Thursday, August 12, 2010
This just in from our friends in Bangalore, India.
Alarmed by the rapid degradation of the coastal ecosystem and the potential danger it poses to people living along the coast, the Karnataka forest department has devised a plan to prevent further damage to the beaches.
An increase in population density and economic activities in the coastal zones is pressuring the ecosystem, which can lead to loss of biodiversity, coral reef bleaching, new diseases among organisms, hypoxia, reduced water quality, and a threat to human health due to toxins in fish and algae.
Since about 60 percent of the world’s population lives within 62 miles from an ocean, any catastrophe along coastlines will cause huge loss of life. The forest department wants to prevent such disaster by fortifying the coastal regions. It is planning a "green shield" at all the beaches in the three coastal districts of the state — from Thalapady near Mangalore to Karwar, a stretch of 192 miles.
The "shield" will be a three-tier green cover with different types of coastal vegetation. Said Manjunath Shetty, asistant conservator of forests, Kundapur subdivision, “A green carpet of ipoma biloma, a creeper which grows at beaches and pins sand to the ground, will comprise the first tier. It will provide adequate cover to the beach wildlife, like small amphibian crustaceans, turtles, and snakes.
"The second tier will be made of Vetiver, an aromatic plant known for its thick network of roots and medicinal applications.
“A thick cover of trees like casuarina, calophyllum and honge (pongamia pinnata) will make up the third tier.”
A 109-mile “green shield” will soon come up in the three coastal districts of Udupi (between Karnad and Shiroor), Uttara Kannada (from Bhatkal to Karwar), and Dakshina Kannada (from Thalapady to Karnad).
Another ‘green shield’ had been set up at Kodi Kanyana sea face in Kundapur division, Shetty said. “Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa will inspect it on August 13,” he said.
“Over the centuries, due to human intervention, beaches have lost their natural vegetative cover,"said Ananth Hegde Ashisara, chairman, Karnataka Board of Biodiversity and also Western Ghats Task Force. “No human effort will be able to arrest the advance of the sea under such conditions. But nature can repair some of the damage if we initiate natural re-generation," he said.
“The green shield will protect people from disasters like tsunami, hurricane and metallic corrosion due to saline winds,” Sundar Naik, additional principal conservator of forests, added.
Showing posts with label coastal waters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coastal waters. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Guyana (yes, Guyana!) takes the lead. Oh, USA, is anyone there?
Guyana leaps to the fore as its agricultural minister allows that Vetiver, the simple, complex plant that we love, just might be the solution to some of his country's coastal woes. The shocking convergence of international economic meltdown and horrific natural disasters might, just might, pave the way to increased adoption of Vetiver Systems on a scale heretofore unseen! It's about time, don't you think!?
"The use of Vetiver grass as a form of sea defense protection may be considered by the authorities but planting of the perennial grass will have to be tested first before widespread planting can begin, says Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, when asked by the Stabroek News last week for a comment on use of the plant as a sea defense protector.
He stated that the authorities are studying the use of the plant, and has identified the Mon Repos Beach area as an excellent site for the test planting.
According to the Agriculture Minister, a mangrove specialist will establish the areas and try different methods of planting. He noted that the perennial grass has “great potential in the area of mud bank stabilization.”
According to Persaud, Vetiver is an effective, low cost bio-engineering technology that strengthens infrastructure protection and marsh replenishment by reliably enhancing control over soil and water management. He stated that using the plant as a form of sea defense involves planting Vetiver in a geometric or natural pattern that reinforces the dynamic processes of flow and deposition.
Vetiver is a uniquely dense, erect, deeply-rooted clump grass that is non-fertile and non-invasive. The grass, whose roots mat together, can grow as high as 1.5 meters and its roots grows downwards between six and 12 feet deep, making it an excellent erosion control plant in the tropical climate. It is also utilized for perfumery, aromatherapy and medicinal purposes in some parts of the world.
For more than a year now, Joe Coxall, a commenter on Stabroek News’ website, has extolled the virtues of Vetiver. In one of his December 2008 posts, he said “This grass can grow anywhere, but it does not spread. Instead it grows thick root bundles over 12 feet long, straight down into the earth.”
The grass itself is good cow fodder. The roots hold the soil to the land and stop the silting. Oils can be extracted from the roots, which can be twisted into string. This grass will hold together high mud embankments.
When contacted for a comment on the issue, Engineer Charles Sohan expressed reservations, recommending that authorities pursue sea and river defense infrastructure works of a more stable and permanent nature that have stood the test of time. [Perhaps Mr. Sohan should review Fiji's century-long history of Vetiver stabilization. Ed.]
Minister Persaud, while addressing the vulnerability of Guyana’s coastland to flooding and the high cost to maintain rigid engineered structures during a workshop on mangrove restoration at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre on March 5, opined that there are other “least cost” techniques which the Mangrove Management Implementation Comewmittee (MMIC) could examine, listing the cultivation of Vetiver as an option.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister outlined several areas that the Mangrove restoration project, for which some $125 million have been allocated in this year’s budget, will adopt in accordance with the Ecological Restoration of Mangroves Protoco, including:
-understanding the normal hydrologic patterns controlling the distribution and successful establishment and growth of the targeted mangrove species,
-determining the modifications and stresses of the previous mangrove environment that are currently preventing natural secondary succession, and,
-designing the restoration program to first establish the appropriate hydrology at an appropriate restoration site, and then utilizing natural volunteer mangrove propagules for plant establishment.
The MMIC, which was formed last month, is spearheading the restoration project. The committee includes ten relevant agencies, including the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) which is coordinating the technical aspect of the implementation of the restoration program. NARI has since advertised for a Community Development Specialist to lead the Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project.
