We often hear the concept of environmental protection referred to as a luxury of sorts. In other words, a certain measure of economic security is required before one can even worry about the environment. This concept is often applied to developing countries, like China. However, throughout my experiences in China, I found this was not entirely the case. Even very poor people had certain reasons to support environmental preservation.
To understand this, we must restructure our understanding of the purposes behind environmental programs. Throughout the trip, I found myself viewing environmental protection with more clarity and understanding, as I learned to look at environmental projects from a new perspective: from the perspective of one with few luxuries and material means who must truly stand to gain from whatever environmental “investments” they make. I gained this more direct understanding largely from our visit to Qi Ao Island which hosts a substantial mangrove preserve.
(Qi Ao Island, the site of a large mangrove preservation and rehabilitation project)
In America, environmentalism often becomes a moral or ethical issue. It almost always transcends economics. Americans and other people around the world who live in developed countries can literally “afford” to protect endangered species who are neither integral to the local ecosystem or to their well being. This is a sort of environmental altruism, afforded by their relative security in life.
Given this, why don't the poor villagers on Qi Ao Island consider their mangrove preserve essentially worthless? While there are some protests and abuses of the regulations of the preserve, the mangroves are an example of an ecological asset whose protection brings about real and dramatic benefits that can actually be worth the trouble for a poor Chinese fisherman. From this example a new concept emerges: there must be some sort of hierarchy in the realm of environmental preservation. The mangrove restoration and protection on Qi Ao Island obviously transcends many other projects that could have occurred. In fact, American environmental groups would do well to focus their energies on the projects that are most important, instead of those that arouse the most public sympathy.
That is not to say that mangroves do not have benefits ranging beyond direct economic improvement for poor fishermen. China is noticeably devoid of abundant “green” public space. I will not discuss the effects of this deficiency on human psychology here and now; there are plenty of other papers written on the subject. What I can say is that the locals in Shenzen seemed to be enjoying their own mangrove reserve, which also included a park adjacent to the shoreline. In fact, the park receives such an abundance of visitors that the number of visitors allowed has been restricted so as not to stress the already fragile ecosystem of the preserve.
(Shenzen, mangrove reserve with adjacent parkland.)
The benefits of mangroves to those not living in a state of constant subsistence are valid and do overlap with the benefits to those who are (like the Qi Ao fishermen). However, the dramatic benefits to fisherman do have a definite foundation in science that requires at least some explanation, no matter how brief. Mangroves are a low growing type of tree that ranges across a huge diversity of distinct species, all of which tend to grow in warm, costal waters. Still, even the many hundreds of mangrove species share some essential traits. Most universal is the structure of their roots. Mangrove roots act like extremely long fingered hands that grip the soil. These roots act like a net, and collect particles suspended in the sea water which settle into a nutrient rich mud. These roots also diminish wave action by allowing the force of the swells to dissipate slowly. Mangroves, like some ancient sea going rafts, simply allow water to pass through them and can ride out quite powerful waves unharmed. This was observable by watching the wake of our tour boat as it was slowly dampened by the mangroves it passed through, doing little damage to any one plant. To quote some worldwide examples: During the 2004 tsunami, areas located behind mangrove forests suffered comparatively little. Also, in the case of Hurricane Eileen in Florida, the only two yachts that survived were sheltered within a mangrove forest.
(The wake of our boat dissipates among the mangroves on Qi Ao)
Another benefit (and likely the most substantial one) is the ecological role of the mangroves. This too was easily observable on Qi Ao island. The soupy brown waters literally swirled with life, as fish and aquatic insects were frightened by the passing of our motor boat. Mangroves provide for this vibrant ecosystem with the mud that gathers in their roots. This nutrient rich environment creates an ideal place for fish to feed and spawn. This meaning intensifies when viewed in terms of statistics: the EPA estimates that 80% of all coastal fish and crustaceans captured by fisherman would literally not exist without mangroves. The fishermen our group interviewed said that they normally target their fishing efforts around the cloud of mud that drifts from the mouth of the mangrove-filled inlet with each tide. This benefit to the fishermen is concrete, observable, and intuitive to the point that it needs little explaining.
Mangroves also entail more subtle benefits. In addition to gathering mud, they also gather nearly everything else that floats in the ocean. This includes heavy metals that are trapped in the mud, and in effect removed from the food chain. For fishermen and their families who eat fish every day, this reduction in their intake of heavy metals, noticeably mercury, could have dramatic consequences. Finally, mangrove provide a habitat for various other species, including birds and insects. Certain worms and aquatic insects are unique to the mangroves and have significant commercial and medical value; said medical value was readily explained by the local villagers. Even the mangroves themselves can be utilized in a variety of ways that could certainly be enjoyed following the establishment of a stable population.
While the majesty of nature and its emotional importance to the human race is indisputably present, a scientific view of natural resources and their benefit to humans trumps all in the case of the Qi Ao mangrove preserve. Such realizations that certain ecosystems are of utmost importance to human economies could be what it takes to make China's rapid development as graceful as possible. In fact, the application of this approach to conservation reaches far beyond China. Developed countries could also use this approach, possibly to convince sectors of society (notably businesses) to engage in realistic thinking about environmental sustainability. In the case of the mangroves, conservation is far from a luxury only to be enjoyed and advocated for by the well-off. It is a benefit, indeed a near necessity, for everyone.
