The government of Tanzania is set to penalize three beach resort hotels for felling mangrove trees to enlarge their premises.

Local English tabloid The Citizen on Wednesday quoted a national resources and tourism ministry official as saying that the three beach hotels in Dar es Salaam would face legal actions for their wrongdoing.

Julius Faya, zonal mangrove manager under the ministry, told local media after inspecting the damaged mangrove trees on the premises of the three beach hotels that the government would not remain quiet when its natural resources were being destroyed by certain people for their own interests.

"When the government privatizes its land to investors, this does not include the wetlands or mangroves areas," said the official, "but these investors are expanding their beach areas illegally."

He said these hotel owners had breached the contracts they had reached with the government of not cutting the mangrove trees along the beach.

According to Tanzanian environment laws, people found violating the environment will be fined, imprisoned or punished by both measures.

The official said the natural resources and tourism ministry had already reported the matter to local police as the first step of the legal action.

Tanzania has some 108,138 hectares of mangrove trees along its coast, according to a 2002 study conducted by American and Tanzanian researchers using remote sensing technology, comparing with some 109,593 hectares found during the 1988-1990 period.

Most of the country's mangrove trees are found in Tanga and Mtwara to the north and south respectively.

With about 50,000 hectares of mangrove trees, the Rufiji River delta is the largest single patch of mangroves in East Africa.

Mangrove are salt-tolerant forests that occur along tropical and sub-tropical coastlines.

Source: Xinhua