Plan of operations: Maldives Component of Forestry Programme for early rehabilitation in Asian tsunami affected countries, OSRO/GLO/502/FIN

In some islands, Pandanus spp. and Suriana maritima (tassel plant) were severely affected due to salt-water intrusion caused by tsunami. In some places Calophyllum inophyllum (funa) located close to the beach died. Observations also indicated that some areas of mangrove forests are showing signs of degradation due to the tsunami’s deposition of sediments at their outlets to the sea, which has impeded the flow of water out and into the mangrove needed to keep the ecosystem healthy. Trees in home gardens and avenue trees were widely affected by the inundation of seawater carried inland by the tsunami and subsequent stagnation caused degradation. An estimate indicates that about 700,000 fruit trees and 840,000 timber trees were damaged in the inhabited islands. These losses affected about 11,500 households.