Climate Change

Some of the photographs in this post are part of a project/study on Wetlands and People I'm yet to publish. Simon Nwi, 38 years old, is a wetland fisherman in southwestern Ghana. The photographs below are a quick peek into his tropical life. Wetlands and people. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka Chasant Simon is one of the dozens of people who rely on tropical wetlands as a source of jobs I have been documenting since August 2020. In case you are curious, here's a quick brief about the Wetlands and People project: Wetlands and People Tropical wetlands are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth. As some of the world's largest carbon sinks, wetlands such as peat swamps and mangroves play key roles in climate change adaptation and mitigation. But they are under threat. Hydrologic alterations, overexploitation of their resources, pollution, and conversion of wetlands to other land uses have resulted in the loss of key ecosystem functions. These ecological changes are likely to engender future trends. Project/research question: How is this (the problem described above) shaping the economies and community livelihoods of the people who rely on tropical wetlands as a source of jobs? Wetland fisherman holds on to a red mangrove prop root. Tangled roots of mangrove trees behind him. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka ChasantTropical fisherman hasn't set his traps for some time now because there's nothing for him to catch. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka Chasant "I haven't set traps for some time now because I catch nothing even when I do. The lagoon is no longer productive," stern-looking Simon lamented. Wetland fisheries are under severe pressurehttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10750-020-04188-z. Life in The Tropics Man walks through coconut trees in rural Ghana. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka Chasant I revisited. With no fish to catch and nothing to do, we stretched our legs toward the east — against the setting sun. But Simon brought a long stick and a sharp cutlass with him. Thoughts from space: These guys down....what are they up to? Looks odd given it's a remote location — one with a long stick and a cutlass and another with a camera trudging along. Your guess is as good as mine... ...the stick to pluck some coconuts along the way and the cutlass to cut them open for the water and meat. It's OK — whatever you thought Simon was up to! Man walks on the beach holding cutlass and a long stick. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka ChasantTropical fisherman plucks coconuts on the remote coast of Ghana. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka ChasantWetland fisherman pluck coconuts in southwestern Ghana. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka ChasantMan smiles after plucking coconuts on the rural coast of Ghana. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka Chasant We walked for miles along the remote and undisturbed coast and drank a lot of coconut water. Simon cut open 12 coconuts for me. All for free. With guaranteed elevated potassium levels in my blood, of course, :(. "All the coconuts here are for free. You can drink as many as you like," Simon assured me. Tired, Simon rested twice. A poignant scene of tropical life: Fisherman rests at the beach. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka ChasantSimon rests on the undisturbed rural beach. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka Chasant We returned after sunset. Here's Simon with two of his children: Wetlands and livelihoods. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka Chasant Simon has three children. Grabbed a short video — with an iPhone — of Simon paddling when we came through the mangroves. The 1 min video below puts the iPhone scene into context: https://youtu.be/t0zpPHhkVSg Hopefully, I get around to publishing the Wetlands and People project soon. I would love to read your thoughts on Simon, wetlands, and people, in the comment section below. Copyright © 2021 Muntaka Chasant

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