Summary - Prof. Ong

Summary

The Hidden Costs of Mangrove Destruction

4 June 2002 – Bali, Indonesia – The destruction of mangrove forests in SE Asia, primarily due to digging ponds for shrimp aquaculture and for wood chips for the rayon industry, is releasing as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year as 1.5 million cars.

This staggering figure is a little known consequence of mangrove deforestation, better known for its problems of coastal erosion and loss of nursery grounds for fish.

"Carbon stored over centuries in the rich mangrove mud is released as the greenhouse gas CO2 when exposed to the air," explains Prof Ong Jin Eong, from Malaysia’s Universiti Sains, speaking today at an International Media Roundtable organised by the major global environmental change programmes at PrepCom4 in Bali.

Mangroves are a dominant ecosystem of tropical and sub-tropical coasts. They not only provide valuable goods (e.g. wood and fish) but also vital ecological and other services (e.g. sequestration of carbon, navigable waterways and prevention of coastal erosion).

Some 63,000 km2, or about a third of the world’s mangrove, occurs in SE Asia, much of it in Indonesia. This is only about 2% of the total land area, which makes mangroves a scarce and very valuable resource. These mangroves are also the most luxuriant and most biologically diverse in the world. Yet, they are being destroyed at a very alarming rate: conservative estimates suggest that only half the area of mangrove exists today as compared to 50 years ago.

The driving force is two-fold: ‘There is a high demand for shrimps in developed countries, and gross undervaluation of mangroves by developing countries’ says Prof Ong Jin Eong,

However, sustainable forestry is possible. In fact, it has been carried out for 100 years in the Matang Mangroves in NW Malaysia. There, rotational felling for charcoal allows a patchwork of regeneration and a continual, sustainable supply of wood.

Removal of mangroves is just one of the ever-increasing range of stresses being put on the coastal zone. Occupying just 20% of the global land surface, it is home to more than half the world’s population, a figure that is rapidly increasing. Associated with this land-use change are problems of pollution, exploitation of coastal fisheries and degradation of coastal ecosystems.

For further information contact:

Prof. Ong Jin Eong
Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
Phone: +604 6577888 x 2371
Fax:+604-6572960
E-mail: jeong@usm.my

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