10 acres of prime mangrove forests in Kinarut cleared
Published on: Thursday, February 26, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: A Kinarut resident Wednesday alerted the Daily Express via Dr Vun that about 10 acres of prime mangrove forests that can be easily seen from the highway, had been cleared over the last two months. So, one more substantial chunk of this ultra-scarce yet ultra-productive wetland ecosystem and natural capital has gone to the dogs.
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The mangrove ecosystem supports a large diversity of marine species some of the most desirable and most loved commercial species include the mud crab, shell fish, tiger prawns, snappers, rabbit fish and mallets.One of our latest understanding is mangroves are essential ecosystems for the life cycles of sea cucumber which feed on detritus from mangrove leaves and prey of tiny shrimps. Choice species of sea cucumbers fetch more than RM1,000 per dry kilo. "But no mangroves, no sea cucumbers. Go anywhere where the mangrove forests are removed, sea cucumbers also vanish," Dr Alin James pointed out. Yet mangrove forests are still systematically being destroyed from their inter-tidal habitats along rivers and the coasts of Sabah.
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