–    A Key Climate Change Adaptation Initiative
The concept of not knowing how to use something and having it end up lost fits when it comes to an assessment of Guyana’s mangrove forests. A lack of understanding of its benefits saw its destruction, now being righted though the Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project (GMRP). The project is largely an adaptation process to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The essential role that mangroves play is the defence of the coastal zone by damping wave action and protecting coastal banks.
However, they also have a role in carbon sequestration. In fact, the mangrove forests have the potential to sequester 17 metric tonnes of carbon per hectare annually, and this therefore increases their importance in the climate change fight.
The environmental impact of the investment on the protection, management and restoration of mangrove forests in Guyana is significant.
Head of the Office of Climate Change (OCC), Mr. Shyam Nokta, in an invited comment, said the need to protect mangroves is critical since they are an essential component of the national sea defence and also assist with abating climate change. They are also an important part of Guyana’s eco-system.
Through the Ministry of Agriculture the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) was identified as the lead agency for the overall coordination of the programme, while the Mangrove Action Committee (MAC) was established to oversee the project’s implementation.
“This is an effort that all stakeholders should support,” Nokta said.
Nokta added that the work that has been completed to date is commendable and said the impact of these efforts will echo after the plan is completed.
The Government of Guyana’s recent inclusion of climate change considerations in public policy has been enshrined in the Low-Carbon Development Strategy (2009), wherein there is a central focus on forest conservation, including the protection of the substantial mangrove belts along the coasts and estuaries.
Guyana’s 15 million hectares of rainforest are estimated to have an economic value to the world of $40 billion per year – for carbon sequestration, bio-diversity and water regulation, whereas the value to Guyana of the forest through harvesting and use of the land would be $4-23 billion.
This “Economic Value to the Nation” is estimated to be equivalent to annual annuity payments to Guyana of $580 million, which would fund the LCDS.
These incentive payments would help prevent deforestation and avoid emissions of 1.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2020.
With these and other facts taken into consideration, the National Mangrove Management Action Plan, developed under the GMRP, presents a concise overview of the key issues related to the sustainable management of the national mangrove forest.
The objectives of the Plan are: to promote sustainable management of mangrove forests; develop effective protection of mangrove ecosystem and rehabilitation; increase public awareness and education on the benefits of the mangrove forests; establish and complete a legal framework for mangrove ecosystem management; encourage community-based mangrove management; and establish the administrative capacity for the management of mangroves in Guyana.
Pull quote: Guyana’s 15 million hectares of rainforest are estimated to have an economic value to the world of $40 billion per year – for carbon sequestration, bio-diversity and water regulation, whereas the value to Guyana of the forest through harvesting and use of the land would be $4-23 billion.
This “Economic Value to the Nation” is estimated to be equivalent to annual annuity payments to Guyana of $580 million, which would fund the LCDS.
Efforts to Date
To date planting at Hope, East Coast Demerara, has been completed, with 10,350 mangrove seedlings planted along 2.2 kilometers of beachfront land.
Restoration efforts continue at Mon Repos, over 13,000 seedlings being put down so far.
Community rangers have been engaged to conduct monitoring of Hope Beach and Mon Repos pilot sites. Monitoring of seedling growth and development is being conducted by University of Guyana (UG) and Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) students attached to the project.
The Action Plan also provides for the engagement of a Geographic Information System (GIS) expert to implement the mapping and inventory component of the project and, to this end, the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) was engaged, through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
The GFC has the technical personnel and knowledge base, in-house, to effectively execute the mapping and inventory of the mangrove forest. The MOU will facilitate capacity-building of GFC personnel, which will feed into the long-term sustainability of mangrove management.
The GFC has reportedly commenced preliminary mapping of mangrove forests along the coastline, starting with Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice).
The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is also being partnered with the agency, through an MOU, to facilitate sharing of data, in particular images of Guyana’s coastline, in Region Five and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).
Additional technical support was provided by the European Union (EU), through their Technical Assistance for Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening of the Sea Defences project.
Prior to this, the EU facilitated a situational analysis of Guyana’s coastal mangrove sites (Shell Beach to Mahaica), which was completed in May 2010 by Mangrove Specialist, Mr. Owen Bovell.
The situational analysis presented the current status of mangroves at the various sites and recommendations for restoration activities, which came out in the National Mangrove Action Plan.
Under the Project, also, University College London MSc. Student, Ms. Katherine Robinson, was engaged to conduct research on ‘Community Involvement in Mangrove Management’.
In addition to these, the GRMP has also seen extensive community consultations and the engagement of public-spirited volunteers to lend their support.
However, a perennial challenge continues to be destruction of the mangroves.
In February this year Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud signed the amended Forestry Act of 2010, which also provides for penalties in the event of mangrove destruction.
At present, under Guyana’s Sea Defence Act of 1998, destruction of mangrove forests carries a fine of $12,000 and a sentence of 12 months imprisonment.
Significant advances have been made since the project kicked off and will continue with support from the EU.
The EU is expected to contribute some 4.165 million Euros to the effort to ensure that Guyana’s mangroves are protected, managed and restored, and support is being given through the EU’s Sector Policy Support Programme (SPSP).
The agreement, however, is yet to be finalised.
Benefits
In recognizing the loss of the mangrove forests, there has also been acceptance of the fact that mangroves provide significant benefits and services to humankind, many of which have a high economic value. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005) defines four categories of ecosystem support:
•    Provisioning – food, medicines, construction materials;
•    Cultural – tourism, spiritual beliefs;
•    Supporting – maintenance of basic life support systems; and
•    Regulating – e.g. protection of shorelines, water quality maintenance.
Mangroves are essentially forests that are found on the seacoast and riverside that can grow in areas of high salinity and tidal flooding.
Apart from sea defences and a significant role in the climate change fight, their importance extends to other areas. Mangroves serve to shield inland areas during storms; trap sediments and break down pollutants, serve as a source of food for fish, shrimp and crabs that live in rivers and shallow areas of the sea/ocean; provide homes and nurseries for many animals, primarily fishes; and provides a safe haven for juvenile fish, shrimp and crab located on Guyana’s coastline.
Actions such as grazing animals in the mangroves, dumping of garbage in the mangrove forests, fishermen pulling their boats through mangroves and cutting mangrove trees for fuel and other purposes, are the reasons for their destruction.
In Guyana there are seven types of mangroves, but the more popular ones are the Red, Black and White mangroves.
Unfortunately, an estimated 35 percent of the world’s original mangrove cover has already gone, with some countries having lost up to 80 percent.
The general consensus among stakeholders is that there needs to be sustained efforts to protect, restore and manage the mangrove forests as we look at the bigger picture, which is the climate change fight.
Pull quote: However a perennial challenge continues to be destruction of the mangroves.
In February this year when Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud signed the amended Forestry Act of 2010 that also provides for penalties in the event of mangrove destruction.
Also, at present, under Guyana’s Sea Defence Act of 1998, destruction of mangrove forests carries a fine of $12,000 and a sentence of 12 months imprisonment.