impacted greatly on mangroves all along Guyana's coast. According to Howard, "when you get a period of erosion, the foreshore falls. If there are any mangroves there, they are uprooted". Mangroves are a natural defence against coastal erosion due to storm surges, in as well as out of the hurricane season. Mangroves are also the breeding grounds for animals and act as filter for chemicals entering from the sea.

But the Caribbean is full of examples of mangroves being cut to make firewood, cleared to make way fishponds and hotels or otherwise being degraded. Guyana's densely populated coast is at the heart of the country's agricultural production. Experts believe that water laden with chemicals drain off farms, sugarcane and rice fields and may be poisoning mangroves. Mangroves can handle a lot of pressure but if there is excessive pollution, it does leave a problem, says Carol McCauley, head of Antigua's Environmental Awareness Group (EAG).

"You really have to see, in terms of farming, what kinds of pollutants are going to run off into the sea and affect the mangroves," says McCauley. "I think it is beginning to be very important."

The removal of mangroves remains a big problem for Caribbean countries, says Joht Singh, executive director of the Caribbean Conservation Association, (CCA). He says he is concerned about the attitude of people towards mangroves.

"We see mangroves as areas where mosquitoes breed and proliferate,'' says Singh. "In many countries mangroves are still being used to dump garbage and waste and I think we still do not recognise the great value that mangroves present to the islands, not only in terms of preventing erosion but also in terms of fishery. We are losing mangroves at a phenomenal rate in the Caribbean."

But not everyone is oblivious to the role these wetlands play in Nature's delicate balance, protecting our water quality, fishing, even our island beachfronts. In Antigua boat operator, Aldridge Nicholas, who shuttles environmentalists and tourists to the off-shore Great Bird Island, has learned the importance of protecting mangroves. Nicholas says he strives to preserve mangroves because of their value and it bothers him when he sees them being destroyed. He hopes something is done urgently to better protect Antigua's mangroves.

According to Singh, the CCA is working to save mangroves. The association has adopted mangrove replanting as a remedy to save the coast.

"There is a move now to utilize replanting techniques so that we can preserve mangroves from erosion and establish a filter for contamination coming from land-based sources," says Singh. "I think we have had some success in that area."

In the case of Guyana, says Howard, experts have already started looking at ways to restore Guyana's coastal mangroves. "If successful," he adds, "mangroves can substantially reduce the cost of keeping away the sea from the densely populated coastline that is already eight feet below sea level."

"Sea defence will be cheaper by a long way, if we can re-grow mangroves," says Howard. "That is why we are interested in mangroves."

But since nobody can wait for the planting and growth of mangrove, sea walls are being built to beat back the water from the Atlantic Ocean, says Howard. It remains to be seen what the exact role of replanting mangroves will be.

This article is based on a transcription of Island Beat Radio.

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