With its coral-fringed coastline and silver sands, Mauritius has long been lauded for its beauty. When Mark Twain visited in 1896 he quoted an islander as saying: “Mauritius was made first and then heaven; and heaven was copied after Mauritius.” Rising sea levels are posing a threat, however, changing the appearance of parts of the shoreline. Etienne Sinatambou, minister of the environment, cites the US writer’s quote but adds: “Paradise is getting rocky. Climate change is a substantial cause.” Erosion has shrunk the width of some beaches by as much as 10m over the past eight years, according to a 2016 report by the Mauritius government to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Sea levels — increasing at an average rate of 5.6mm a year — are a particular danger to the tourist industry, the report says. This — along with the deterioration of the coral reefs — could reduce tourism revenues by up to $50m a year by 2050. For Mr Sinatambou, a specialist in environmental law who studied at Oxford and the Sorbonne, there is a degree of comfort in that the 14 areas of coastline that have been significantly degraded are “fortunately not the most popular sites”. He regrets, nonetheless, the changed appearance of some parts of the coast. “This used to be a sandy beach,” he says, indicating a rocky shoreline in the south west of the island. “This used to be very different.” The environment ministry has drawn up proposals to tackle the erosion of beaches and coast roads. Plans include filling in the worst affected bits of coastline with boulders, as well as using walls and barriers extending from the shore to the sea to provide further protection. Mr Sinatambou’s goal is to use greenery and good design to make the protection work pleasing to the eye. “We have done some coastal protection work in the past but it was not strikingly aesthetic,” he notes. “Now when you walk, you will see something very nice.” The risks to the coastline and tourist industry are just some aspects of the risks that Mauritius faces from rising temperatures. According to the latest World Risk Report, Mauritius is classified as the country with the 13th highest disaster risk and is the seventh most exposed to natural hazards. The island is situated in the Indian Ocean’s tropical cyclone belt and may suffer more intense cyclones as temperatures rise. It is braced for more frequent and severe flash flooding. Flash floods in 2013 in Port Louis, the capital, resulted in 11 people losing their lives. The risk to Mauritius’s native plant and wildlife is another aspect of the threat. With its thousands of acres of rolling hills and thick green forests, the Black River Gorges national park is home to some of the rarest species in Mauritius. A poster of the park — emblazoned with Mark Twain’s quote — hangs in the office of wildlife expert Vikash Tatayah, director of the Mauritian Wildlife Fund. The park’s sweeping views make it one of the most photographed sites in Mauritius but the indications are of trouble ahead, says Mr Tatayah. There are tell-tale signs, he reports, of invasion by foreign species such as Chinese guava and eucalyptus from Australia that are a threat to local species. The problem is exacerbated by rising temperatures which are helping the invasive species to grow more rapidly than the native ones, many of which could face extinction. Without an ambitious restoration programme, Mr Tatayah fears that the forest could become “just a handful of invasive plants instead of a rich and unique ecosystem capable of supporting a diverse range of animals”. He adds that it is a mistake to be too gloomy about the impact of climate change on Mauritian wildlife. “We can turn things around; we are not yet at the tipping point.” He says there is still time to save native species but stresses the urgency of the task. “There is too much talk. There is not enough action. This has always been the problem.” Tackling such circumstances “takes time and costs money”, notes Mr Sinatambou, adding that the government is doing a lot to boost the island’s environmental resilience.
Infrastructure projects are being assessed for how well they can withstand disasters. The island is developing an early warning system that will give three days notice of possible storm surges and improving its capacity to evacuate people from vulnerable areas. Mauritius is taking additional action to cut its carbon footprint. It was among the first to ratify the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and has pledged to cut its own carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 by making use of solar, wind and wave energy. Mr Sinatambou says the pledge was mainly an attempt to set a good example, as Mauritius’s emission levels are low. Far more important is the effort to curb the impact of climate change, he says. “For Mauritius, the solution is adaptation not mitigation.” The government says the island’s “minute” share — just 0.01 per cent — of the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases makes for a stark contrast to the potentially severe impact of rising temperatures. Mr Sinatambou adds that he is angry with what he describes as the hypocrisy of larger nations. “It is paradoxical that small islands like Mauritius, which emit the least, are those who suffer the most,” he concludes. Ocean resources: Mauritius hopes pinned on wide and deep ‘blue economy’ As a financial centre, Mauritius is squeezed on to the world’s 217th largest island — even Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, is bigger, writes Joseph Cotterill. But seen as an economy with interests stretching deep into the waters of the Indian Ocean, Mauritius is rather larger. Including its rights to exploit sea resources 200 nautical miles out from its territorial waters, Mauritius says it has the 20th biggest such exclusive economic zone in the world, at about 1.9m sq km. The zone’s size is thanks to Mauritius’s several outer islands and is yet bigger, at 2.3m sq km, when you add an area of continental shelf shared with the Seychelles. Bigger than, say, Spain’s or even China’s equivalent zone, this “blue economy” and potential maritime treasure chest — including rights over fishery and exploration for gas or oil — could be another plank in Mauritius’s efforts to diversify beyond offshore tax services and sugar. Turning to the ocean has become central to Mauritius’s planned future as a hub that links Asian and African trade. Prime minister Pravind Jugnauth says “our Africa strategy and the ocean economy . . . will open up vast new opportunities for pioneering investments.” He adds that “these two sectors have a key role in our strategy for long-term development.” The Mauritian port authority is transforming the harbour in Port Louis, the capital, into a so-called trans-shipment hub that will be able to unload containers of goods from Asian ports and dispatch them onward to destinations in Africa.
Source: http://on.ft.com/2gqXkui
