by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
“In some coastal areas the disappearance of ecosystems sustained by mangrove swamps is a source of serious concern.” (Laudato Si, Pope Francis)
On Thursday, July 26, the world will mark International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem. Mangroves, these beautiful, resilient, evergreen trees, referred to as the roots of the sea, are nature’s gift to us.
A 2013 document entitled: Mangrove conservation in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, by Rahanna A. Juman and Kahlil Hassanali at T&T’s Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), states that mangroves, which are salt-tolerant, “are found on all coasts of Trinidad, particularly the Atlantic and the Gulf of Paria coasts, while in Tobago mangroves are mainly concentrated in the southwest end of the island…Estuarine mangroves are the dominant type, but there are lagoonal and coastal fringe.”
Our mangroves have been “negatively impacted by land conversion to accommodate population growth” and are “threatened by proposed coastal development, pollution from land-based sources, and coastal erosion” as well as rise in sea levels and climate change.
Andrew Kolb, Conservation International, states: “Mangroves help people weather the impacts of climate change—they also help mitigate its causes…a patch of mangroves could absorb as much as 10 times the carbon of a similarly sized patch of terrestrial forest”, thus taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and slowing down global warming. He says: “taking all their benefits into account, there is a case to be made that mangroves do more for us than any other ecosystem on Earth”.
Mangroves are found in 123 countries/territories and cover over 150,000 square kilometres globally. Mangroves are bio-diverse and are the habitat for a number of species, including fish and shellfish such as crabs and shrimp. They also act as a refuge for corals from ocean acidification.
Mangroves promote eco-tourism also. I love to take visitors on a pirogue ride through the mangrove in the Caroni Swamp, the largest mangrove wetland in T&T, where the Caroni River meets the Gulf of Paria.
Do we appreciate the gifts of the many species that live there e.g. caimans, swamp boas, crabs, raccoons, herons, egrets, and our beautiful Scarlet Ibis that come to roost in the mangroves there every evening, and that are at risk from poachers? And what about the gentle manatee in the Nariva Swamp?
A section of the Caroni Swamp and Bird Sanctuary. Source: destinationtnt.com
Given the importance of mangroves, we should examine the measures we are taking to conserve/restore them. Environmental Impact Assessments on T&T’s coastal areas should assist in this process.
In an article in the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian (February 2, 2016) Shereen Ali stated: “…our scientists often don’t have even basic baseline data on many kinds of swamp life—data which is essential for developing efficient, effective conservation and management programmes…We don’t effectively or intelligently manage many of our natural resources—such as the Caroni Swamp—as well as we should, because we don’t have policies informed by accurate biological or environmental data.”
To meet our obligations under the International Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) which T&T acceded to on April 21, 1993, T&T introduced a National Policy and Programmes on Wetland Conservation for Trinidad and Tobago (2002).
The policy acknowledges that “wetlands are an integral part of the natural environment of Trinidad and Tobago. They have played, and continue to play, an important role in our social history and economy… Despite their obvious value, more than 50 per cent of the original wetland area of Trinidad and Tobago has disappeared. The resources of the surviving wetlands are severely degraded, through misuse and over exploitation…”
We need more than legislation to save our mangroves. We all need to play our part to conserve/restore our mangroves—and stop dumping trash in our waterways. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO (2017) is right: “Coastal mangroves are among the most threatened ecosystems on earth. Current estimates indicate that up to 67 per cent of mangroves have been lost to date, and nearly all unprotected mangroves could perish over the next 100 years…
“Mangrove ecosystems provide benefits and services that are essential for life. From advancing food security, sustaining fisheries and forest products and offering protection from storms, tsunamis and sea level rise to preventing shoreline erosion, regulating coastal water quality and providing habitats for endangered marine species…they sequester and store significant amounts of coastal blue carbon from the atmosphere and ocean, crucial for mitigating climate change. UNESCO’s message is clear—we must reverse the trend of degradation and protect the mangroves that are so essential to the health of the planet.”
Let us redouble our efforts to protect our mangroves.
