TVE Asia Pacific’s latest TV series was previewed by an international group of environmental journalists and communicators gathered in Rome, on 7 October 2006.

The Greenbelt Reports was presented to participants at the IV International Media Forum on the Protection of Nature, organised by the Greenaccord organisation and held at Villa Mondragone Congress Centre in Monte Porzio, north of Rome.

The meeting, convened by the non-profit Italian cultural association Greenaccord, was attended by over 60 media professionals drawn from print, radio, TV and online media. They came from 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

It was supported by a large number of national and international organisations including the Inter Press Service and World Wide Fund for Nature.

On the final day of the meeting, TVE Asia Pacific’s Director and CEO Nalaka Gunawardene introduced his organisation’s latest contribution to environmental communication and education in Asia.

The Greenbelt Reports (GBR) is a multi-media, Asian regional educational project to document the conservation challenges involving mangroves, coral reefs and sand reefs – collectively called ‘greenbelts’ in recognition of their natural protective role against wave action and anticipated climate change impact.

In mid 2005, TVE Asia Pacific launched this regional project is to journalistically investigate and report on efforts to balance conservation needs of coastal greenbelts with socio-economic needs of coastal communities.

Stories in the first series, to be released in December 2006, have from coastal areas in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand – the four countries that were hardest hit by the Asian Tsunami of December 2004.

The Greenbelt Reports first series comprises one half hour regional documentary and 12 self-contained short videos 5 minutes in duration. Each tells the story of a community, activist group or researchers engaged in saving, restoring or regenerating coastal greenbelts.

"This series is not about the Asian Tsunami, but was inspired by the mega-disaster,” Nalaka Gunawardene said in his presentation. “This is an attempt to capture one of the key environmental lessons of the Tsunami, which we need to amplify as much as possible."

Soon after the Asian tsunami of December 2004 hit coastal areas of South and Southeast Asia, relief workers and divers noticed that areas with mangrove forests, sand dunes or coral reefs had suffered considerably less damage -– both in terms of human lives and property. In the same locations, neighbouring areas without these natural barriers were impacted more heavily.

Scientists and environmentalists had been pointing this out for years: coastal vegetation and reefs act as a natural defence against ravages of the sea: while they cannot fully hold back tsunamis or cyclones, they can certainly reduce their impact.

This phenomenon is now known as the ‘greenbelt effect’.

"For many coastal areas of Asia, this message arrives too late,” Gunawardene noted.
"For decades, mangroves, coral reefs and sand dunes have been degraded or destroyed by population pressures, poverty and economic development activities."

For example, mangroves have been cleared on many Asian coasts and wetlands to set up shrimp farms or tourist hotels. In the five Asian countries that were hardest by the tsunami, some 1.5 million hectares were lost between 1980 and 2000 — a quarter of the region's total mangrove cover.

The value of natural barriers is not just in disaster mitigation. As sea levels rise, and as extreme weather events intensify due to global warming, these will become important elements in coping strategies for coastal countries and communities.

"The good news is that more and more local communities and activists are taking up these challenges,” Gunawardene said. “Their efforts offer some hope for the beleaguered greenbelts of Asia.”

But the greenbelts in Asia are far from safe, and remain under many pressures resulting from economic development, poverty and apathy.

Gunawardene cautioned: “As the memories of the Asian Tsunami fade, there’s a danger that its important environmental lessons might also be forgotten. This is what we try to prevent with this entire effort."

The TV content will soon be backed by online and print material with further information, analysis and links. The series, when launched in December, will be made available to TV broadcasters anywhere in the world without any license fee.

TVE Asia Pacific invited Greenaccord and all participants at the meeting to make use The Greenbelt Reports material, which have been produced to international broadcast standards originally in English.

The presentation involved the screening of two 5-minute stories, and was followed by a lively discussion on the tsunami’s environmental lessons.

The Greenbelt Reports was conceptualized, researched and produced in consultation with a large number of local, national and regional conservation organizations and research institutes. Among these were: IUCN Asia, UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Mangrove Action Project, and Wetlands International.

The series was produced involving Asian TV/film professionals sharing an interest in amplifying local voices to the global village. Stories were filmed by locally-based, internationally credentialed TV professionals under TVE Asia Pacific’s direction.

The Greenbelt Reports has received the financial or technical advisory support from a number of conservation organisations, development agencies and media companies. These include the Japan Fund for Global Environment and the Green Coast Project, administered by IUCN Sri Lanka and financed by Oxfam Novib.

As with all other TVE Asia Pacific editorial output, these materials have been produced on an editorially independent basis.

Launched in 2003, the Greenaccord Forums have emerged as one of the largest annual gatherings of environmental journalists, broadcasters and activists at global level. As an organisation, Greenaccord aims to be an international “virtual table” open to all professionals in information and communication who want to deepen understanding about environment and its protection with their work.

Photos courtesy: Zilia Castrillon