Amanda Lim (304)
Lau Zhong Ning (308)
Ada Teo (309)

RS Topic: Mangrove reforestation in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

The mangrove forests all over the world are threatened. The reasons for their rapid destruction range widely from land reclamation and industrialization, to destruction of coastal areas due to uncontrolled development and constructions (Carola Elster, 1999). Pollution and natural disasters also contribute to the diminishing of mangrove forests.

Previously, especially in Southeast Asia, efforts for reforestation were evident, but due to scarce reforestation measures, plantings were mostly carried out by trial-and-error and scientific documentation was the exception. Thus, rehabilitation of various mangrove species, other than the widely researched and experimented species of the genus Rhizophora, was especially difficult, because planting guidelines were incomplete (Elster, 1999). According to Elster’s study on ‘Reasons for reforestation success and failure with three mangrove species in Colombia’, it is important to identify ecological factors that most influence mangrove establishment, growth, and survival under the current conditions in the study area.

Many methods are used in mangrove reforestation which in this context is defined as “the act of bringing a [mangrove] ecosystem back into, as nearly as possible, its original condition, renewing or bringing it back into use” (Field, 1996). There are three case studies that we feel have helped immensely in our understanding of the process of mangrove reforestation, together with its advantages, drawbacks and cost-effectiveness. These studies include JG Kairo et al.’s no the topic of reforestation and management of mangrove systems in East Africa, D.J. Macintosh et al.’s Mangrove Rehabilitation and Intertidal Biodiversity, and Roy R. Lewis III’s on the cost and benefits of successful ecological restoration.

Mangrove restoration has been in the international spotlight due to the increased documentation of “long-ignored ecological and environmental values of mangrove forests” (Kairo et al., 2001). However, without adequate reforestation techniques, many of these projects do not meet their ultimate aim of re-establishment of habitat and functions (Lewis, 2001). For example, Sanyal (1998) has reported that between 1989 and 1995, 9050 hectares of mangroves were planted in West Bengal, India, with only a 1.52% success rate. In view of this, Lewis and Marshall (1997) have suggested five essential steps to ensure the success of a mangrove restoration programme, consisting if understanding the “autecology”, “normal hydrologic patterns that control distribution”, “assessing the previous mangrove environment… that… prevents natural secondary succession”, designing and planning a methodology and only starting to plant if natural secondary succession does not take place.