The MAP News |
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FEATURE STORY
Reclaiming mangroves for shrimp production THAILAND - For many years, farmer Noppadol Tawee lived with the constant fear of waking up and finding all the shrimp that were growing in his pond floating dead in the water. "The shrimp used to get sick, and I lost all of them several times. Some years, I could make a lot of money; in others, I could lose everything," explains Noppadol, a shrimp farmer living in Kanchanadit, a district in the province of Surat Thani in Southern Thailand. His neighbours advised him that the solution to his problem was related to a very specific kind of tree: the mangrove. Years ago, before shrimp production came to the region, mangroves had covered the coastline of the region, housing dozens of marine animals, including shrimp, small fish and crabs. Mangroves are known for purifying the waters and working as nurseries for a number of marine species, as well as being huge areas of carbon storage. But, since the early 1970s, the Thai government promoted semi-intensive and intensive shrimp production, which quickly spread to coastal areas, placing Thailand as the world's third-largest exporter of seafood and one of the main producers of shrimp in the world. This rapid expansion came at the cost of thousands of hectares of mangroves, a complex and rich ecosystem comprising different species of trees and a high number of other plants, animals and micro-organisms that grow in coastal areas in tropical regions. Noppadol's followed the advice of his community and planted mangroves. READ MORE AFRICA Protecting mangroves, Kenya's fishermen net cash – and more fish KENYA - For fishing communities on Kenya's southern coast, felling mangrove trees to make boats has long been a part of life. But traditional attitudes toward the mangroves are shifting, as communities become aware of a new benefit from keeping the trees standing: cash payments for carbon storage. Local people who are protecting and replanting mangroves are now selling 3,000 tonnes of carbon credits a year to international buyers, for about $5-$6 a tonne. The money goes into financing more forest protection and restoration, and to community-chosen projects. "We have rehabilitated Gazi and Makongeni primary schools, bought textbooks for the pupils and provided piped water to the residents in both villages,” said Ali Salim, chairman of Mikoko Pamoja (Mangroves Together), the community organization working to protect local mangroves and reap the benefits. In 2011, residents of Makongeni and Gazi villages – home to about 6,000 people – began working with the Kenya Forest Service and the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) to protect 117 hectares (290 acres) of mangroves, or about 20 percent of the mangrove forest in Gazi Bay. READ MORE ASIA Protests for Sundarbans face police, BCL bar BANGLADESH - Activists of ruling party's student front and police today foiled a cycle rally of green activists campaigning against construction of a power plant near the world's largest mangrove forest - the Sundarbans. The rally faced it's first bar at Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, where the programme was supposed to begin, from a human chain formed by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student body of ruling Awami League, around 10:30am, reports our correspondent from the spot. "Chhatra League and Sundarbans campaigners had simultaneous programmes at Shaheed Minar," Abu Bakr Siddique, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station, told The Daily Star. READ MORE 'Let mangroves recover' to protect coasts INDONESIA - Allowing mangrove forests to recover naturally result in more resilient habitats that benefit both wildlife and people, say conservationists. In Indonesia, a Wetlands International project uses permeable dams to restore sediment needed for the trees to grow. The charity says early results suggest "ecological restoration" is more effective than planting programmes. More than half of the world's most at-risk habitats have been felled or lost over the past century, UN data shows. Mangroves are a group of about 80 different salt-tolerant species of trees that are able to live along the intertidal zones of coastlines in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The characteristic root systems of these trees allow them to withstand the ebb and flow of daily tides. The roots also act as buffers, slowing the flow of the tidal waters, allowing sediment to settle and build up as nutrient-rich mud. The unique habitats provide valuable shelter and breeding sites for fish, as well as stabilising coastlines, reducing erosion from storm surges and tsunamis. READ MORE Promises unmet as Thailand tries to reform shrimp industry THAILAND - Facing international pressure for failing to stop human trafficking in its seafood sector, Thailand promised almost a year ago to compensate victims of slavery and industry leaders vowed to bring all shrimp processing in-house. That hasn't always happened. Instead, some