Humans have for a long time thought of mangrove swamps as smelly, useless, unattractive areas. Recently it has been appreciated that mangrove swamps are a necessary part of the coastal environment. They provide a valuable nursery area for many commercial species of fish. They provide a buffer zone where sediment is trapped and not released into the oceans. They stabilise bottom sediments and protect foreshores from erosion.
Looking around the study area the impact of humans can be seen in the development of housing and camping areas close to the mangroves. This releases extra nutrients into the system both from garden runoff and sewage overflow. Creating drains and roads changes the natural runoff of the system and may result in more freshwater entering the system. The presence of humans changes the biotic factors in the ecosystem as fish, bait, prawns and crabs are removed by fishing.
Roads and drains increase the runoff from the land.
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