<
https://apnews.com/article/guyana-climate-change-indigenous-women-south-america-83dbacfd7c74246a61b44ecb471d66b7>
"RUBY VILLAGE, Guyana (AP) — A small group of Indigenous women in northern
Guyana are the latest weapon in the fight against climate change in this South
American country where 90% of the population lives below sea level.
Armed with drones, the women are scanning mangrove forests for illegal cutting
and expect to soon start collecting soil samples and mangrove litter to measure
the carbon held in remote coastal ecosystems that have long been out of reach
for scientists. Such data could nudge the government to create policies and
programs to protect critical areas.
“We are merging traditional knowledge and scientific research to get all this
information that we need but never had before and couldn’t afford to get,” said
Annette Arjoon-Martins, head of Guyana’s Marine Conservation Society.
The women’s work is considered key for Guyana, a small nation about the size of
Britain that has a 285-mile-long (459 kilometers) coastline whose coastal
plains lie an average of 6 feet (2 meters) below sea level. The coastline
depends on a centuries-old sea defense system created by the Dutch during the
colonial era. It includes a 280-mile (450-kilometer) seawall and relies on
dozens of workers who set alarms night and day to manually open and close
sluice gates known as “kokers” that prevent the Atlantic Ocean from flooding
Guyana.
By the mid-1990s, the Inter-American Development Bank already was advising
Guyana to relocate communities inland since most of its 791,000 people live
along the coast, and much of its economic activity and agriculture are based
there. But people have been reluctant to leave."
Via Frederick Wilson II.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
