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Yonge Nawe Environmental Action Group (Friends of the Earth Swaziland) has expressed its support for its sister organisations in the Friends of the Earth International network in tackling the huge task of cleaning-up, rebuilding homes and livelihoods and mitigating against environmental damage after the Tsunami which hit countries across south-east Asia and eastern Africa on 26th December.

Friends of the Earth International members in Sri Lanka, from the Center for Environmental Justice, are working to help affected people to rebuild their homes and uplift their living condition.  They have targeted support to vulnerable groups such as women and children to have a safer environment.  Meanwhile, volunteers from Friends of the Earth Indonesia are working to provide medical, kitchen and sanitation assistance in refugee centres in the devastated Banda Aceh area.  Other Friends of the Earth organisations, for example in Malaysia, are also actively supporting the relief effort.

Environmental impacts of the disaster are predicted to be huge.  These will include water and soil contamination (e.g. from flooded industrial sites) and solid and biological debris and waste.  There are also likely to be specific critical environmental issues such as release of dangerous chemicals from damaged factories.  The rich biodiversity of coral reefs in the region will also be damaged by sand and other debris churned up by the tsunami.  These environmental impacts will affect the quality of life of millions of people for many years to come, particularly those who live a subsistence-based lifestyle based on agriculture and fishing.  These concerns must be tackled now, at the same time as the more obvious challenges of searching for missing relatives and re-building property.

Immediate and medium health related impacts include illness caused by devastation to existing water supply and sanitation arrangements (for example cholera and diarrhoea) and diseases spread by mosquitos which will thrive in the vast areas of standing water (such as malaria and dengue fever).

Furthermore, the tsunami has inflicted a huge economic blow to the region.  Personal losses will be exacerbated as most of the property and belongings lost were uninsured.  Tourism is also predicted to decline in the short-medium term: in the devastated Maldives Islands, tourism makes up over 50% of foreign exchange revenues.

It should be noted that this is simply one, albeit phenomenal, example of the power of the environment.  The environmental impacts of drought, climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification are causing devastation on a daily scale to thousands of Swazis.  Yonge Nawe appeals to the Swazi Government to treat these issues with the respect they deserve: surely now is the time for commitment, funding and policies to mitigate against environmental damage.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:
1. Friends of the Earth International is a federation of autonomous environmental organizations from all over the world. Its members, in 70 countries, campaign on the most urgent environmental and social issues of our day, while simultaneously catalyzing a shift toward sustainable societies.  Yonge Nawe Environmental Action Group is the member organisation for Friends of the Earth in Swaziland.

Media Contact:
Nicholas Brooks, Communications and Research Coordinator. Tel. 4047701/1394