The mangrove restoration project is set to expand in 2011 following government’s receipt of the first tranche of European Union (EU) funding.
Chairperson of the Mangrove Action Committee (MAC) Annette Arjoon-Martins told Stabroek News yesterday that the secretariat will have access to the EU fund from January 2011. She said that the committee is also grateful for additional funding of $100 million, which the Government of Guyana injected into the project earlier this year.
She said that for 2011, 85% of the funding provided by the EU will be spent on several areas of the project agenda, including research and development, monitoring reporting and enforcement at sites and replanting, for which $246 million will allocated.
For 2011, a total of $459 million is budgeted for the project’s agenda.
Arjoon-Martins said that the MAC succeeded in planting some 3.6 km of mangrove along the coastland, surpassing the 1 km target set out in the project plan and stipulated in the agreement made with the EU. She stated that the project is coming on stream and with the funding provided there are expectations that the three main aspects of the MAC agenda, which are public awareness, research and actual replanting of the tropical shrub, will be implemented smoothly.
She said that replanting has been successful in all areas identified initially, such as at Mon Repos and Hope on the East Coast Demerara (ECD). She was personally concerned about the fate of the plants along the ECD during the spring tides of the latter half of the year but according to her the plants have been able to withstand the wave currents. It was, however, noted that the project has faced a setback at Lima, on the Essequibo Coast, where some seedlings were planted. She said the area will be revisited and the replanting process will be reviewed there.
Arjoon-Martins also stated that the committee will be working with students of the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) on replanting and she noted that a stipend is being considered for the participating students.
The committee has been working with various groups in communities along the coastland at regions 4, 5 and 6 and Arjoon-Martins stated that contracts were inked with persons in various communities to provide seedlings for replanting. She said to date some 28 contracts have been signed for the provision of seedlings in quantities of 100.
She said that this arrangement is being undertaken to the benefit of the communities and the committee, noting that on the one hand the persons living in the community are gaining financially from the project while the replanting process is being bolstered by their support.
She singled out a community at Number 28 Village, in West Coast Berbice, where some 23 persons, mainly women, were trained to grow the mangrove seedlings. She said that the plants, after attaining the required 14 inch height, are then made available for planting at project sites.
Arjoon-Martins stated that the project sites are being monitored by rangers along the ECD and according to her plans for 2011 would see additional rangers being posted at other areas along the ECD and at West Coast Berbice.
The mangrove plans were announced by President Bharrat Jagdeo as part of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
Among the specific objectives of the action plan are to promote sustainable management of mangrove forest; establish and complete a legal framework for mangrove ecosystem management which encourages community-based participation; and increase public awareness and education on the benefits of mangrove forests. The mangrove project is being implemented by several agencies which are being led by the National Agricultural and Research Institute (NARI). NARI is situated close to many proposed project sites and it also houses the central nursery as well as volunteers and visiting experts. It was noted in the master plan that the best stretches of undamaged mangroves exist along the coastal area in Region One and their protection as well as their value as a control group for the study of mangrove loss as it relates to sea defence structures are critical.
