How a Caribbean community restored its ailing mangroves

PO1 Tony Holland thanks for sharing.

Mangroves are critical to maintain the marine ecosystem. As a sports fisherman I can see the impact on near shore species when development tears them down. Hopefully our legislators will recognize that and its impact on the fishing and tourism industries as well as the environmental impact.

PO1 Tony Holland Mother Nature will only take so much abuse.

"On a sweltering summer day in 1994, an ancient mangrove forest on Union Island was ripped apart.

A foreign investor had started the foundation work for a hotel, marina and golf course in Ashton lagoon on Union Island, one of the 32 Grenadine islands which dot the clear, blue waters of the southern Caribbean Sea.

The sounds of birds chirping and waves crashing against the intricately woven roots of the mangroves was replaced by the noise of excavators and cement trucks, cutting the trees to make way for culverts and concrete pillars.

Poorly sized pillars collapsed, cutting off tidal flow in the 10-acre (4-hectare) lagoon. More mangrove trees began dying. The clear water turned putrid and yellow. And what was once the most ecologically diverse lagoon in the region became a barren eyesore and mosquito breeding ground."