Consideration might be given to planting bamboo to stop soil erosion and landslides.
Tragedy struck in Gizo early last Tuesday morning when a landslide occurred following several days of heavy rain.
The landslide, sadly, took the life of a local primary school teacher, the wife of the commandant of the Gizo Correctional Service.
The Provincial police commander Mathias Lenialu said the incident was the worst in the island's history.
"We have been experiencing landslides but only they damaged the gardens, food gardens and all these things but not taking away any life,” Lenialu said.
Today, Friday, there has been a report on yet another landslide in South Malaita.
That landslide is understood to have happened between 12 am and 3 am on Thursday in the Unimenu area in South Malaita.
A team consisting of Auki Police officers and Red Cross and Disaster officers in Malaita has been alerted following the reports of the landslide that, reportedly, destroyed four houses and leaving two young girls and a boy missing.
The Malaita Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Malaita Province, Superintendent Solomon Sisimia has called for communities that reside along rivers and at the bottom of hills to take precautionary measures during the rainy and strong wind season.
The Gizo incident and the one that has just occurred might possibly have been prevented from happening if bamboo had been planted on the hillsides that slipped away during the current wet weather.
Yes, always wise after an event can be justifiably said. The fact is, however, that in countries where landslides have regularly occurred causing property damage and loss of life, the planting of bamboo in Kenya, Nepal and in the Philippines has considerably helped to reduce the risks associated with landslides.
In Kenya as rain has become more consistent and heavier, due to the growing impact of climate change, and slopes deforested, the trick in preventing landslides has been to plant bamboo on hilly land and along river banks.
The giant grass has prevented soil erosion and the bamboo’s extensive root system enables bamboo to stand firm even on loose soil.
In another example of the use of bamboo in helping to prevent landslides, I will quote an example of an initiative in the Philippines.
Quote.
“Residents of landslide-prone areas in Eastern Visayas and the rest of the country are urged to plant bamboo to help hold loose earth in place and prevent erosion.
“Planting bamboos in potentially loose soil can serve to hold the earth in place with its dense and wide-spreading system of roots.
“This can limit erosion, particularly the large-scale sheet that can lead to fatalities and damage to properties, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“Over 2,531 villages in Eastern Visayas are considered to prone to landslides.
“Local government executives are urged to initiate bamboo planting in their areas of jurisdiction, particularly in places tagged as landslide-prone by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
“Bamboo is the only grass variety that is best suited to plant along river banks in order to mitigate landslides, said DENR Eastern Visayas regional technical director Manolito Ragub.
“The roots of a bamboo plant can expand by 25 percent to hold six cubic meters of soil.
“Bamboo has livelihood uses as raw material for furniture making and its shoots are served as delicacy.
“Planting bamboo and indigenous plants in the targeted 12, 365 hectares of land across the region is now integrated in the National Greening Program of the government.”
In areas having high terrain and hillside slopes it could be beneficial for communities to take preventative measures by planting bamboo.
When I think of the project underway in Daolusu in which local youths have taken the initiative to protect the mangrove forests, I believe similar projects could be undertaken by youths in communities across the country where landslides are considered likely to occur.
I ending this letter, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family, friends and work colleagues of the mother that lost her life following the landslide last Tuesday in Gizo.
I hope, too, the three children reported missing in Malaita following the landslide there, will soon be found safe and well.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
