Guyana Mangrove-Seawall Engineering Guidance

By taking a “design with nature” approach to study and model mudbank dynamics, we can optimally time the application of Green-Grey technologies (combinations of engineered infrastructure and natural solutions such as mangrove ecosystems) to speed up this natural process and reclaim/regrow the coast. In addition to re-building the coastal zone, green-grey solutions also provide benefits such as reduction of wave intensity, increasing biodiversity and marine food security. Guyana is among the countries most profoundly threatened by climate change induced sea level rise, with 90% of the population and 75% of agricultural production situated on the low-lying coastal plain. To mount a response to this existential threat, Guyana needs to harness the same natural processes that created the North Brazil Shelf’s coastal plain – from the Amazon river to the Orinoco river. The coastal plain was created over tens of thousands of years by a flux of Amazonian soil particles transported along the coast and captured in the roots of mangroves. Based on our understanding of the dynamics of mudbank movement, we will be able to harness this abundant sediment supply to defend and expand Guyana's shoreline. This has long been the missing piece of the puzzle in Guyana’s mangroves replanting efforts and can now greatly increase the success of restoration activities.