February 9 2007 at 11:36 AM No score for this post
kolwan (no login)
I have just returned from a very informatic discussion on beach erosion and what engineers are doing to save the world's beautiful beaches in light of sea level rising and pressures of coastal developements.
This made me think about ela beach where sometime in our recent past had a lot of fun with friends and family there. It is suprising that speakers from many countries Japan, US, UK, Venice, Philippine spend billions of dollars just to preserve the beach and the extent they go to do this. Japan even has 100 beautiful beaches contest run every year.
What about ela beach, well, if you observe the section of the beach towards the old seapark, the beach seems to be wider than the section towards mobil service station next to lawes road. This is due to the jetty that was built there in the early years. We should be thankful that this jetty exist, it has kept the sand in bay. Also, after analysing various models presented by other speakers and reflecting on the current freeway built from koki to ela beach, I am convinced it will make the beach wider near the lawes road section as more sand will be trapped between the jetty and the freeway. All in all, ela beach is safe from beach erosion, now is time for cleanup and make it tourist friendly.
But I will surely have a swim there on my return to PNG... :)Go png!..lol
This message has been edited by vortexPNG on Mar 2, 2007 11:53 PM
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Kolwan, sadly the village and beach where my mum and my family grew up and lived for many years is slowly eroding due to cutting down of mangroves surrounding and adjacent to it. Saddens me but the stats are overwhelming true that if there is no dense mass such as mangroves or in Ella beaches case jetty's protecting them from the ocean erosion, diplition of picturesque beach's such that we have in PNG is inevitable.
This message has been edited by frangipani_meri on Feb 22, 2007 5:02 AM
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That is very true Frangipani_meri, its world wide knowledge that without appropriate coast planning or for that matter "Coastal Engineering" , coastal retreat due to sealevel rise will be accelerated by the human induced changes on the movements of near shore waves...meaning chopping down mangroves, building jettys, habours, roads near the sea etc.. will alter nearshore waves, Near shore waves are very important for sand accumalation and nutrient circulation.. which i might add is especially important for the many seafoods that we enjoy most...red emperors, lobstars, crabs, prawns..yummy..lol. Anyway, on my previous vist to thailand, I observed all of the mangroves are downed for fish farms, same in philippines...now they are having alot of problems with water shortage, contimation of natural marine habitats and ofcourse...beautiful beaches become endangered. As for Fiji, resorts are doing the damage while the land owners are "compensated lavishly" etc.
And in PNG..typical example is HB..you may remember the road from HB going to Badihagawa Highschool... once a place with lots of mangroves.. now it is all houses and wasteland..people have chopped them down for fireword, piers, and only God knows for whatever else..recently I have heard that there is an outbreak of a particular species of star fish know as Crown-of-thorn(COTS) starfish in Fairfax bay (where HB is located).
This usually happens because lots of food waste, raw sewerage etc.. is dumped into the sea from HB, city, coatal villages etc...all these waste increases the Nutrients going into the sea...so..means a lot more food for microscopic marine plants that float in the sea water colum know as phytoplanktons, their population increase, oxgen intake increase from the water..carbondioxide decrease, they grow old and die and fall to the bottom..bacteria activity increases at the sea bed...so you can imagine many activities take place...as a result..water temperature change and the condition is ideal for COTS bloom...COTS start eating the reefs, which distroys the habitat of reef fishes etc...fish decline and finally price of red emperor, crabs, prawns etc. increases.. so back to the idea of mangroves...the question is where do mangroves come in?..mangrove is known as a filter..as tide goes in, it filters the excess nutrients, meaning it traps them...so when tide comes back out excess nutrient have been removed so the balance is maintained...so..mangroves not only preserves beaches but also maintains our fish supply
cheers
kolwan
This message has been edited by vortexPNG on Mar 13, 2007 5:47 PM This message has been edited by vortexPNG on Mar 13, 2007 5:30 PM
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"Ein Marchen aus alten zeiten kommt mir nicht aus dem Zinn."
"A memory of old times comes to me out of the blue."
I grew up on the Gold Coast many years ago. All those areas round the Tweed River at Tweed Heads, which were once mangroves, are now high-rise developments. I used to catch live prawns there, with a hand-net, at night. Or catch live whiting on the ebb tide, to use as live-bait to catch bigger fish later on. Or at low tide, go spearing Stingray and Flathead, with the aboriginal boys. For I was nearly 12, before I came to think of myself as either white or black. I guess, being a brown-skinned Aussie, somewhat blurred the edges of identity for me.
