Providenciales, TCI, November 7, 2016 – Our coral reefs and mangroves are a natural barrier that help us in the event of a tsunami; some of what Dr John Claydon, Director of the DECR shared on Friday ahead of November 5 and World Tsunami Day.
“Mangroves is a little bit easier but their still pretty hard, so the best policy is not to degrade these places in the first place. So that’s why I know a lot of people see a coastline of mangroves and think, that will be a great place to build something, why do we need mangroves. But they are a crucial part of our coastal defense in this country. And essentially they are free, if we were to do it in an engineering way it will cost millions and millions.”
Claydon says the number one enemy of the reefs and the mangroves is development and when we strip away this natural barrier to build, we deplete our eco-force-field and make ourselves more susceptible to the calamities which come with tsunamis. What do we do? Work to preserve especially the mangroves.
