May 3, 2008
ON THE ROAD IN BELIZE: Conservation Group Works to Save Ecologically Important Mangroves
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor
Sittee River, Belize (HNN) -- When I contacted Yolita Cano (see adjacent story) I wanted to travel down to the Sittee River area in the Stann Creek district of this Central American nation and see for myself what was happening to the mangroves along the river and the Caribbean coast.
My contact in Sittee River was California native Sharon Andrews, who operates an internet cafe there. The scenic drive took me east on the Western Highway to the capital of the nation, Belmopan, and then down the picturesque Hummingbird Highway to its junction with the Southern Highway and thence to Sittee, south of Hopkins on a road off the Southern Highway.
I was surprised at the size of the Sittee River, which starts its way to the sea in the mountains: It appeared to me to be as big as the Belize River, the nation's largest waterway.
Sharon, who has lived in Belize for six years, introduced me to Shelmadene Robinson, president of the Hopkins/Sittee River Conservation Committee; Sharon's husband Horace Andrews, at the helm of his boat and Isabelle McMillen, a committee member. McMillen said her husband is a builder, but one who believes in sensitive development as much as possible.
The trip down the river to the Caribbean included several detours into mangroves, which thrive in the salty and brackish water of the river and along the coast. Sharon pointed out gouges in the landscape, which developers say will preserve the mangroves by supplying them with water from the river. She said they also serve to drain the mangroves and -- eventually -- kill them off.
"Then the developers of big projects say the mangroves are dead and should be removed," she added. "Most developers are oriented to white sand beaches, reasoning that their customers demand them in their vacation getaways or retirement homes.
We could see single-family and condominium developments through the mangroves along the river and got a better view of them when we entered the sea. McMillen pointed out a house built by her husband, who worked to preserve as much existing vegetation as possible.
According to Wikipedia, "Mangroves (generally) are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics. The word is used in at least three senses: most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are also used, (to refer to all trees and large shrubs in the mangal, and narrowly to refer to the mangrove family of plants, the Rhizophoraceae, or even more specifically just to mangrove trees of the genus Rhizophora. Mangals are found in depositional coastal environments where fine sediments, often with high organic content, collect in areas protected from high energy wave action."
Most experts agree that mangroves are vital to the ecology of a region and their destruction results in more severe damage from storm surges and hurricanes.
For more information, check out the Wikipedia article and other web-based sources.
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ON THE ROAD IN BELIZE: Conservation Group Works to Save Ecologically Important Mangroves
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Editor
Sittee River, Belize (HNN) -- When I contacted Yolita Cano (see adjacent story) I wanted to travel down to the Sittee River area in the Stann Creek district of this Central American nation and see for myself what was happening to the mangroves along the river and the Caribbean coast.
My contact in Sittee River was California native Sharon Andrews, who operates an internet cafe there. The scenic drive took me east on the Western Highway to the capital of the nation, Belmopan, and then down the picturesque Hummingbird Highway to its junction with the Southern Highway and thence to Sittee, south of Hopkins on a road off the Southern Highway.
I was surprised at the size of the Sittee River, which starts its way to the sea in the mountains: It appeared to me to be as big as the Belize River, the nation's largest waterway.
Sharon, who has lived in Belize for six years, introduced me to Shelmadene Robinson, president of the Hopkins/Sittee River Conservation Committee; Sharon's husband Horace Andrews, at the helm of his boat and Isabelle McMillen, a committee member. McMillen said her husband is a builder, but one who believes in sensitive development as much as possible.
The trip down the river to the Caribbean included several detours into mangroves, which thrive in the salty and brackish water of the river and along the coast. Sharon pointed out gouges in the landscape, which developers say will preserve the mangroves by supplying them with water from the river. She said they also serve to drain the mangroves and -- eventually -- kill them off.
"Then the developers of big projects say the mangroves are dead and should be removed," she added. "Most developers are oriented to white sand beaches, reasoning that their customers demand them in their vacation getaways or retirement homes.
We could see single-family and condominium developments through the mangroves along the river and got a better view of them when we entered the sea. McMillen pointed out a house built by her husband, who worked to preserve as much existing vegetation as possible.
According to Wikipedia, "Mangroves (generally) are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics. The word is used in at least three senses: most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are also used, (to refer to all trees and large shrubs in the mangal, and narrowly to refer to the mangrove family of plants, the Rhizophoraceae, or even more specifically just to mangrove trees of the genus Rhizophora. Mangals are found in depositional coastal environments where fine sediments, often with high organic content, collect in areas protected from high energy wave action."
Most experts agree that mangroves are vital to the ecology of a region and their destruction results in more severe damage from storm surges and hurricanes.
For more information, check out the Wikipedia article and other web-based sources.
E-mail HNN Yahoo Google
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
