06th March 2010
Communicating the Wetland Message

Wetlands are among the most dynamic of eco systems on earth and are critical components of the water cycle that delivers our freshwater. These streams, rivers, mangroves and lakes play a vital role in the water cycle by capturing and holding rainfall, recharging aquifers, retaining sediment and purifying water. Yet we have drained, dammed, and polluted vast numbers of our wetlands in the very recent past ( fifty years) , thus diminishing the capacity of these eco systems to provide clean water, to satisfy needs of a population that has more than doubled in that time. In 1988, St. Lucia’s wetland ecosystems stood at approximately 791 acres. That area has depleted to less than 400 acres, a number which threatens to further decrease unless attitudes change drastically. These attitudes have led to some wetlands disappearing altogether, while what we have left is under considerable stress. The myth that wetland areas are wastelands waiting to be converted into productive use, needs to be dispelled immediately, as the survival of a multiplicity of aquatic eco systems are at stake. Apart from naturally occurring wetlands there are man-made ones for the purposes of wildlife sanctuaries, or other functions such as cattle watering ponds, reservoir dams and sewage treatment ponds. These are important types of wetlands that should be included in and considered with the island’s wetland systems. In light of current stresses on the availability of freshwater and continued destruction to our wetlands, we focus on the Ma Kote mangrove in the south of the island. A site which holds tremendous significance to the ability of this country to adequately supply itself with clean fresh water. While it is difficult to quantify to any degree the exact contribution of any wetland to the water cycle, it is appropriate to suppose that this mangrove contributes in large measure to precipitation, emitting from the estuary where the Vieux-Fort River empties into at the Atlantic Ocean. The numerous internal ponds hidden by a once dense forest of White, Red, Black and Buttonwood mangrove species also permitted enough transpiration and eventual recharging of the aquifer to allow regulars to enjoy the occasional swim.
However, reports of what currently obtains within the mangrove are alarming. On its journey from the mountaintop, water intended for this natural reservoir is extracted for commercial consumption, polluted, diverted, held up in manmade reservoirs, fished and used domestically with extreme irresponsibility. Currently, reckless overexploitation for charcoal production to satisfy a seemingly insatiable appetite for more and more money, has not only thinned the forest, thereby reducing the amount of transpiration and precipitation occurring, but has and continues to destroy the habitat for numerous species. With the reduction of ground cover came the inevitable reduction and in some instances drying of the water table; threatening the nursery of aquatic life existing in and around its mud-caked roots.
Invasive species trekked in by unscrupulous vehicle owners sneaking in to dump trash, (which they have been paid to dump illegally) invade daily; stifling the splendor of a once flourishing paradise. If its quality is to be safeguarded, the needs of these conflicting uses must be reconciled.