IRIN
MYANMAR: Loss of mangrove forests exacerbates cyclone deaths
16 May 2008


BANGKOK, 16 May 2008 (IRIN) - Cyclone Nargis - and the devastating tidal 
surge that followed - has highlighted the potential tragic consequences 
of pursuing rapid economic expansion while neglecting the environment.

In recent decades, farmers in Myanmar's low-lying Ayeyarwady Delta 
cleared vast tracts of coastal mangrove forests to expand rice 
cultivation and - in the past eight years - to make way for 
export-oriented prawn farming.

However, according to specialists, the loss of these forests - and the 
protective cover they offered - probably exacerbated the cyclone's toll.

Masakazu Kashio, a forest resources officer with the UN's Food and 
Agriculture Organization (FAO), hoped that in the wake of the disaster, 
Myanmar authorities would recognise the need to preserve and protect its 
remaining mangrove forest - and to rehabilitate much of the degraded 
cover.

"I really hope the Myanmar government will take this lesson very 
seriously, and take more proper action through the participatory 
approach - listen to people's voices," he told IRIN in Bangkok.

"They should establish a proper land-use plan and recognise they need to 
protect the vulnerable area from disaster from the sea or from flooding 
water," he explained.

Most of the thousands of people who perished when Nargis slammed into 
the country on 2 and 3 May are believed to have drowned in the fierce 
3.5m storm surge that swept nearly 40km inland.

The FAO said in a statement on 15 May that the mangrove forests could 
have cushioned the impact of the sea surge.

"Porous barriers such as coastal trees and forests cannot prevent 
inundation and inland flooding associated with storm surge," the FAO 
said. But, "there is considerable potential for intact and dense coastal 
vegetation to reduce the impacts of waves and currents associated with 
the storm surge. Coastal forests can also act as windbreaks in reducing 
devastation in coastal communities resulting from cyclones."

The FAO ran a mangrove forest rehabilitation project in the region for 
nearly a decade, until 2001. But Kashio said, "The pressure to open up 
more rice production was too strong."

Trade-offs

Meanwhile, Maria Osbeck, of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), 
in Bangkok, said any effort to protect or rehabilitate mangrove forests 
had to take into account the interests of the local population and the 
government for economic development.

"It's not enough to talk about the role of mangroves as a measure to 
mitigate the impact of natural hazards," she said "It's also about how 
you can ensure economic development, ensure food security and still have 
a functioning eco-system. It's about trade-offs."

In nearby Vietnam, for example, SEI is working with the government, 
private sector and coastal communities to develop a US$200 million plan 
to replant degraded mangrove forest in certain areas, without impinging 
on local livelihoods.

"You negotiate where you plant the mangroves, what species, and how many 
trees, and how they will be managed," Osbeck said, adding that a 
well-rehabilitated mangrove forest - done in a natural way with a 
variety of species - can "contribute to the fish stock, which in the 
long run will contribute to the local economy".

However, Kashio predicted that in the wake of the Myanmar disaster, many 
local people might simply opt to leave the area, making it easier to 
convert the area back to mangrove forest.

"People will naturally make a decision after the devastating disaster 
experience - they recognise this is not a safe place for bringing up 
their children for the longer term and in the future," the FAO official 
said.

As of 16 May, the official death toll from Nargis stood at more than 
43,000, with nearly 28,000 missing, while the Red Cross and UN believe 
the toll could top 100,000.


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