High tides having greater coastal impact |30 May 2005

Officials are saying that these extreme high tides – which occur every month in relation to a full moon – appear to be normal, but that their impacts along the coast have been much more noticeable this year.

Acting assistant director of the National Meteorological Services (NMS), Denis Chang-Seng, suggested that the cause of the disturbance could be associated with any number of factors, including swells from the coming Southeast Monsoon, this year’s weak El Nino-like conditions, or perhaps even a change in the ocean basin caused by last December’s tsunami.

Mr Chang-Seng cautioned that there was no conclusive evidence to support any of those theories, and that another possible scenario could be that the coast itself had changed due to damage from the tsunami, resulting in a shoreline unable to keep the sea at bay as it once had before.

He also downplayed the possibility of these high tides to be a result of climate change and sea level rise, saying the NMS expected the tide to gradually decrease back to normal.

Coincidentally, in April the forestry and coastal units of the Department of Environment hatched a programme to rehabilitate coastlines across Mahe, Praslin and La Digue.

The programme will draw on the nursery at the National Biodiversity Centre at Barbarons and other sites to produce some 30,000 plants, which will be established along coastlines of some of the most vulnerable spots around the islands, like Anse Royale and Anse a la Mouche on Mahe and Anse Kerlan on Praslin.

Acting director of the forestry unit, Joseph Francois, said the programme would also cater for more barriers to prevent vehicles from accessing beaches and trampling the coastal vegetation in the process. In addition the ministry is encouraging

the construction of wooden walkways to allow beach access that won’t disturb the vegetation.

“It’s been found that where the beach access is, there’s more erosion,” Mr Francois said.

In the meantime, ministry officials are requesting that citizens not remove sand that may be washed up onto roads and properties.