Pwani. Residents living in coastal areas have been advised to take good care of mangrove given their importance in marine environment conservation.
The advice was given recently by the Conservation Officer from the Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS) in Mkuranga District, Pwani region, Mwanahawa Matimbwa.
She made the remarks recently during the World Mangrove Day celebrations held at Mdimni Village, which was organised by TCCI Mazingira in partnership with Mazingira Plus and Assemble Insurance.
“Mangroves have a lot of benefits including combating climate change, protecting ocean shores against strong sea currents and as shelter for fish and other marine life.
“We need to continue to educate one another on the importance of safeguarding mangroves,” she said.
She said on its part, TFS has been conducting periodic patrols once or twice a week in collaboration with the relevant village communities as a way of ensuring that mangrove are kept safe,” she insisted.
Leader of the Mangrove Conservation Projects in villages of Mdimni, Nganje and Kifumangao villages, Ramadhani Mwakae thanked authorities for holding the celebrations in the village as that would augment the importance of the mangrove projects in their villages.
He said the celebrations would help to raise awareness on mangrove conservation among villagers.
He said to mark the day 600 mangrove seedlings were planted and education on mangrove conservation was provided to the villagers.
He listed the disadvantages of cutting mangroves as including destroying fish breeding sites and habitats for other marine species.
“But I also thank the non-governmental organizations – TCCi and Mazingira Plus, which are involved in environmental conservation and providing solutions to climate change challenges, for ensuring these celebrations take place.
“We thank the Mkuranga District Government for its support and cooperation,” he said when expressing his gratitude.
The Mdimni Village Executive Officer, Idd Mwagala, also thanked the organizations for its gesture of holding the celebration in their village as that has helped to show the villagers that mangroves were very important.
He said in the past villagers used to cut mangroves as they took them like any other tree but after being educated on their significance they were now participating in efforts to protect them.
Mdimni resident, Maria Hasan, asked the government to reach out and provide more education on mangrove reserve conservation to more villagers so as to encourage those living near the reserves to participate in conservation efforts.
Another villager, Maimuna Mkoko, requested the government to enable them to access loans so they could engage in irrigation farming.
“We ask TFS to empower us to become mangrove conservators. Every day we wake up in the morning to protect and plant more, but we don’t receive anything. We ask the government to remember us because life in the village is hard,” she pleaded.