Devinder Sharma: Need for a mangrove wall

Natural disasters are tragedies for the poor. But for the rich and influential, it is a god-sent opportunity to make more money. The killer tsunami waves that ravaged the southern coastline opens up one such avenue.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has already asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for financial assistance of Rs 5,000 crore to construct a concrete wall along the entire coastline of Tamil Nadu, which stretches over 1,000 km.

Unlike her colleague former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who would normally bypass the Centre, she, at least, has only suggested that the government should ask the World Bank and Asian Development Bank for priority assistance and not approached them directly.

Jayalalithaa is probably not even aware that she is merely articulating what the builders' mafia "" and that includes bureaucrats, engineers and contractors "" are eagerly waiting for "" to make a fast killing from the tragedy.

For obvious reasons, she finds it convenient to ignore the clarion call given by the noted scientist M S Swaminathan, for creating another wall "" a sea wall comprising mangrove forests. Mangroves were nature's protection for the coastline in the tropical areas.

These were ripped apart by the builders in the first place "" building five-star hotels and waterfront golf courses along the coastline "" as a result of which the damage from tsunami waves multiplied.

Media reports had quoted Swaminathan as saying that Pichavaram and Muthupet in Tamil Nadu suffered low human casualties and less economic damage from the December 26 tsunami because they were protected by dense mangrove forests.

If only the mangroves were intact all along the Tamil Nadu coastline, the damage from the tsunami would have been greatly minimised. Ecologists tell us that mangroves provide double protection.

The first layer of red mangroves, with their flexible branches and tangled roots hanging in the coastal waters, absorb the first shock waves.

The second layer of tall black mangroves operates like a wall, withstanding much of the sea's fury. In addition, mangroves absorb more carbon dioxide per unit area, a critical factor in global warming, than ocean phytoplankton.

Mangroves had also stood like a wall in some parts of Indonesia where the local communities had appreciated their role. For instance, the epicentre of the December 26 tsunami was close to Simeuleu Island.

In Nias island, which is close to the Simeuleu island, mangroves had acted like a wall, protecting the people.

In the past two decades, the entire coastline along the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and Straits of Malacca in the Indian Ocean, and along the South Pacific Ocean, has been a witness to massive investments in tourism and hotels.

Myanmar and the Maldives suffered less from the killing spree of the tsunami because the tourism industry has not spread its tentacles to the virgin mangroves and coral reefs surrounding the coastline.

The large coral reef surrounding the islands of Maldives absorbed much of the tidal fury, thereby restricting the human loss to a little over 100.

Coral reefs absorb the sea's fury by breaking the waves. The tragedy, however, is that more than 70 per cent of world's coral reef has already been destroyed.

Similarly, the island chain of Surin, off the west coast of Thailand, escaped heavy destruction. The ring of coral reef that surrounds the islands did receive some punches from the furious waves but held firm and helped break the tsunami's lethal power.

Mangroves help protect offshore coral reefs by filtering out the silt flowing seawards from the land. Tourism growth, whether in the name of eco-tourism or leisure tourism, decimated the mangroves and destroyed the coral reefs.

The challenge, therefore, for the developing countries is to learn from the time-tested technologies that have been perfected by the local communities.

Instead of building a concrete wall, Jayalalithaa needs to make it obligatory for the hotel industry to regenerate mangroves all along the coastline.

Once the massive relief and rehabilitation task is over, and drawing from a unique Philippine initiative, the chief minister also needs to invite celebrities to draw public attention to the immediate need to restore the mangrove swamps.

In the Philippines, the then Environment Secretary Elise Gozun and four Filipino beauty queens led the planting of mangrove seedlings in the Quezon province.

On June 30, 2004, hundreds of people came to join celebrities in understanding the importance of mangrove forests for the protection and preservation of the sea and marine resources.

At a time when the media focuses on celebrities and personalities alone, the involvement of beauty queens helped in creating wider awareness and education.

Instead of posing for pictures after giving small donations, it is time Bollywood film personalities took a cue from the Philippine initiative and step out of film studios to go on a planting spree.

Similarly, the role of cricketers does not end with just playing benefit matches to raise funds. They have to step down from their pedestals to help the communities in creating solid defences against natural calamities.

In this case, joining community initiatives in replanting mangroves and thereby stressing the importance of protecting coastal eco-systems from the commercial onslaught of tourism and aquaculture will be the true contribution.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based food and trade policy analyst)