Black Looks

The value of Mangrove swamps is finally being “officially” recognised. I say officially because the people who live amongst the mangroves in for example the Niger Delta have always known their value as an ecosystem. The word “swamp” has also contributed to the abuse of the the mangrove areas as it implies they are a wasteland and breeding ground of disease. On the conrary….

Mangroves are highly productive biotopes and as such have a vibrant, rich and endemic wildlife. Mangrove forests and the salt marshes connected to them provide food and a home for fish, shellfish, molluscs, wildfowl and threatened marine mammals. Most of these species are endemic to the mangroves, meaning they cannot live in any other place. Most of the endemic species are an enormous variety of crabs.

But also many other species need the mangroves in periods of their life. Ducks, geese and other wild birds stop over at coastal wetlands - mostly the mangroves - during migration. Flounder and bluefish use the marshes as nurseries, winter quarters and occasional feeding grounds. The mangroves further offer nursery and breeding grounds for freshwater and marine life - especially shrimp.

The mangrove ecosystem of the Niger Delta has long been destroyed by continued gas flaring and oil spills but it is not only oil pollution that is destroying the mangrove - commerical shrimp farms and global warming are all contirbuting to the depletion of the mangrove regions.

Tags:
Mangrove Swamps;
Niger Delta