Concern as area under mangrove on the decline

Shipping & Logistics

Concern as area under mangrove on the decline

Tuesday, February 26, 2019 20:27

By SAMUEL BAYA |

Total mangrove cover for the last 25 years has reduced drastically pointing to a bleak future for the sea ecosystem.

The Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) director general Major (Rtd) George Nyamoko Okong’o said studies show the area under mangrove has decreased gradually between 1985 and 2010. Kenya, he said, has lost about 18 percent of its mangroves at an average rate of 0.7 percent per year during the period.

“This is attributed to overharvesting for fuel wood, timber and fish traps as well as clearing land for agriculture, solar salt production and coastal development,” Mr Okong’o said in a speech read on his behalf by John Omingo, KAM head of commercial shipping department, during a mangrove tree planting day at Mkupe jetty in in Mombasa.

“Pollution from industries, agriculture and domestic run-off, and incidents of oil spills, are other causes of mangrove loss in the Kenya,” he said.

A total of 3,000 mangrove seedlings were planted during the exercise.

He said destruction of forests has led to reduced rainfall and fish catches as well as severe soil erosion.

The negative effects of deforestation on the country’s public health, agriculture, fishing, and other industries cost the Kenyan economy Sh5.8 billion in a year, according to a United Nations study.

“I recognize efforts being put in place to protect our environment. Just recently President Uhuru Kenyatta launched an ambitious tree planting project aimed at increasing the country’s forest cover from the current seven percent to 15 percent by the year 2022 by planting 1.8 billion trees all over the country,” he said.

“The tree planting campaign follows the unveiling of a taskforce charged with the mandate of reviewing forestry management.”

The KMA director said the benefits of mangrove are many and therefore it should be protected at all cost.

“Mangrove trees provide spawning grounds, nurseries, nutrients and shelter for a variety of marine species, including commercially important fish, shrimps and crabs, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds,” he said.

Other benefits of mangrove are carbon sequestration, buffering seagrass beds from terrestrial sediment/nutrient loads, and cultural services such as recreation, ecotourism and are an important breeding ground for artisanal fishers.

“The health of our planet is essential to our own health and wellbeing, and to our future and trees are an essential part of it,” Mr Okong’o said.