Cost+of.....

Frozen shrimps
Edging from the coast of California to the Great Barrier Reef, mangroves are increasingly threatened by coastal development. Satellite images tell the tale. In 1987 shrimp farms were expanding around the Central Amnerican Gulf of Fonseca, but many mangrove areas remained inteact., By 1999 shrimp farming had swelled, wiping out mangroves, polluting the environment and distrupting water supplies

What is lost. Mangroves live on the edge of land and sea. The forests that mangroves form are among the most productive and biologically complex ecosystems on Earth. Birds roost in the canopy, shellfish attach themselves to the roots, and snakes and crocodiles come to hunt. Mangroves provide nursery grounds for fish; a food source for monkeys, deer, tree-climbing crabs, and a nectar source for bats and honeybees.

Oil
Oil fouls everything in southern Nigeria. It spills from the pipe-lines, poisoning soil and water. It stains the hands of pliticians and generals who siphon off its profits. Nigeria had all the makings of an uplifting tale in 1956: a poor African nation blessed with enormous sudden wealth.

But everything went wrong. Choking black smoke from open-air slaugherhouse rolls over housetops. Streets are cratered with potholes and ruts. Vicious gangs roam schools grounds.

This is Port Harcourt which should gleam; instead it rots.

Nigeria has become a dangerous country with people increasinlgy willing to turn to corruption, sabotage and murder to get a fix on the oil wealth.

A scolding remark chalked on a desk reflects the grim condition of this school in Ogulkagha. Teachers often do not show up, and pupils are scarce although most people in the country are under 20 years of age. The delta states of Nigeria receive millions of dollars a month in oil revenue but little of it reaches rural communities.