Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Mangrove trees are important in many ways, and hese are the ways man has used them for:Avicennia marina(Avicenniaceae)/ Mchu
Main: no substantial utilisation
Secondary: low quality firewood, charcoal, bed posts, chair legs, table legs, fencing posts, crushing poles, crushing mortar, serving dishes, drums, boat ribs, board games (bao), bee-hives and traditional drums; the roots provide remedies for fever and insecticides
Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (Rhizophoraceae)/Mshinzi, Muia, Mkoko wimbi
Main: building material, roof supports, high quality firewood
Secondary: high quality charcoal, boat padles, oars, handcraft handles, axes handles, pounding poles, bee-hives and traditional drums; the roots provide remedies
Ceriops tagal (Rhizophoraceae)/Mkandaa mwekundu, Mkoko mtune
Main: building material, paddles, oars, medium quality firewood, charcoal, dyes (incl. tanning compounds), fishing traps
Heritiera littoralis (Sterculiaceae)/Msikundazi
Main: charcoal
Secondary: fire wood, building wood
Lumnitzera racemosa (Combretaceae)/Kilalamba dume, Kikandaa, Mkaa pwani
Main: no substantial utilisation
Subsidiary: building wood, medium quality firewood and charcoal
Pemphis acidula (Lythraceae)/Kilalamba kike
Main: fire wood, charcoal
Subsidiary: building wood
Rhizophora mucronata (Rhizophoraceae)/Magoni, Mkoko, Mkoko pwani
Main: building wood, high quality charcoal
Secondary: high quality firewood, dyes (incl. tanning compounds), medicines, ointments, bow-nets (using roots), fishing traps, weapons
Sonneratia alba (Sonneratiaceae)/Mlilana
Main: canoes, boat ribs, paddles, masts, floating fishing gears, window and door frames
Secondary: medium quality firewood and charcoal
Xylocarpus granatum (Meliaceae)/Mkomafi
Main: canoes, charcoal
Secondary: fire wood
Subsidiary: the fruits provide remedies for stomach-ache
Xylocarpus moluccensis (Meliaceae)/Mkumafi dume
Main: high quality timber ofr bed construction, window and door frames, medium quality charcoal
Secondary: medium quality firewood
2. Charcoal productionCharcoal production is a traditional activity in some coastal communities, especially on Zanzibar Island (Tanzania). The intensity of charcoal production is increasing in these last years. The reasons are both on the demand and the supply side. In fact, the demand is rising as a consequence of population growth and of the arrival of numerous tourists along the East Africa coasts. On the supply side, there is the growth of village populations and of cash requirement especially for the younger generations.
Charcoal makers define this activity as very tiring: moving in a mangrove forest is not easy and, once the right trees are selected, it takes several days to cut them down and bring the wood to the place where the charcoal is produced, and finally to build up the pile. The slowness of the cutting process depends on the fact that the only tool used is a machete, the lack of motor saw probably represents an exploitation control, better than any conservation measures.
The final operation consists on covering the pile with soil and ashes and then fire it inside, the combustion proceeds for about one week, during which it should be checked out periodically.
The advantages of this activity are fast incomes (one production process takes from two to four weeks, depending on the size of the hump) and no initial investments. People resort to it when in the need of cash, especially before celebrations.
Charcoal producers seem to be aware of the dangers related to an over exploitation of mangroves. Moreover, all of them declared to be respectful of the local based management plans. Anyway, many said that if they had money, they would eagerly invest in some other activities.
3. FishingThroughout the East African coast, fishing is usually not practised in an intensive way, but many families, carry it out mainly for local consumption. In fact, usually, fish markets are very well developed and self consumption rate is rather high, which satisfies the protein need of the villagers.
According to the gear used, it is possible to define three types of fishing. The cheapest type is by hand lines or harpoons. The second one is fishing by traps (uzio): they consist of a "fence" of small sticks hammered in the ground of the coastline, in the area between the limits of the tides. They are put during the low tide and they trap the fishes that arrive with the new high tide and are left behind in the fenceas the sea recedes.
The more profitable fishing is the one carried out with boats and nets. Table II describes these different techniques practised along the Swahili coasts. Of all the uses of fishing gears that of fishing traps is the most demanding, especially in preparing it: people have to tie the sticks to one another tightly to obtain a barrier long up to 20 m. Moreover, fishing with traps depends in a double way on mangrove: directly as the sticks come from the roots of Rhizophora mucronata and indirectly, because, as documented, fishes depend on the habitat offered by mangrove forest.
With so many profitable uses of mangrove trees, let us do our best to conserve them:)Special Thanks and Acknowledgements to:
http://www.dbag.unifi.it/mangroves/human/uses1.htm
Posted by:
Abigail Lim, Nicole Lim and Angelyn Ong
living nature
5:25 AM
