| Adapted from pieces by BBC New Online & New
York Times: 06 May 2008
Destruction of mangrove forests in Burma left
coastal areas exposed to the devastating force of the cyclone at the beginning
of May 2008, according to ASEAN secretary-general
Surin Pitsuwan.
Speaking at meeting of the Association of South-East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore, he that said coastal developments
had resulted in mangroves - which act as a natural defence against storms
- being lost.
"Encroachment into mangrove forests, which used
to serve as a buffer between the rising tide, between big waves and storms
and residential areas; all those lands have been destroyed," he was
reported as saying.
Apparently the storm surge caused more damage that the
120 mph winds. "The wave was up to 12ft (3.5m) high and it swept
away and inundated half the houses in low-lying villages," said Burma's
minister for relief and resettlement, Maung Maung Swe.
Fishing boats crushed by a tropical
cyclone in the port of Yangon. |
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Monks help clear
debris
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Black mangroves
(Avicennia germinans).
-
Mangroves
are salt-tolerant evergreens (trees, shrubs, and other plants)
that grow along coastlines, rivers and deltas
-
They are found
in more than 120 tropical and subtropical nations - usually
between latitudes 25° N and 25° S
-
The plants'
root systems have been shown to dissipate (disperse) wave energy
- one reason why they form a protective barrier.
|
|
There is some good
news. In a few parts of the world, mangrove forest is deliberately
being encouraged in order to provide a defence against cyclones
and hurricanes. An example is the Sundarbans on the India/Bangladesh
border, containing about 100,000 hectares of mangrove forest habitat
(see satellite image above). This has been allowed
to grow because Bangladesh was severely hammered by a typhoon that
killed about 300,000 people about 20 years ago.
As well as acting
as a buffer for inland areas from the ravages of cyclones in the
Bay of Bengal, this area is an important habitat for the endangered
Bengal tiger, freshwater dolphins, and nearly 200 bird species. |
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