Nargis hits Burma: Army-run country not armed by Nature!
8 May 2008 — Nalaka Gunawardene
“As the memories of the Asian Tsunami fade, there’s a danger that its important environmental lessons might also be forgotten.”
I wrote these words for the closing narration of an Asian documentary produced by TVE Asia Pacific in 2006. The Greenbelt Reports: Armed by Nature was an attempt to document and analyse the greenbelt effect: how coral reefs, mangroves and sand dunes help protect coastal locations and communities by acting as ‘natural barriers’ against tsunami waves and cyclones.
Now, as we watch in horror the massive, unfolding humanitarian crisis triggered by cyclone Nargis hitting Burma, it does seem that the tsunami’s lessons were indeed not heeded by the generals in charge of the beleaguered Southeast Asian nation.
Evidently, the Burmese army - one of the most repressive in the world - has not considered it necessary to safeguard Nature’s own coastal defences. Tens of thousands of Burmese people are now paying a terrible price.
AFP has just quoted ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan (chief of the powerful 11-nation economic alliance) as saying that the destruction of mangrove forests left Burma’s coastal areas exposed to the devastating force of Nargis. Coastal developments had resulted in mangroves, which act as a natural defence against storms, being lost, he said.
ABC/AFP story: Mangrove destruction raised Burma toll
In the wake of the destruction and rising death toll caused by Cyclone Nagris, Mangove Action Project (MAP) is calling for the re-establishment of mangrove buffer zones and coastal greenbelts along affected coastal zones to avert future such disasters.
“This latest disaster in Burma is a grim reminder of other recent natural disasters,” said Alfredo Quarto, executive director of MAP, a worldwide network of organisations committed to conserving the world’s mangrove forests.
He was referring to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami that left over 200,000 dead or missing and the 1999 Super Cyclone that hit the coast of Orissa, India, that killed over 10,000. “The force of the cyclone could have been greatly lessened and much loss in life and property damage could have been averted if healthy mangrove forests had been conserved along the coastlines of the Irawaddy Delta,” he added.
We worked with Alfredo’s Asian colleagues - Jim Enright in Thailand and Ben Brown in Indonesia - in producing Armed by Nature.
Alfredo quotes Burmese researchers saying that during a period of 75 years (1924-1999), 82.76% of the mangroves of the Irrawady were destroyed. Globally, he says, less than half the world’s mangrove forests remain - around 15 million ha (around 37 million acres). The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates a 1% annual loss of mangroves worldwide, which signifies a 150,000 ha (367,500 acres) loss per year.
“There is scientific evidence that the mangroves’ dense, intertwining trunks, branches, and roots can protect coastlines, and that the destructive force from storm surges is greatly dissipated as they pass through intact, healthy coastal zones containing mangroves,” says MAP.
Read the full press release from MAP
BBC Online: Mangrove loss put Burma at risk
Watch a story from our 12-part TV series, The Greenbelt Reports, filmed in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand:
Watch all stories in The Greenbelt Reports series on TVEAP’s YouTube channel
My op ed essay published by Islam Online, December 2005:
A year after the tsunami: Have we learned the lessons?
Islam Online science feature, Feb 2005: Solid wall of trees vs. solid wall of water
Blog post in July 2007: Love Thy Mangrove - a Greenbelt Report from Pra Thong island, Thailand
Photos courtesy Pamudi Withanaarachchi, TVE Asia Pacific
