Living off the tides

Abstract

Mangroves are productive ecosystems, that sustain important fisheries, provide a variety of forest products and harbour millions of resident and migratory birds as well as endangered mammals and reptiles. Reclamation for aquaculture and agriculture is currently considered the main way to achieve development of mangrove areas. These types of reclamation are costly, often unsustainable, and have adverse environmental effects. They mainly benefit outsiders, and to a lesser extent local communities, to the prejudice of those traditionally engaged in fisheries and the gathering of forest products. Partial reclamation may be beneficial and cause limited environmental damage provided that activities are properly designed, judiciously located (Le. largely outside the mangroves, and on suitable soils), implemented on a small scale and controlled by the local population. However, reclamation is certainly not the only option available and priority should be given to the development of mangrove-related activities such as fisheries, forestry, open water aquaculture and nature-orientated tourism. These activities require less investments, are easily taken over by local communities and offer more opportunities for conservation. However, most of them may induce environmental risks and need proper management and control. Integrating sustainable development of mangrove coasts with conservation may take place along three different lines: optimising mangrove-related activities, while maintaining the integrity of mangrove ecosystems as wildlife habitat and naturally functioning ecosystems, optimising reclamation activities while maintaining the integrity of adjacent mangrove ecosystems, integrating conservation into coastal development.