Price of Cooking Fuel Threatens Papua New Guinea Mangroves

RedOrbit News 20 May 08;

The soaring price of cooking fuels is forcing many households to turn to mangrove trees for firewood, leading to their further destruction. As a result, future catch from coastal fishing grounds could drastically decline, marine biologist Thomas Maniwavie said recently. He is attached to Motupure Biology Unit of the University of Papua New Guinea based on Motupore Island in Tahira Bay just outside of Port Moresby.

Mr Maniwavie said mangrove areas are the natural breeding grounds of fish, bivalve shells, prawns, lobsters and crabs. When mangrove forests decline, fish population in coastal fishing grounds also tends to decrease, leading to fewer catch for coastal fishermen, he said.

"They (mangrove trees) have become a saleable commodity," Mr Maniwavie said in an interview with a Port Moresby-based representative of www.batasnews.com, a website operated by free- legal aid lawyers in the Philippines.

"The villagers along the coastal areas of Central Province harvest the trees, cut them to size, dry them up and sell them as firewood in bundles," he said. "With the rising price of cooking fuel, they started selling firewood in big volumes to city dwellers who can no longer afford kerosene or LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)," he added.

Mr Maniwavie said that villagers along the coast of Tahira Bay in Central can now encroach into bigger areas inside the mangrove forests even during high tide using banana boats which they use to haul off to cut mangrove trees.

"Aside from being used as cooking fuel, mangrove trees are being used as firewood to dry sea cucumber," he said.

Mr Maniwavie is working on the protection and conservation through replanting of denuded mangrove areas along the coastline of Central Province, using funds from World Wildlife Foundation (WWF).

Originally published by The National website, Port Moresby, in English 20 May 08.