Mess with Mother Nature and she'll come right back at you

MYANMAR: Loss of mangrove forests exacerbates cyclone deaths

BANGKOK, 16 May 2008 (IRIN) - Cyclone Nargis – and the devastating tidal surge that followed – has highlighted the potential tragic consequences of pursuing rapid economic expansion while neglecting the environment.

In recent decades, farmers in Myanmar’s low-lying Ayeyarwady Delta cleared vast tracts of coastal mangrove forests to expand rice cultivation and — in the past eight years — to make way for export-oriented prawn farming.

However, according to specialists, the loss of these forests – and the protective cover they offered – probably exacerbated the cyclone’s toll.

Masakazu Kashio, a forest resources officer with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), hoped that in the wake of the disaster, Myanmar authorities would recognise the need to preserve and protect its remaining mangrove forest – and to rehabilitate much of the degraded cover.

(More here.)