Steve - Mangrove Swamps

Hi Steve,

I realize this is probably outside your area of expertise, but do you have any suggestions of how or what to farm in a mangrove swamp? Major features would be tropical climate, brackish water, and probably thick canopy cover. Some species of mangrove are edible themselves (check this article on mangrove uses, for example), but I am also interested in other plants or animals that can be added to such an ecosystem. Any input is welcome.

I currently live in Colorado, but I am planning to spend some time in the Philippines next year helping a couple from my church build a diversified farm. I will probably focus largely on the plant side of things, and they have a couple acres at the edge of mangrove swamp.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Hi Jonathan:

Yes, you are correct in that this is outside my area of expertise. But Ken has some experience in such climates - I will see what he has to say and try to get back to you!

thanks
Steve

That would be great - thank you!

I recommend that you dont cut down any of the mangroves, and under heavy shade very little fruiting trees will flourish. If you could find some veggies that will tolerate the brackish water that you would be ok. But mostly a mangrove is a place to go and collect shellfish, fish, birds, etc for food.

Tetragonia tetragonioides, or New Zealand Spinach grows very well here in QLD (subtropical) and it grows in the sand along the beach shore so VERY salt tolerant.
Self seeds once established too.

Mat Smith wrote:Tetragonia tetragonioides, or New Zealand Spinach grows very well here in QLD (subtropical) and it grows in the sand along the beach shore so VERY salt tolerant.

Thanks! Will it grow in standing water? I don't know that I will have to deal with this, but I'm curious nonetheless. Is it shade tolerant?

Jonathan, I have done some research for a project in the mangroves of West Africa. My files are unavailable, so I will have to do some remembering. In the meantime, I suggest you search for "saline agriculture" online. That ought to give you a few weeks of reading.

Do you have a description of your project area? Will you be working in virgin stands or will you be rehabilitating abandoned shrimp ponds? Try to contact the relevant research centers in the Philippines. There are some very capable people there that are doing great work.

Review the Mangrove Action Project's website.

If I can put some things together I will post them.

Folks living in the mangroves tend to rely on high-ground gardens and/or trade to supply themselves with a balanced diet. If your project population is restricted to the mangroves, look for articles about the Sunderbans. There has been a lot of work done to provide the inhabitants there with fruits, vegetables and staple starches.

Jonathan Krohn wrote:

Mat Smith wrote:Tetragonia tetragonioides, or New Zealand Spinach grows very well here in QLD (subtropical) and it grows in the sand along the beach shore so VERY salt tolerant.

Thanks! Will it grow in standing water? I don't know that I will have to deal with this, but I'm curious nonetheless. Is it shade tolerant?

I'm not sure, I'd probably just google it myself, can't remember from memory, sorry.

Andrew Parker wrote:Jonathan, I have done some research for a project in the mangroves of West Africa.  My files are unavailable, so I will have to do some remembering.  In the meantime, I suggest you search for "saline agriculture" online.  That ought to give you a few weeks of reading.

Do you have a description of your project area? Will you be working in virgin stands or will you be rehabilitating abandoned shrimp ponds? Try to contact the relevant research centers in the Philippines. There are some very capable people there that are doing great work.

Review the Mangrove Action Project's website.

If I can put some things together I will post them.

Folks living in the mangroves tend to rely on high-ground gardens and/or trade to supply themselves with a balanced diet.  If your project population is restricted to the mangroves, look for articles about the Sunderbans.  There has been a lot of work done to provide the inhabitants there with fruits, vegetables and staple starches.

Mr. Parker,

I am interested in coppicing mangroves, and I know that while most mangroves cannot be coppiced, many still can, especially on the American continent.

Given your experience, do you think cellulose from coppiced mangrove branches converted to sugar as a feasible way to solve food shortages in coastal Haiti and Central America?

This could also allow the original poster to convert the mangrove wood to something edible (despite grass and leaves being edible, most animals cannot eat wood), such as a glucose/cellulose mixture, and allow them subsistence by milk or blood from animals fed with the chemically modified mangrove wood.

Since mangroves live near the brine, they are also in the perfect position to use electricity (perhaps from a direct solar panel w/o batteries) to make the bleach or NaOH needed to delignify the wood to make the cellulose available to animals.

While my other posts mention cellulase enzyme to break down the cellulose further into glucose, perhaps if the original poster is feeding ruminants, they can feed the animals the delignified wood, and let the animals process the cellulose.

I haven't experimented with this yet, however. If someone attempts this, they must make sure the pre-treated wood is free of bleach or NaOH by washing it in water (such as the brine), perhaps soaking it for a day, even a week.

One more thing I forgot, another potential advantage of preserving the mangrove is carbon capture and preventing shore erosion.