formerly enslaved shrimp peelers have been deported. And some shrimp peeling sheds are being inspected and authorised to keep operating. Tin Nyo Win, who escaped slavery and alerted police to abuses, was deported to Myanmar this month, along with his pregnant wife and a half-dozen others, after being held almost a year in a Thai government shelter. Authorities said that although the couple were victims of modern-day slavery, they had illegally entered Thailand to begin with. "They don't treat us like humans. They treat us like dogs,'' Tin Nyo Win said hours before Thai authorities took them away. "They just try to bully those of us who are victims already.'' READ MORE The deep marketization of development in Bangladesh BANGLADESH - This article introduces the concept of ‘deep marketization’ as a relatively new, contemporary phase of neoliberal development policy in Bangladesh. By looking into the development strategy of the country’s energy sector, the article shows how an emphasis on marketization through public-private partnerships (PPPs) and other strategies advances a market fundamentalist agenda to strengthen the private sector and establish a world market. By drawing on interviews with development practitioners from various development organizations in Bangladesh, the article further reveals how development conceptualizations are shaped by the strategy of deep marketization, leading to the impoverishment of development by constraining its field of actions to measures based on the primacy of economic growth and private sector-led economic development, at the same time leading to a re-legitimization of flawed neoliberal development policies that result in further inequality, poverty and environmental degradation. READ MORE Ericsson's Connected Mangroves project wins UN climate change award MALAYSIA - A ground-breaking technology project in Malaysia initiated by telecommunications firm Ericsson was announced as one of 13 winners of United Nations 'Momentum for Change' climate change award to be held at a UN Climate Conference in Marrakech, Morrocco in November. In a statement issued by the telecommunications company, the Ericsson’s Connected Mangroves project uses sensors to provide near real-time information to restore dwindling mangrove plantations. “The Connected Mangroves project addresses the need to protect an important part of the ecosystem of the nearly 3,000 miles (4,828km) of coastline in Malaysia. “By combining ICT innovation with collaborative partnerships that are built on a shared vision, we now see a higher percentage of the mangrove saplings will most likely reach maturity,” said Head of Ericsson Malaysia and Sri Lanka Todd Ashton in the statement. READ MORE Study cites mangroves as carbon sinks PHILIPPINES - Protected mangroves in this city have demonstrated the potential to serve as carbon sink by sequestering and storing considerable amounts of atmospheric carbon to mitigate the impacts of climate change, according to a state university study. The study, “Species Diversity, Above and Below Ground Biomass, and Carbon Stock Assessments of Selected Mangrove Forests in Iloilo City, Philippines” by Dr. Resurreccion Sadaba and Allen Grace Niego of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, was one of six researches presented at the Regional Research Utilization Forum held today at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region VI here. The study, which was presented by Dr. Sadaba at the forum, has also shown that it is possible to build low emission alternatives to develop economic resilience and sustainability projects at a minimal cost. It determined the diversity of mangroves and quantified the amount of above and below ground biomass and carbon stored among the selected sites of mangrove forest, which included 8 sites in four barangays of this city. The rapid economic development being undergone by the city was acknowledged by the study. READ MORE In CamSur, mangroves thrive again PHILIPPINES - A canopy of young mangrove trees hides the village of Sagrada, an hour’s boat ride from the town center of Garchitorena, Camarines Sur province, and thrives through the collective effort of its community. Once depleted 19 years ago, the mangrove forest blossoms after years of vigorous planting activities initiated by the community and the provincial government, according to Jesus Daria, the village chief for several terms, nurturing fry and fingerlings under the roots. Daria recalled that about a few hectares of mangroves were left in the 1980s due to firewood gathering and charcoal making. When reforestation began in 1997, during his first term, as a priority project, the forest cover expanded to 356 hectares. The community’s commitment and efforts to bring back the scenes of Daria’s childhood caught the attention of the provincial government. As forest guardians, residents agreed to prohibit the cutting of trees and assigned local officials to go after violators, as well as poachers. READ MORE Indonesia’s best hope for slowing climate change INDONESIA - Indonesia’s mangroves