Conservation Heroes

Many of us came into 2018 with hope, expectation, and resolution, wished it to be a great one to brighten and enrich our lives, however, at the very beginning of the new year the life clock stopped for three forestry patrollers who would never ever see their wishes come true. I am sorry to start the 2018 blog with such a sad news Thol Khna, 26, a Geographic Information Systems staffer for Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia (WCS) for just six months before going out on patrol in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, Sok Vathana, a Military Police officer, and Theun Soknay, a ranger with the Environment Ministry for the sanctuary were attacked while they were patrolling in O’Raing district near the O’Huch border crossing with Vietnam. The reason behind the shootout is still under-investigated, but it could be concluded as “related to illegal logging in our protected area” said Kong Putheara, Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary director. The area that is rife with logging is home to a variety of plants on the global Red List according to IUCN, in particular, Pterocarpus, a pan-tropical genus of trees which are of high demand in the market in Asia for mahogany furniture and handicraft making (another common name is rosewood for its unique colour). Just like the blood diamond, people who in pursuit or in possession of rosewood products might not know the 'aesthetic value' often disguise the brutal true cost: over-exploitation, deforestation and even the loss of lives.

Another plant under the same threat in South and Southeast Asia is mangrove, who has a similar common name with Pterocarpus in Mandarin for their colours and has been on the topic-list for my blog for quite a while, this post about mangrove is to commemorate these three heroes and dedicated to all the conservationists. 

There are about 15 million hectares covered by mangroves along the tropical coasts. A big proportion of the world’s coverage of mangroves occurs in South and Southeast Asia, the latter representing 34-42% of the global mangroves plantation. Distinct from the land-based forest, mangroves have their dense tangle of roots mangrove, an idea protection of tropical coasts, slowing down and breaking the destructive force of storms or even tsunamis. They have been recognised as universal protection for vulnerable tropical coasts. In addition, the mangrove forests are of high value for ecosystem service as well, provide a nutrient-rich habitat and breeding ground for countless species, for instance, fishery nurseries. Human communities living close o mangrove forests rely on them as an important source of incoming mainly from timber products. Scientifically well-managed harvests could contribute a value of $194,000 ha−1 yr−1 (per hectare per year) and sustain for a long time.

Photo: Seaphotoart/ Shutterstock http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/video/2017/07/26/international-day-for-the-conservation-of-the-mangrove-ecosystem

Under global warming circumstance, mangroves help to decrease the coastal erosion caused by sea level rising and absorb more than 3 times CO2 from atmosphere compared to land-based forests. Apart from CO2 removal, they also sequester some of the carbon in the soil for long periods of time through carbon sinking and sediment burial, generated by annual turnover of small litter as well as the net growth of forest biomass above and below-ground. A recent study measured the total carbon storage in mangrove across Indo-Pacific regions and found a mean value of 1,043 and range of 437 to 2,186 Mg C ha-1 (metric tonnes of carbon per hectare per year). Thus, mangrove forest is vital for climate change mitigation and adaptation with its high capacity and effectiveness in reducing GHG concentration, referred to project REDD+.

Can Mangroves Adapt to Rising Seas? https://blog.nature.org/science/2013/08/08/mangrove-sea-level-rise-climate-change-adaptation/

However, in last 25 year, the world has lost over 3.5 million hectares of mangroves, in many regions mangroves are still under threats due to over-exploitation and land-use changes. As mentioned in previous posts, the key to mangrove protection and restoration is community collaboration and sharing of benefits. We have seen several projects and initiative launched in Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries in Southeast Asia by local authorities and non-governmental organisations. There are many rangers and conservationist work tirelessly day and night at the front line, they apply, test and explore new ways for conservation at very front-line, risk their lives to protect the forests and our natural heritage against land encroachment, illegal logging and poaching. In their honour, we should not forget them, we should not allow criminals to destroy our determination and concerted action to protect the wild nature. It is also of significant importance to urge the governments and international organisations to provide sufficient protection to the conservation staffs and bring criminals to the justice. 

Salute! The real heroes for the conservation of nature, you will always be remembered. R.I.P.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/projects/the-global-mangrove-alliance-uniting-to-conserve-and-restore-valuable-coastal-forests