Now, with the mangroves gone, the whiteman wonders why the fishing is getting worse. The "Gubba" is certainly a mysterious animal.
Yes, indeed. The mangroves provide a save haven for fish-fry, small prawns, and all sorts of creatures who seek their shelter. As well as big Flathead, who lurk in the mud. Many of these small creatures, eat the saltwater Mosquito larvae. They all are an essential part of the food-chain.
Ah! The youth of the heart,
And the dew in the morning.
They've gone and they've left you,
Without any warning. (Old Scots ballard)
Regards......Ralph.
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Correction there,
the line from "Die Lorelei" was written by Heinrick Heine not Goethe. I must be getting old, when I am forgetting who wrote which poem.
Ich weiss nicht was zoll es bedeuten,
Das ich so traurig bin,
Ein marchen aus alten zeiten, das kammt mir nicht aus dem zinn,
Die luft ist kuhl und ist dunkel, und ruhig fliesst der Rhine,
Der gipfel des Berges funkelt im abendsonnenschein.
Hehe. I must give up reciting poetry at 0200 in the morning.
A poet is someone who never ceases to be astonished at everything. (Heine)
I am good with language. But a poet is someone who heara the music of the words.
Regards......Ralph.
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LOL, 2am in the morning, my friend thy are a poet!
..and so it was once said, in the early morning when the moon is high and the sun closes eyes to the sorrows of man..it is the poets that through the music of the words kindle the hearts to be a glow and shimmer in depths of the night, bringing hope and optimism to the fallen heros and the down trodded.
cheers
kolwan
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PAPUA New Guinea joined the rest of the world yesterday to mark World Forest Day. The World Forest Day has been celebrated all over the world for the past 30 years to remind communities of the importance and benefits gained through forestry.
The Rotary Club of Port Moresby and Wide World Fund (WWF) joined forces yesterday to celebrate the day by launching a low-cost mangrove revegetation program at three different spots in Port Moresby.
Choosing the importance of mangroves to celebrate the World Forest Day and launching the program was a significant campaign as there is a need to protect and preserve the mangroves as our coastal fisheries and communities are dependant upon healthy ecosystem of which mangroves play a key role.
The launch of the program was basically to encourage the growth of mangroves and preserving mangroves as food security is gained from preserving mangroves.
The program launch is inline with the WWF, SAVE PNG and Rotary club of Port Moresby’s ongoing initiative for trail mangrove revegetation program beginning with the nursery to generate mangrove seedlings for the use in mangrove rehabilitation. WWF and SAVE PNG are working together to increase awareness in the local communities in order to minimise the threats to mangroves. Up to 100 people from all over the city turned up for the launch
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We were driving up to Motukea shipyard dock and I noticed that mangroves on both sides of the road have been cut and only the stumps were there showing out of the water. I am not sure if they will grow back. A big portion of the mangroves along that stretch of the road have been cut down, may be for some reason.
After reading about the importants of mangroves from previous articles posted here, I think people do not have the knowledge about the significance of mangroves so they just do whatever they want. They need to be educated so that they help preserve the mangroves.
At least some of the organisations(Rotary and WWF) know about the little things thet matter most in life.
Dept. of Env. and Conervation wantaim Forestry Dept. mas silip yet.
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Kidu welcomes replanting of mangroves at Taurama beach
COMMUNITY Development Minister and Moresby South MP Dame Carol Kidu has commended the Rotary Club of Port Moresby, World Wide Fund and Save PNG for launching the re-vegetation of mangroves.
The launch coincided with the World Forest Day last Wednesday at the Taurama beach.
“I wish to thank Dianne Deane, Rotary and Jenny Baing and all others who have contributed to making it possible.
“Previously we used to catch bags of fish but when the mangroves were cut, the fish started to disappear,” Dame Carol said.
Dame Carol said other parts of Port Moresby would soon benefit when the seedlings were transplanted but Taurama would have a long-term benefit because she is sure that families there would start their own mangrove nurseries.
“This event is more than a celebration of World Forest Day with a focus on conservation and replanting of our mangrove forests.
“It is also a time to think about creating a better future for our children and grand children,” she said.
She said the new Motu-Koita Assembly Act,which is ready for Parliament, empowered leaders to make laws and regulations to protect traditional resources.
“When people cut trees for traditional uses such as posts for buildings, then the law should force them to plant two or three new trees for every tree they cut.”
Hanuabada village might be one of the locations where the mangrove seedlings will be planted next but I wonder where the seedlings will be planted.
This message has been edited by Rishika on Mar 26, 2007 8:34 PM
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