Sea defense breach: NAREI, South Korean company collaborating to restore Dantzig’s ecosystem

…as US$3M coastal resilience project continues

The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) is working to assist farmers, who would have suffered losses as a result of a sea defense breach at Dantzig, East Coast Demerara Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) in October 2019.
Even after the initial breach was sealed two months after farmers could not return to the land because of salinity as a result of saltwater intrusion.
There was a second breach in 2020, which was more divesting to the farming community.
Last week, Region Five Chairman Vickchand Ramphal informed the RDC that to date some farmers cannot utilize their land for crops.
Animal farmers have also suffered because some of them have had to relocate their animals to other areas because even the grass refuses to grow in some areas.
NAREI is working with a South Korean company in trying to restore the ecosystem on the Atlantic foreshore where the breach occurred.
The project to make the farming community of Dantzig and surrounding villages resilient, the Coastal Resilience and Mangrove Restoration project is being funded by the Korea Forest Service and represents a partnership between the Republic of South Korea) and Guyana.
The project is being facilitated through the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) the Regional Democracy Council of Region Five informed on Thursday last.
It will be executed at Dantzig to improve the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities and mangrove ecosystems.
The US$3M project also seeks to manage systems to mitigate flooding enhance urban resilience, and manage the mangrove ecosystem.
The area being looked at covers six miles along the coast and 500 meters outwards from the shoreline to the ocean.
NAREI’s Programme Coordinator, Keen Mosley, explained that the agency is trying to share information and get the RDC’s input on the project.
“In addition to the Sea and River Defense, they have been working to restore the damaged infrastructure on the coast which was lost because of the breach, NAREI has been working from the mangrove end to implement what we call the Green Grey Infrastructure approach. The grey aspect is focused on using conventional engineering. In the case of Dantzig, we have started work in constructing a timber breakwater. We finished 300 meters last year and the contractor; A&S General Contracting is working on another 200 meters which we expect to have completed by the end of 2024. (this year)
Meanwhile, Project Manager for the Coastal Resilient Project Hangoo Lee pointed out that the long-term goal is to get an assessment report for the mangrove and develop a business model guideline for mangrove ecosystem service.
It will also upgrade Guyana’s mangrove information system for integrated mangrove data management while at the same time, providing training for a data management system.
“Through the project maybe we can collect a lot of scientific evidence and we don’t want to keep this knowledge for ourselves. We want to share it with other regions, and other countries. What we are proposing for mangrove restoration is public awareness.”
Lee explained that currently mangroves cannot be planted along the Dantzig foreshore because the mud has been washed away. He said the project which will be running for a decade also hopes to get the silt to build up along the foreshore and then it will be possible to start replanting mangroves there. (G4)