Updated 29/5/2000

Most plants die in salt water, but the mangrove positively thrives on it, as a result just about every West African coastal inlet is flanked with mangrove swamps. What yoiu are seeing is the reclamation of land from the sea.

The most common mangrove seen in Gambia is the red mangrove, there are actually three distinct species but the untrained eye will see all as red mangoes. They are very distinctive with a scaffolding of roots holding them above the tides and an ever green crop of leathery leaves.

Its seeds actually germinate on the mother plant and grow a long prod that either sticks in the mud when the fruit finally falls or if it falls into water acts as a buoyancy aid. It can survive up to a year in the water but grows rapidly as soon as it is washed ashore to colonise a new area.

The mass of buttress roots gather silt, leaves and other vegetation and form the home to many other creatures whose life cycle is supported by the mangrove.

Before long the tidal flats are totally colonised and the area ceases to be tidal as this extraordinary plant literally creates land - it is estimated that an acre of mangroves produces 3 tons of leaf mould in a season.

As the land is built up the old mangroves die leaving new fertile land ready for cultivation.

Looking in the root system of a mangrove you will find insects of many kinds these become the food for ghekos, lizards and iguanas. Shrimps, crabs and fish flourish among the roots and sea slugs thrive on the rich algae that builds up around the roots.

At Lamin Lodge an oyster factory crops the oysters and mussels that holds on to the lower roots and are collected at low tide by women who wade through the mud collecting them.

In deeper water local fishermen and tourists catch yellow tail snappers, eels, bass and even lobsters, while crocodiles use the waterways between the mangrove islands. In the higher branches a host of birds find night perches making the swamps a paradise for bird watchers.

The close grained wood is used extensively by local carvers who regularly pass it off as polished mahogany.

Although it is often thought of as a shrub, in fact it regularly grows to a height of 60 to 80 foot (20 to 25m). The Gambia would look very different without the mangrove, yet many a tourist would not even realise they had seen one - there are just so many that familiarity breeds contempt.