Mangroves, natural protection against hurricanes

When you want to have natural protection against natural disasters, there must be nature. This, although it seems obvious, is not taken into account in most cases. Every year we are more human beings who need a place to live, which is causing hectares of forests are razed in order to build.

Mangroves protect from hurricanes. Environmental experts have reached this conclusion, who blame the growing demand for real estate in places as beautiful as Quintana Roo, Mexico.

These ecosystems are very valuable, since they protect against erosion, produce oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, protect from strong winds and, in addition, a great variety of fish and mollusks live in them, which can serve as food for humans. . They are so important that it has been estimated that 767kg of maritime species of commercial interest are lost each year for each species destroyed. So not only are we killing plants, we are we also put ourselves at risk.

And this is something that Cancun knows very well: »every time a hurricane passes, the most affected is right where the mangrove has been cut down», Said Ella Vásquez, researcher and academic secretary of the Institute of Ecology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Mangroves protect us, and are very useful to us: wood is extracted from them to build, salt is extracted, they are used for water sports, they serve as a breeding ground for many aquatic species ... The problem is that if we exploit them faster than how long it takes to recover, meteorological events like hurricanes will cause a major disaster on the coasts.

The question is: do we care more about having a nice house on the beach today, or being able to enjoy tropical nature forever?