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Online, 4 Jan 05 Mangrove destruction removed protective barrier against tsunamis full article Stephen Long TANYA NOLAN: Many Australians have feasted on cheap Tiger prawns from Asia over this Christmas season. But few would realise that the farms where the prawns are grown, could have added to devastation caused by last week's tsunamis. Vast tracts of coastal mangroves have been cut down to make way for the prawn farms of Asia, and experts say this destruction has removed a protective barrier that may have parried some of the impact. Edward Barbier is Professor of Economics at the University of Wyoming, and the author of a recent book on the destruction of Asia's mangroves. He spoke to our Finance Correspondent Stephen Long about the costs of this degradation. EDWARD BARBIER: Basically both the coral reefs and the mangroves have suffered extensive degradation and loss as a result mainly of coastal development. In the case of mangroves in Asia, the expansion of shrimp farming in many regions – Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia – has led to a lot of mangrove loss. Over half of the mangroves have been lost in Thailand since the 1960s. In other parts of Asia and particularly in the areas affected by the tsunami, the range of loss could be anywhere from 15 to 50 per cent. STEPHEN LONG: Well how exposed has this left these coastal areas in Asia to natural disasters such as the one we've recently witnessed? EDWARD BARBIER: Well in the case of tsunamis, there's going to be widespread damage when you have a tsunami of this magnitude. However, the coral reefs as well as the mangrove systems are natural barriers. We know that when you remove those natural barriers, you're exposing populations in the coast to extensive damage and when you have a horrendous tsunami of this magnitude it's really going to cause a lot of loss of life. STEPHEN LONG: Well you say that the main destruction of the mangrove ecosystems, which provide a protected barrier, has been tourism development and also shrimp or prawn farming. Now these countries gather a lot of income from these industries – tourism six to eight per cent of the entire economy's GDP, Thailand is the world's biggest prawn exporter, Indonesia and India not far behind. Is it reasonable or realistic to expect these countries to curtail that development for the sake of protecting the environment and safeguarding the coast? EDWARD BARBIER: The reason why this development has taken place has been precisely for the reasons you cite – it leads to great economic benefits, particularly in the short run. And the commercial benefits from shrimp farming and tourism, as well as other coastal developments, has been enormous for these countries. However, there are long term costs. The fact that you leave coastal communities vulnerable to massive storm surges and violent tsunamis means that you are causing huge damages to your social system, to your welfare and of course loss of life. The thing you also have to keep in mind is who benefits from this coastal benefits are. The coastal communities in Thailand who have suffered these tremendous losses of life and of course losses of livelihood now – have they benefited from these commercial developments or have other sectors of the economy, other investors elsewhere, outside the coast, the ones who are primarily benefiting? In general, the economy, let's say of Thailand, has as a whole benefited from shrimp farming exports of course and it's benefited from tourism development, but coastal communities… the traditional coastal communities generally have not shared in these benefits. The second effect, the double loss occurs when they are now vulnerable to storms that can destroy their houses and of course also cause massive loss of life. TANYA NOLAN: Professor Edward Barbier of the University of Wyoming, speaking to Stephen Long. links Related articles on Tsunami and the environment |
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