FLASH FLOOD- AN ENVIRONMENTAL PARADIGM IS REQUIRED
Flash flood are becoming a more frequent occurrence in Mauritius. Despite annual investments of billions in water drainage systems in Mauritius due to the enormous ecological disaster we are currently experiencing.
As long as powerful governments do not recognize that achieving ecological harmony is inextricably linked to sustainable growth, this trend will persist. This calls for the design of the economy and democracy to undergo a major paradigm change as well as the respect for natural ecosystems. In a nutshell, this is the transformation that the eco-socialism ideology that Rezistans ek Alternativ supports proposes.
According to a resident of Mare-d’Albert, the Plaine-Magnien marsh, which began more than 20 years ago, was then devoid of sugar cane fields and began immediately behind the football field. Sugar cane farms were the first to disturb this wetland system. The wetland’s interior, however, has not been backfilled. In Mauritius, the effects of the sugar cane business on wetland ecosystems are of great concern. With some ESA wetlands and sugar cane fields separating it from the Pointe-d’Esny Ramsar site, the Pointe-d’Esny Lakeside Project is an interesting use case.
Wetland systems are among the most effective natural ecosystems at reducing flooding, making wetland restoration a crucial objective in order to address the enormous ecological disaster we are facing. Using public monies, a comprehensive research on Environmentally Sensitive Areas—including wetlands—was conducted in 2009. No government has made this study available to the public since 2009. For the sake of public interest, Rezistans ek Alternativ leaked this report a few years ago; it may be found at https://esabillnow.org.
In conclusion, we determine that the biggest threat to Mauritius’ lowland wetlands is urbanized. The visible fragmentation of 60% of the wetlands is mostly the result of substantial land development. 90% of the wetlands in Mauritius have been backfilled, which is a major issue. Only 11 wetlands may be deemed intact with less than 10% edge disturbance, whereas 105 wetlands have at least 90% of their border altered.
