The UN climate change summit in Bali wrapped up with a road map of sorts. Delegates agreed last week to adopt a blueprint for addressing climate change by 2009. But they did not set specific targets for reducing carbon emissions.

Mangroves

And that's prompted countries like Thailand to label the summit a "failure." Coastal regions in the Southeast Asian nation are already feeling the effects of climate change. They can't sit by idly. So, some in Thailand are experimenting with an old strategy to hold back the waters.
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Margolis: Along the coast of Thailand, small boats chug by a string of new waterfront hotels, resorts, and homes. In the past two decades, coastal development in Thailand has been booming. Harbors and ports and are expanding and growing.

I take a longtail boat ride along the Thai Gulf Coast with wetlands expert Don Macintosh. He says 30 to 50 years ago, this scene would've looked very different.

Jason Margolis with wetlands expert Don Macintosh

Macintosh: "You would've seen a mosaic of mangrove forest with a very complex network of canals and channels. All we've got is one strip a few trees wide, that have been retained along the bank of the canal we're traveling down."

Margolis: Mangroves are native to Southeast Asia, but grow throughout the tropics -- basically wherever there's brackish water and it's really hot. The mangrove tree has long, exposed roots that look like the tripod of a camera extending into the water.

Macintosh is coordinating a new international initiative called "Mangroves for the Future." They're educating people about how mangrove forests can protect against storms, high tides, and rising sea levels.

Macintosh: "Mangroves are extremely good, at buffering and reducing the forces of the storm, both the water energy and also the wind forces."

Margolis: Recent studies in Vietnam show an average dyke built from soil, stone and cement will last only five years against the ravages of the sea. But if there's a mangrove forest in front acting as a buffer, that same seawall will last 50 years.

In the waters here, near the town of Samut Sangkrom, the mangroves had all but vanished 15 years ago. Many homes began flooding regularly and the shrimping business disappeared. Then, community leaders started to replant the mangroves and the marine life began to return.

Home no longer protected by mangroves

Machintosh: "Within the mangrove, we have mainly crabs and mollusks because those two groups are very good at coping with the salinity and water level fluctuations. Within the water itself, of course we've got many bigger crabs and fish, many species of fish. And a typical mangrove forest like this would support approximately 100 species of birds."

Margolis: This restored habitat provides an additional benefit: It attracts ecotourism. For the equivalent of few bucks you can take a boat ride to be really close to nature.

Boat Captain: "Awww, Awww, Awww..."

Margolis: The boat captain yells out to the monkeys.

About a half dozen long-tailed monkeys come within feet of the boat.

Monkey living in the mangroves

Passenger in Boat: "Look at that, where's banana?"

Margolis: People on the boat throw bananas.

The monkeys jump in and swim for their lunch.
Ponthip Weerachananunt came here from Bangkok.

Weerachananunt: "Because we are in the city, we see lots of traffic jams and see lots of pollution. So I would like to be close to nature and go out hanging out with my friends."

Margolis: But Weerachananunt is here to do more than just nature watch.

She's getting lessons on how to plant mangroves. Weerachananunt says it's time well spent.

Weerachananunt: "Because right now, we hear lots of news of global warming, right? So I would like to create something to return to society, like plant a trees, and to build more environment for new generations."

Margolis: The Ministry of tourism is banking that others will feel the same way. Officials are hoping to protect the country's assets against the impact of climate change.

Yodmani: "It's going to affect the tourism industry, which is probably the major industry in Thailand at the moment."

Margolis: Survit Yodmani is Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports.

He says his agency's new marketing slogan is "Low Emission Tourism Thai." It's trying to encourage tourists to use less energy -- for instance, running the air-conditioner at the hotel less often, and not having their towels cleaned everyday. Yodmani says they've also begun talking with hotels whose guests want to do more.

Yodmani: "We would like to ask the hotels to provide programs to go and plant trees as well. Because we've heard, we've done some research on it. We've talked to the travel agents, several big, big travel agents from western countries, and they say, "Our tourists feel that they want to do something to help." So yes, the obvious thing is to plant trees. Get them to plant trees. Get them to plant trees, as many trees as possible. They're conscious will be very clear. They'll feel much better."

Margolis: But planting more mangrove forests will require saying no to some lucrative coastal development. And it's not clear yet that Thailand has developed the political will to do that.

For the World, I'm Jason Margolis, in Samut Sangkrom, Thailand.

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