Mangroves, mudbanks and seawalls: whose environmental knowledge counts when adapting to sea level rise in Suriname?

Abstract

Coastal communities in Suriname are highly vulnerable to sea level rise and will need to adapt. Global assessments of climate risk and vulnerability, such as IPCC reports, play an important role in the development of local adaptation policies. The aim of this article is to explore global and national discourses on climate change vulnerability and their local expressions in national policies. These discourses are juxtaposed with local understandings of vulnerability and adaptation possibilities. These different epistemologies are examined to understand how different knowledge claims and existing power structures lead to contested adaptation solutions. In Suriname, conflict arises in understandings of the coastal geomorphology and ecology of mangroves, and what role they play in adaptation to sea level rise. Conflicting environmental knowledges of mangrove ecology, species diversity, and their potential role in coastal erosion have led to conflict between the state and some local communities, resulting in potential maladaptations. New approaches for a 'situated environmental science' are explored to find more socially inclusive adaptation solutions. Key words: Adaptation, sea level rise, mangrove, seawall, knowledge, Suriname RésuméLes communautés côtières au Suriname sont très vulnérables à l'élévation du niveau de la mer et devront s'adapter. Les évaluations globales du risque climatique et de la vulnérabilité, tels que les rapports du IPCC, jouent un rôle important dans le développement des politiques d'adaptation locales. Le but de cet article est d'explorer les discours nationaux et mondiaux sur les changements climatiques et la vulnérabilité et leurs expressions locales dans les politiques nationales. Ces discours sont juxtaposés avec les conceptions locales de la vulnérabilité et des possibilités locales d'adaptation. Ils nous permettent de comprendre comment les différentes prétentions à la connaissance, et les structures de pouvoir existantes, conduisent à des solutions d'adaptation contestées. Au Suriname, le conflit se pose à propos de la connaissance de la géomorphologie côtière, et de comprendre le rôle des mangroves dans l'adaptation à l'élévation du niveau de la mer. Des connaissances conflictuelles de l'environnement a conduit à des conflits entre l'Etat et certaines communautés locales, ce qui conduit à la possibilité de mal-adaptation. Je explorer de nouvelles approches pour une «science de l'environnement situé» à trouver plus de solutions d'adaptation qui sont plus socialement inclusive. Mots clés: adaptation, élévation du niveau marin, mangrove, la digue, la connaissance, le Suriname AbstractGemeenschappen gelegen aan de kust van Suriname zijn zeer kwetsbaar voor de gevolgen van zeespiegel stijging en zullen aanpassingen moeten plegen. Wereldwijde evaluaties van de risicos en kwetsbaarheden van klimaatsverandering, zoals de IPCC rapporten, spelen een belangrijke rol in de ontwikkeling van lokale adaptatie plannen. Het doel van dit artikel is om te onderzoeken wat de invloed is van inte...

Exceptional rates and mechanisms of muddy shoreline retreat following mangrove removal

“…In Suriname, for instance, there is an entrenched belief in the virtues of dykes and seawalls that goes with a poor knowledge of the larger‐scale shoreline processes and a misunderstanding of the role of mangroves in coastal protection. This situation is worsened by the belief that mangroves create an unhealthy environment (Nijbroek (). Similar observations have also come from other tropical field sites where the muddy coastline is engineered, such as in Thailand (Winterwerp et al ., ), and Vietnam (Albers and Schmitt, ).…”

“…This can lead to a whole spate of issues ranging from accelerated shoreline retreat to the necessity of rethinking coastal planning and management, including retreat strategies, shoreline protection, and mangrove replanting. This is especially the case within the overarching perspective of sea‐level rise affecting these low coastal lands (Nijbroek, ; Anthony, ). The case of the Mana polder illustrates this very well because at the time of conversion into rice fields in the 1980s this area was simply considered as swamps and wet savannahs far from the sea.…”

Multi‐decadal coastline dynamics in Suriname controlled by migrating subtidal mudbanks

“…The nearshore currents, directly related to residual currents due to wave breaking and tidal flow, contribute to the alongshore migration of mudbanks (Allison et al, 1995; Gratiot et al, 2007). Although coastal dynamics in Suriname are mainly driven by natural processes and interactions between waves, currents, sediment transport and mangrove growth, anthropogenic activities interfere with these natural processes and can locally modify coastal behaviour (Nijbroek, 2014). This includes the building of dikes, removal of mangroves, conversion to agriculture, and the development of aquaculture.…”

Disappearing Mangroves: The Epistemic Politics of Climate Adaptation in Guyana

“…In his analysis of mangroves and climate adaptation in Suriname, Ravic Nijbroek (, 534) argues that planting is a “situated environmental science.” Based on historical field observations, experts have employed mudbank‐migration models to justify planting and, at the same time, to acknowledge that mangroves are always already susceptible to so‐called maladaptation. In both Guyana and Suriname, mangroves extend influence far enough and long enough to accommodate speculations about the terms of “collective empiricism” (Daston and Lunbeck , 7; see also West ).…”