{"id":7547,"date":"2015-11-13T03:29:15","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T03:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.wordpress.com\/?p=7547"},"modified":"2015-11-13T03:29:15","modified_gmt":"2015-11-13T03:29:15","slug":"in-praise-of-mangroves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikewish.org\/?p=7547","title":{"rendered":"In praise of mangroves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mangroves are sometimes seen as muddy swamps infested with mosquitoes and crocodiles. Removing mangroves was once seen as a sign of progress. So, what is the point of preserving them?<\/p>\n

For a start, an estimated 75% of fish caught in Queensland spend some time in mangroves or depend on food chains that can be traced back to these coastal forests.\u00a0 (Source:\u00a0 http:\/\/wetlandinfo.ehp.qld.gov.au\/wetlands\/ecology\/components\/flora\/mangroves\/)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Australia has 11,500 kilometres of mangroves and nearly half of them are in Queensland.\u00a0 I’m presently on a bit of the Queensland coast where mangroves have been growing for millions of years in the protected coastal area of Moreton Bay.\u00a0 Mangroves were maligned when I was a child.\u00a0 They were muddy insect-infested smelly swamps, and those who lived close by had the poor-man’s water view.<\/p>\n

\"Lota<\/p>\n

Mangroves were filled in, built on or turned into a boat harbour.\u00a0 On the Lota foreshore in Brisbane, there is a long stretch of mangroves which comes to a sudden artificial halt where a marina has been built.\u00a0 The mangrove trees are still trying to grow at its edge, but I sensed an ecological loss when my walking path brought me to this dry bit of beach at the beginning of the harbour.\u00a0 If I were a boat enthusiast I’d probably feel different.<\/p>\n

\"Mangrove<\/p>\n

For some, mangroves are a Stygian swamp;\u00a0 for others they represent regenerative, indispensable, biological diversity.\u00a0 Mangrove plants can grow in salty water and thrive despite the tide flooding their roots and trunks twice a day.\u00a0 They stabilise the shoreline and protect it from wave and storm damage.\u00a0 The mangroves in Moreton Bay that have been spared have a unique beauty I’ve lately been discovering.\u00a0 On the other side of the stone wall forming the marina boundary, the foreshore looks like this:<\/p>\n

\"Lota<\/p>\n

If you walk slowly beside the mangrove forest, you discover creatures and plants that coexist in peace, if left alone.\u00a0 The light plays on the water in the afternoon as the tide comes in, and the low twisty branches intertwine and mingle like family.\u00a0 You might catch a heron stalking through the mud, or see a spider suspended in mid-air in its invisible web, or spot a duck in a tree hole.<\/p>\n