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Inter Press Service News Agency, 14 Feb 05
Tsunami Impact: Conservationists Battle to Save Mangrove Patch
 by Anil Netto

When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck the coastlines of South and South-east Asia, areas with dense mangroves suffered fewer human casualties compared to areas without them.

PENANG, Malaysia, Feb 14 (IPS) - Backed by these lessons, Malaysian conservations are now trying to replant these trees in what was once a mangrove forest in the estuarine area here and home to 40 types of migratory birds and sea creatures - until the mangroves were hacked down by chainsaws.

The bitter ongoing tussle has cast a spotlight on the type of intense ''development'' that is causing Malaysia's coastal mangrove cover to dwindle rapidly. Plans to ''develop'' commercially this mangrove patch, in the capital George Town's Koay Jetty area, have raised hackles. Development plans for the area also include blocks of flats for low- income earners and the bulldozers started levelling the place before the Dec. 26 tsunami slammed into the shores of Penang.

Scores of people were swept from beaches near the northern island of Penang when the killer waves - spawned by an undersea quake in northern Sumatra in neighbouring Indonesia - lashed the coastline. At least 68 people are confirmed dead.

After the tsunami, forestry department and conservationists discovered that the huge waves caused minimal damage in areas of Penang island where the mangroves were still intact. ''We knew mangroves were important as a spawning ground for fish, crabs, and wild prawns,'' said P Balan, an advisor to the Penang Inshore Fishermen's Welfare Association (PIFWA), which represents 6,000 small- time fishermen in the state. ''Although we never expected the tsunami, we knew mangroves would provide us with a safe haven during storms and act as a buffer against strong waves,'' Balan told IPS. He said mangroves also bound soil together and this helps prevent the erosion of shorelines.

''We received reports from fishermen who said they saved themselves by running into the mangrove forests. Some of their boats were also saved as they got stuck between the trees,'' said Balan. ''Houses 500 to 800 meters from the shoreline were left intact.''

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi announced that coastal projects should be planned so that mangrove trees were not harmed. ''Ideally, mangrove forests should not be disturbed as they prevent large waves from encroaching too far inland,'' he said.

Boosted by Abdullah's words, activists and fishermen returned recently to the site of the now chopped up mangrove forest next to Koay Jetty. There they planted 24 new mangrove trees in defiance of the state- government backed developers. As press cameras clicked, activists and inshore fishermen in boots waded through the open swamp to place the new trees in the mud.

''Mangroves play a critical role in ecological security and not only are they nurseries for nature, but they also foster great biodiversity,'' Anwar Fazal, the spokesperson for the Koay Jetty and Mangrove Preservation Support Group told a crowd of reporters. ''This is why we have proposed the setting up of an International Ecological and Heritage Centre in Penang, using the Koay Jetty area, which has a unique environment.'' The Koay Jetty area by itself is a significant cultural heritage site on the island.

Close to 200 residents live in 32 wooden houses over the water along the jetty, facing the Avicennia trees in the mangrove forest. In one of these houses lives Koay Ah Bee, a 73-year-old retired builder. He is regarded as the ''founder'' of the Koay Jetty. ''We had been living side-by-side with the mangroves for many years,'' he told IPS while staring vacantly from his living room. The sight of the mangrove tree stumps depresses him. ''The most important thing is to preserve the heritage as we have been living here for some time,'' he said. ''I don't fancy moving to a new house; I am very sad.'' Koay's eyes turned misty as he recalled the time his clansmen transported coal from Hong Kong and Thailand to Penang.

The Koays trace their ancestry to the time of the Yuan Dynasty in 14th century China, when some Arab and Persian traders moved from the central part of China to the coastal area of Fujian. They settled down and intermarried with the local Han Chinese and later, a Muslim community emerged around the Baiqi area near Quanzhou, Fujian. Belonging to the Hui ethnic group, they adopted the surname ''Koay'' and arrived on the shores of Penang in the 19th century, to make and trade in coal.

''This whole area (the Koay Jetty) was built up through my own effort,'' said Koay Ah Bee. ''These people are moving out (from here now) because they have been given an offer of housing elsewhere and they have no other alternative.''

Meanwhile, a newly formed group calling themselves 'Residents of Koay Jetty and Surroundings', in favour of the proposed development, circulated a statement that slammed the activists. ''They care only for the birds. We come a very poor second if at all,'' the statement read. ''As they sleep comfortably in their air-conditioned houses while a storm is blowing, do they ever spare a thought to us humans in the Koay Jetty worrying ourselves sick whether our plank houses can hold out against the storm?'' asked the group.

In response, activist Ong Beng Keong told IPS: ''There should be an open debate so that the arguments on both sides can be heard.''
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