Myanmar cyclone damage worsened by loss of mangroves: FAO

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

ROME (AFP) — The destruction of mangrove forests along parts of Myanmar's coast contributed to the damage wreaked by cyclone Nargis, the UN food agency said Thursday.

Farmland and fisheries have replaced many mangrove forests, and people have moved closer to the sea without the "protective forest buffer" provided by mangroves, said forestry expert Jan Heino of the Food and Agriculture Organisation in a communique.

The mangrove area in Burma's Ayeyarwady Delta, severely hit by the cyclone, is now less than half the size it was in 1975 at just over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres), the Rome-based agency said.

The cyclone caused waves more than three metres (10 feet) high, it noted, adding that dense coastal vegetation would have reduced their impact.

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