Mangroves of Thailand

Cindy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:58:44 +0000

I was not in Thailand at the time of the 2004 tsunami that hit in December, but I was in Thailand a year later. I was hired to help build up the Beach Resort Thailand lost after the tsunami. I was surprised to find the the villages along the coast which had preserved their mangrove forest were spared the full brunt of the tsunami disaster. Apparently, the mangrove trees absorbed the force of the tsunami. But, the mangroves did not escape the harm of the tons of deposited silt which clogged the pores of the trees exposed roots. The silt suffocated the mangrove forests and this was putting into jeopardy it’s ecosystem.

I visited coastal villages in Suk Samran district in the southern part of Thailand’s Ranong province. I noted these villages are very dependent on their mangrove forest. The resources that the mangrove forest provides these villages are fuel, building materials and a source for food, such as animal meat. Local conservation groups have begun the process of replanting mangrove trees, but it’s only been a year after the disaster and I’ve noticed they’ve only accomplished 2% of reseeding the coastal area. My company will help step in to aid in this conservation effort. Which in turn will help the resort industry in the long run. We will also provide well over 50,000 mangrove seedlings along with educating the villagers with proper cultivation techniques and education in sustainable living with cultivation of the mangrove forest. There was too much clearing away of the mangrove forest after the 2004 tsunami to make way for shrimp farms. With our aid, this will help turn around this coastal hazard to ‘clear’ the mangrove forest for a more profitable industry and make it quiet clear to the villagers that if it wasn’t for the mangrove forest, they wouldn’t have a coastline or a village to live in.

Mangroves of Thailand is a post from: Tylo Times

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Mangroves of Thailand