The Guardian - 01.08.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:27 Edition Date:190801 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 31/7/2019 16:27 cYanmaGentaYellowb

Thursday 1 August 2019 The Guardian •

World^27

Climate crisis Ocean surges exacerbated by

shrimp farming rob Honduras of dry land

Nina Lakhani

Choluteca, Honduras

E

ric Pineda runs a

modest beachfront

restaurant that serves

plates of fresh fi sh

and rice – and faces

imminent destruction.

A recent tidal surge razed the

nightclub next door, leaving a pastel

pink ruin, and in the past two years,

several other businesses between

Pineda’s property and the Pacifi c

Ocean have been destroyed by

sudden waves.

“Every year, the ocean is getting

closer and higher. I think we’ve

got a year – maybe two – before the

forests have been destroyed to make

way for shrimp farms, which have

proliferated even inside protected

reserves. Many Honduran shrimps

are exported to the US and the UK,

where they are sold in supermarket

chains including Waitrose,

Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer.

Dina Morel, the director of a local

marine conservation organi sation,

known by its acronym Coddeff agolf ,

said: “The industry destroys

huge mangrove sites promising

development, but actually creates

very few jobs – and increases

poverty by restricting fi shing access

for locals .”

According to Morel, shrimp farms

are routinely approved in protected

areas and environmental violations

rarely punished as offi cials often

have vested interests in the industry.

Mangroves are essential to

healthy, resilient coastlines. The

sturdy trees protect shorelines from

storms and fl oods, and help prevent

erosion by stabili sing sediments

with their roots. They are key factors

in marine biodiversity, providing

food, shelter and clean water for

fi sh and invertebrates such as crabs,

lobsters, and prawns.

To take advantage of this natural

symbiosis, acres and acres of shrimp

farms have been built inland in

ocean inlets that were once safe

havens for tidal waves. But the farms

block the natural fl ow of water,

causing high tides and storm surges

on beach communities instead.

On Cedeño beach, Manuel Tees,

67, and his wife, Ariana, live and

work under a makeshift tarpaulin

metres from the sea. But every

month they are forced further back

as the ocean inches closer inland.

Manuel, who has been fi shing

since he was a child, said: “Every

year there are fewer fi sh, and the

surges have nowhere to go – so the

water comes here looking for an exit.

We’ve woken up in the middle of the

night surrounded by water.”

The shrimp industry in southern

Honduras dates back to the 1970s,

but grew exponentially in the 90s.

As a result, in 2000, seven mangrove

forests covering more than 61,000

hectares (150,000 acres) were

designated protected reserves.

Despite this, half the region’s

mangroves were destroyed between

2000 and 2010 – largely as a result

of fi shing concessions sanctioned

before the decree, according to

research by Coddeff agolf.

No one knows exactly how much

of the protected areas remain intact,

but satellite images suggest the

situation is critical.

Locals say shrimp companies

build farms in secret – hidden by

a ring of mangroves – then obtain

permits retrospectively. Last year,

$216m (£177m) worth of shrimps

were exported , a fi gure expected

to rise by up to 20% in 2019.

Funde sur , a social responsibility

foundation created by the shrimp

industry in 2014, claims to invest

$0.02 into health, education and

environmental projects for every

pound of shrimp exported.

But reforestation programmes,

which require years of nurturing

to ensure hardy shrubs, are rare.

Funde sur did not respond to

repeated requests for comment.

“There is more deforestation

than reforestation, that’s evident

for everyone to see,” said Nelson

Martínez a grassroots organiser

from Guapinol, a nearby community

badly damaged by a tidal surge three

years ago. “Unless the mangroves

are saved, Guapinol will disappear .”

Māori anger over child removals

and ‘part-time’ leader Ardern

Eleanor Ainge Roy

Dunedin

Māori leaders are staging two major

protests in New Zealand, strain-

ing their relations with the Labour

coalition government and draw-

ing accusations that Jacinda Ardern

• who is visiting the remote Pacifi c
  territory of Tokelau – is a “part-time
  prime minister”.
  On Tuesday, hundreds of activists

marched on parliament in Wellington,

as well as other cities, calling for an

overhaul of the child welfare agency,

Oranga Tamariki or ministry for chil-

dren , amid a series of controversial

cases in which Māori children and

newborns were taken into state care.

In 2017- 18 , 290 Māori babies were

taken into care, and Māoris make up

more than half of all such children.

Māoris form only 14.1% of the pop-

ulation. Activists say the issue reeks

of racism and a dark colonial legacy

reminiscent of Australia’s “stolen

generation”.

Oranga Tamariki says it is aware

that Māoris are “disproportionately

aff ected”. The most common rea-

sons babies are taken into care are

substance abuse by parents, medical

neglect of the baby and violence.

Meanwhile, a standoff between

activists and developers continued

at Ihumātao. Hundreds of protesters

have occupied land in the Auckland

suburb of Mangere where a large pri-

vate housing development is planned.

The Māori settlement of Ihumātao

dates back to the 14th century, when

vegetable gardens were established

by Polynesian settlers. There is an

acute shortage of housing in the area

and land was sold to Fletcher Build-

ing in 2016 with plans to build 500

homes. Protesters occupying the site

say Ihumātao is too precious to lose

to development, but Māori groups are

not united in their opposition, with

some saying the homes could be good

for their families.

Respected elders accompanied

police last week asking for the occu-

pation to end. However, the number

of protesters has continued to swell.

Support among the Māori people for

Ardern’s Labour party is signifi cant,

and expectations are high for the coal-

ition government to deliver for them.

A number of senior cabinet members

are of Māori descent.

Ardern has spent most of the week

in the remote territory of Tokelau, a

22-hour sea journey from Samoa, 2,200

miles from New Zealand. She said it

was important to show her face to the

1,500 New Zealand citizens and to con-

sult them on whether they wished to

move towards independence.

However, she has been criticised for

failing to visit Ihumātao and the oppo-

sition National party leader, Simon

Bridges , called her a “part-time prime

minister”.

water takes us too,” said Pineda, 24.

“It won’t be long.”

Golden beaches once helped

transform this fi shing community

on the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras’s

95 mile-long Pacifi c coast, into

a thriving tourist destination.

Nowadays, there are barely a few

metres of sand left, and rising water

levels and tidal surges have wiped

out roads, homes and businesses.

Locals estimate that about a metre

of ground is lost every year, which

means this entire community will

soon be under water.

While s ea levels are rising around

the world due to climate change,

in this region another local factor

is helping to accelerate coastal

degradation: swathes of mangrove

▼ Residents in Puerto Lempira,

Honduras, fear rising sea levels will

devastate coastal communities

PHOTOGRAPH: ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/GETTY

‘The shrimp industry

destroys mangrove

sites promising

development, but

creates very few jobs’

Dina Morel

Conservation group

290

The number of Māori babies taken

into care last year – more than half

of children in care are Māoris

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