are a massive storehouse of carbon and a key bargaining chip for the country in the upcoming climate change negotiations in Paris, according to the authors of a new study published in Nature Climate Change. “Indonesian policymakers should see protecting and sustainably managing mangroves as a potential solution for climate change mitigation,” says Daniel Murdiyarso, the study’s lead author and a principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). “But to make progress, it is crucial that mangroves are protected and managed sustainably.” Large areas of Indonesia’s mangroves have been cleared in recent decades, but there’s perhaps never been a better time – nor such stark political motivation – to change this dynamic. READ MORE AMERICA MAP Co-organizes “Sustainable Mangrove Economy” workshop as part of the World Congress of IUCN As part of the World Congress of the IUCN, which took place from 1 to 10 September 2016 at the Hawaii Convention Center, the Relais Pole Mangroves and Wetlands of Overseas, in close collaboration with the Conservatoire du Littoral and Mangrove Action Project, organized on September 2 from 17:00 to 19:00 a workshop entitled "Moving Towards a Sustainable Mangrove Economy." The objective of this workshop was to show how the protection of mangroves makes sense not only in terms of conserving important ecological services of our coastal marine environment, but also discuss how mangrove conservation can be profitable, demonstrating how modern society could gain both economically, socially and environmentally. By replacing unsustainable development practices, such as shrimp farming, oil development, and tourism, with more sustainable and eco-friendly practices, greater, long-term value can be realized via effective mangrove conservation and restoration measures, especially today in the context of climate change, coastal protection from natural disasters and fisheries enhancement. READ MORE Latin American environmental defender attacked, hospitalized PERU - 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Máxima Acuña de Chaupe was hospitalized after being attacked, allegedly by security forces hired by Minera Yanacocha, a subsidiary of Denver-based Newmont Mining, according to information provided by the Chaupe family. The attack took place on Máxima’s property in northern Peru that the mining company has been trying to obtain for its Conga gold mine project. “Minera Yanacocha must immediately stop their harassment of Máxima and her family, denounce attacks like this one, and call on its employees, agents and all others to ensure her safety,” said Earthworks’ Executive Director Jennifer Krill. The attack against Máxima is an alarming reminder of the murder earlier this year of Honduran activist Berta Cáceres. Berta was the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner from South and Central America. Both Berta and Máxima put their lives at risk by publicly denouncing multinational corporations threatening their communities. “Environmental defenders like Máxima, and the late Berta Cáceres before her, should not have to risk their lives to protect their homes and communities,” said Martin Wagner, managing attorney at Earthjustice. READ MORE ‘Hands on’ in the mangroves: Rookery Bay hosts National Estuaries Day USA - The Rookery Bay estuary operates every day, 24/7/365, providing early childhood training for schools of fish, hosting baby birds making their first flights, and filtering millions of gallons of water to keep our environment healthy. But one day a year, Estuaries Day, the humans who manage the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve throw open the doors to their Environmental Learning Center, and offer the public the chance to discover the reserve without having to pay an admission fee. On Estuaries Day hundreds of people, couples, singles, families and seniors, took advantage of the offer and the special programs to learn more about estuaries, the vital component of the natural system on which we all depend. They learned directly from the biologists and researchers on the Rookery Bay staff in a series of “junior scientist” labs inside the reserve headquarters, and ventured outside on a brilliant morning to experience the mangrove estuary first hand. As part of the program, visitors could get literally “hands on” atop the waters of Henderson Creek, going out on a guided kayak excursion and paddling themselves through the brackish waters lined with red mangroves. READ MORE How fig trees can help us save rainforests and wildlife, thanks to curious biology and deep roots in culture USA - A new book tells how fig trees have shaped our world, influenced diverse cultures and can help us restore life to degraded rainforests – all thanks to their curious biology. They are trees of life and trees of knowledge. They are wish-fulfillers … rainforest royalty. They are the fig trees, and they have affected humanity in profound but little-known ways. Mike Shanahan’s new book Gods, Wasps and Stranglers tells their amazing story. Fig trees fed our pre-human