"The use of Vetiver grass as a form of sea defense protection may be considered by the authorities but planting of the perennial grass will have to be tested first before widespread planting can begin, says Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, when asked by the Stabroek News last week for a comment on use of the plant as a sea defense protector.
He stated that the authorities are studying the use of the plant, and has identified the Mon Repos Beach area as an excellent site for the test planting.
According to the Agriculture Minister, a mangrove specialist will establish the areas and try different methods of planting. He noted that the perennial grass has “great potential in the area of mud bank stabilization.”
According to Persaud, Vetiver is an effective, low cost bio-engineering technology that strengthens infrastructure protection and marsh replenishment by reliably enhancing control over soil and water management. He stated that using the plant as a form of sea defense involves planting Vetiver in a geometric or natural pattern that reinforces the dynamic processes of flow and deposition.
Vetiver is a uniquely dense, erect, deeply-rooted clump grass that is non-fertile and non-invasive. The grass, whose roots mat together, can grow as high as 1.5 meters and its roots grows downwards between six and 12 feet deep, making it an excellent erosion control plant in the tropical climate. It is also utilized for perfumery, aromatherapy and medicinal purposes in some parts of the world.
For more than a year now, Joe Coxall, a commenter on Stabroek News’ website, has extolled the virtues of Vetiver. In one of his December 2008 posts, he said “This grass can grow anywhere, but it does not spread. Instead it grows thick root bundles over 12 feet long, straight down into the earth.”
The grass itself is good cow fodder. The roots hold the soil to the land and stop the silting. Oils can be extracted from the roots, which can be twisted into string. This grass will hold together high mud embankments.
When contacted for a comment on the issue, Engineer Charles Sohan expressed reservations, recommending that authorities pursue sea and river defense infrastructure works of a more stable and permanent nature that have stood the test of time. [Perhaps Mr. Sohan should review Fiji's century-long history of Vetiver stabilization. Ed.]
Minister Persaud, while addressing the vulnerability of Guyana’s coastland to flooding and the high cost to maintain rigid engineered structures during a workshop on mangrove restoration at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre on March 5, opined that there are other “least cost” techniques which the Mangrove Management Implementation Comewmittee (MMIC) could examine, listing the cultivation of Vetiver as an option.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister outlined several areas that the Mangrove restoration project, for which some $125 million have been allocated in this year’s budget, will adopt in accordance with the Ecological Restoration of Mangroves Protoco, including:
-understanding the normal hydrologic patterns controlling the distribution and successful establishment and growth of the targeted mangrove species,
-determining the modifications and stresses of the previous mangrove environment that are currently preventing natural secondary succession, and,
-designing the restoration program to first establish the appropriate hydrology at an appropriate restoration site, and then utilizing natural volunteer mangrove propagules for plant establishment.
The MMIC, which was formed last month, is spearheading the restoration project. The committee includes ten relevant agencies, including the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) which is coordinating the technical aspect of the implementation of the restoration program. NARI has since advertised for a Community Development Specialist to lead the Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
If it's raining, it's Vetiver weather!
It doesn't take much to return Vetiver's true mission to front and center. Well, I suppose it depends on whether you consider 14 inches of rain in 12 hours to be "much."
Heavy rains on Oahu swamped local homes and farmlands on its North Shore, central island, and leeward coast, hitting hard the communities of Laie, Hauula, Haleiwa and Wailua, Waipahu and Waianae, among others. Raw sewage overflowed from Ewa Beach cesspools, and that problem resurfaced (!) in North Shore communities which historically suffer when their septic systems cannot handle heavy rain. Wahiawa and Sand Island wastewaster treatment plants overflowed, too. Honolulu Harbor and the beleagered Lake Wilson were the depositories. Military waste treatment facilities were equally unprepared. My Marines at MCB Kaneohe Bay lost thousands of gallons of untreated sewage into Kaneohe Bay and the Mokapu Central Drainage Channel. The army at Schofield Barracks deposited nearly a million gallons of effluent into Kaukonahua Stream and into its storm drains. Coastal waters turned brown from runoff, and motorists were greeted with the first mudslides of the season.
A levee in Waianae Valley constructed by the city to prevent water from flowing into residents' backyards along Puuhulu Road burst, forming a brown stream that destroyed the very yards it was intended to protect. Homeowner Virgil Haynes lost her beehives.
AND...a very simple technology could have anticipated the annual devastation and mitigated the results: the VETIVER SOLUTION.
Heavy rains on Oahu swamped local homes and farmlands on its North Shore, central island, and leeward coast, hitting hard the communities of Laie, Hauula, Haleiwa and Wailua, Waipahu and Waianae, among others. Raw sewage overflowed from Ewa Beach cesspools, and that problem resurfaced (!) in North Shore communities which historically suffer when their septic systems cannot handle heavy rain. Wahiawa and Sand Island wastewaster treatment plants overflowed, too. Honolulu Harbor and the beleagered Lake Wilson were the depositories. Military waste treatment facilities were equally unprepared. My Marines at MCB Kaneohe Bay lost thousands of gallons of untreated sewage into Kaneohe Bay and the Mokapu Central Drainage Channel. The army at Schofield Barracks deposited nearly a million gallons of effluent into Kaukonahua Stream and into its storm drains. Coastal waters turned brown from runoff, and motorists were greeted with the first mudslides of the season.
A levee in Waianae Valley constructed by the city to prevent water from flowing into residents' backyards along Puuhulu Road burst, forming a brown stream that destroyed the very yards it was intended to protect. Homeowner Virgil Haynes lost her beehives.
AND...a very simple technology could have anticipated the annual devastation and mitigated the results: the VETIVER SOLUTION.
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