Title:
Study Warns of Dangers to World's Mangrove Forests
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
See text below
Text:
Mangroves are unusual looking trees. They have roots
that stand in saltwater and look like cables or
ropes laid one on top of another. Mangroves are not
just pretty -- they help the environment. But now
the first worldwide study warns that one in six of
the many different kinds of mangroves could
disappear.
As a result of the study, eleven species of mangrove
have been
placed on the Red List of Threatened Species. The
list is kept by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature.
The study appeared in the Public Library of Science
journal PLoS ONE. Lead author Beth Polidoro works
for the Global Marine Species Assessment Unit, based
at Old Dominion University in Richmond, Virginia.
The researchers looked at seventy species of
mangrove. They found that all mangrove forests on
coastlines are under threat from development,
logging or other dangers.
But the areas in worst danger are on the Atlantic
and Pacific coasts of Central America.
The study says mangrove trees provide more than one
and a half billion dollars worth of services to
ecological systems worldwide.
For example, areas with mangrove forests were not
damaged as badly by the Indian Ocean tsunami in two
thousand four.
Mangrove forests protect land against erosion from
wind, water and storms. They capture and store
carbon dioxide, so experts say they can help fight
climate change.
And they serve as nurseries for shrimp and other
saltwater organisms.
Beth Polidoro says about eighty percent of the
mangrove area in India and Southeast Asia has
disappeared within the past
sixty years. Indonesia is said to have lost almost
half its
mangroves forests within the past thirty years.
Burma, also known as Myanmar,
has lost many valuable mangrove trees in recent
years. In some areas there, monkeys play in the tops
of mangroves thirty meters tall and dolphins swim in
the waters of mangrove forests.
One of the rarest species of mangrove tree grows in
just a few places in East Asia and India.
There are estimates that only about two hundred
fifty mature trees of that species remain. Beth
Polidoro says they may disappear within the next ten
years unless action is taken to protect them.
She says the good news in the study is that some
species of mangrove can be reforested relatively
easily.
But others are much more difficult to restart.
And thats the VOA Special English Agriculture
Report.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
To post a comment:
• Click "Comment using..." in
the window below
• Click your favorite service: Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
• Login to the service
• Click "Add a comment..."
• Post your comment in the window
Students: Please post a
comment stating what you found interesting about this video. You are
welcome to include links to your English study blogs and any
other materials you think might be useful for learning
English.
Teachers: Please post your
thoughts about this video. You are welcome to include links to
your sites, blogs, and any other materials you think might
be useful for learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
