Again we get further confirmation
of the importance of effective forest management anywhere let alone something
as obvious as mangrove swamps. We are finding
that as general knowledge continues to advance that it simply gets easier to do
the right thing or as much as possible.
I personally suspect that we have
barely begun to understand what can be done to optimize the productivity of a
coastal mangrove forest. The more we
learn and the more that we can achieve then the sooner it will become an
integral part of our husbandry of Terra.
Recall just how barren the boreal
forest looked until I invented in a thought experiment the cattail moose
husbandry protocol. Throw in the obvious
options and we have discovered a new prairie able to support billions of
humanity in gainful effort.
The fact is that the mangrove
forest secures the coastal zone and its biome.
It surely produces an annual sustainable wood supply that needs to be
harvested. That alone should pay for management
and access. The wild life is a different
matter as we are not too excited about eating them. Yet the top end carnivores like the crocs
need to be harvested in order to allow other parts of the biome to thrive. Again fish need to be optimized.
If there is a natural fodder
stock then as in the boreal forest we need to take advantage of it. It is just that none of this was really
possible with only human muscle as in the boreal forest.
Once mastered, I want to see the
mangrove forests expanded to their maximum range. Importantly the trees on a desert coast will fill
the coastal atmosphere with moisture causing inland precipitation and short
cutting the process of greening the deserts.
by Staff Writers
Mangroves are a highly important nursery ecosystem for fish and shrimp,
and it is used by birds and other wildlife that attract tourists as well.
When the government of
Tanzania established Saadani National Park University
of Rhode Island
The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy
"There is international concern for protecting precious tropical
mangrove ecosystems that
sustain an abundance of wildlife and fisheries habitat," said Catherine
McNally, a URI doctoral student studying natural resources science.
"A basic issue, however, is whether the protection afforded by
national parks cause the local people's livelihoods to decline so much that
they find themselves unable to climb out of poverty. It's a question that
people are confronting all over the developing world."
McNally, along with Emi Uchida, assistant professor of natural resource
economics, and Art Gold, professor of natural resources science, say that the
rural poor are highly dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.
In the area where the park was established, McNally analyzed satellite
imagery to document that mangrove cover declined by 27 percent from 1990 to
2005 as a result of the trees being harvested for fuelwood and charcoal
production. From 2005 to 2009, when the park was established and harvesting was
restricted, mangrove cover declined by just one percent.
Mangroves are a highly important nursery ecosystem
for fish and shrimp, and it is used by birds and other wildlife that attract tourists
as well.
"If the park hadn't been established and harvesting of the
mangroves continued, then eventually the shrimp and fishery harvest would
decline because of the rapid degradation of the habitat," Gold said.
"It's likely that the livelihood of the fishermen would also
decline."
Using advanced econometric techniques, Uchida combined data obtained
from a survey of 150 residents living near the park with changes in mangrove
cover near their communities. The analyses demonstrated that the number of people
who reported shrimping as a livelihood increased from 16 percent to 23 percent
after the park opened, and fishing increased from 27 percent to 43 percent.
Many of the households entering these fields had previously harvested the
mangroves for fuelwood and charcoal.
"Globally, environmental degradation tends to happen in places
where there is extreme poverty. In such cases, we cannot solve environmental problems
without addressing poverty at the same time," Uchida said.
"What this study found is promising: the protected area in Tanzania
According to the researchers, although some individuals fared poorly as
a result of the more restrictive land use in the new park, protection of the
mangroves improved the livelihoods of many community members.
McNally noted that local residents receive additional benefits of
improved roads and better availability of water and educational opportunities
because of the infrastructure that came with the establishment of the park.
"One concern, however, is that the big shift of people into the
fisheries sector could harm the fishery unless proper fishery management
practices are implemented," said McNally.
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