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Finn Danielsen,1* Mikael K. Sørensen,2 Mette F. Olwig,2 Vaithilingam Selvam,3 Faizal Parish,4 Neil D. Burgess,5,6 Tetsuya Hiraishi,7 Vagarappa M. Karunagaran,3 Michael S. Rasmussen,2 Lars B. Hansen,2 Alfredo Quarto,8 Nyoman Suryadiputra9 The scale of the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was almost unprecedented. In areas with the maximum tsunami intensity, little could have prevented catastrophic coastal destruction. Further away, however, areas with coastal tree vegetation…

(AP) – KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia-Mangroves that bore the brunt of last year’s tsunami in Indonesia and other places have been replaced with hurriedly and improperly planted trees that may wither soon and leave coastal communities vulnerable, experts warned Tuesday. Saplings were planted in areas where their survival is precarious because species have been wrongly matched…

Repairing the ecosystems damaged by the Asian tsunami should be a priority, say environmental organizations, if the longterm livelihood of devastated communities is to be secured. They are urging the international community to ensure that marine parks are maintained, some communities are shifted inland, and defensive buffer zones of mangrove are planted against future erosion…

Often, it takes a catastrophe to make us realise the importance of the environment. Reports are coming in from Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Sumatra that those coastal areas still covered by mangroves were relatively less affected by the tsunami. ONE of the emerging lessons of the earthquake-tsunami disaster is that mangroves and coral…

PETALING JAYA: Mangrove forests and other coastal vegetation can soften the impact of tsunamis, according to a Kuala Lumpur-based conservation group. Two reports from Sumatra have proven this fact, said Global Environment Centre (GEC) director Faizal Parish. “Farhan Ferrari, a community worker, reported to me on Thursday that five villages 100km to the south-east of…

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Bernama) — Environmentalists’ pleas to conserve mangroves to protect the ecosystem has gone unheeded for a long time. But today, apart from being the favourite habitats of birds, fish and microorganisms, mangroves are considered the best natural barrier to protect coastal communities from the onslaught of tsunamis. Global Environment Centre director…

A year after the tsunami destroyed vast stretches of Asia’s coastline, activists say little has been done to fix the damage caused by the surging waters, and devastated mangroves and agricultural land still await rehabilitation. In worst-hit Aceh province in Indonesia, the tsunami drastically changed the coastline, ripping out mangroves before slamming into forests and…