ancestors, influenced diverse cultures and played key roles in the dawn of civilization. They feature in every major religion, starring alongside Adam and Eve, Krishna and Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. This is no coincidence – fig trees are special. They evolved when giant dinosaurs still roamed and have been shaping our world ever since. READ MORE OCEANA The silencing of the seas: how our oceans are going quiet. AUSTRALIA - The oceans are filled with sounds produced by animals. However, a recent study shows that ocean sounds are diminishing due to nutrient pollution and ocean acidification. Despite appearances the oceans are far from silent places. If you dunk your head underwater you’ll hear a cacophony of sounds from wildlife great and small, crashing waves, and even rain. And it’s louder still for creatures attuned to these sounds. However, humans are changing these ocean soundscapes. Our recent research showed that changes caused by people, from ocean acidification to pollution, are silencing the seas' natural noises. (We’re also filling the oceans with human noise). This is bad news for the species that depend on these noises to find their way. READ MORE LAST WORD Dear Friends, Please find the following Link. The Nagenahiru Project on Solar Power for Night Fishing in Sri Lanka is selected as a finalist by the Water, Air and Food Foundation in Denmak. The Final winner will be selected by Public voting. Your co-operation is highly appreciate to cast more votes for our project. “The Sri Lankan Nagenahira Foundation has developed affordable LED lanterns for the artisanal fishermen fishing at night in the inland waters of Sri Lanka. Before this development, the use of kerosene lamps was polluting the air and aquatic ecosystem, affecting the health of communities and costing families a third of their income. The new LED lanterns are kerosene-free and powered by a rechargeable batteries and provide improved lighting for up to 16 hours. They are easy to maintain and cheaply rechargeable with photovoltaic panels, minimizing the environmental footprint.” VOTE HERE Kind Regards, Lal BACK TO TOP Not yet a subscriber? Click here to subscribe. Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.
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Action Alerts:VOTE The Nagenahiru Project on Solar Power for Night Fishing in Sri Lanka is selected as a finalist by the Water, Air and Food Foundation in Denmak. VOTE HERE
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Thursday, September 29, 2016
MAP News Issue 400, Oct 1 2016
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Launch of Marvellous Mangroves in Suriname
More than 40 teachers and students from regional schools came together in Coronie last week to launch the Suriname adaptation of the Mangrove Action Project’s Marvellous Mangroves curriculum-based Teachers’ Resource Guide. They were joined by gamekeepers from Nickerie as well as students from the Herbarium at Antom De Kom University and Eco-Tour Guides based in Paramaribo.
Co-sponsored by the international non-profit organization the Mangrove Action Project (MAP), the Stichting Ontwikkeling Radio en Televisie Suriname (SORTS), the Disney Conservation Fund and the Singing Field Foundation, the Marvellous Mangroves workshop gave teachers a first hand experience of the curriculum guide.
Led by MAP’s education director, Martin Keeley, and CORE’s director Loes Trustfull, participants spent of their time learning how to deliver simple and practical hands-on activities to their students and communities which give students a basic understanding of the science behind mangrove ecology.
The activities were selected from MAP’s Marvellous Mangroves of Suriname, a 350-page teachers curriculum-based resource guide developed initially by Mr. Keeley for the Cayman Islands, which has been adapted and translated for use in thirteen countries worldwide.
“ Each of the hands-on activities uses simple items found in every household which cost little – if any – money. This makes it easier for teachers to use the materials when demonstrating to students basic scientific and ecological principles,” explains Mr. Keeley. “The theory behind the activities is explained in easy-to-teach terms, and the curriculum contains many illustrations that reinforce both theory and hands-on activities.”
Participants put what they had learned ”in class” into practice during a field trip following the two days of theory and activties. At the same time they conducted on-site wáter quality tests and analysed collected samples microscopically back in the training centre.
The teachers agreed that the workshop was extremely useful to learn more about mangroves. All said they would use the materials in their clases, and those from other districts requested workshops be held in different locations.
Some comments from different teachers:
“I learned how to opérate a microscope and saw a whole lot of life that can be found in a little drop of wáter,” said a grade three teacher.
One sixth grade teacher commented: “I found the activities very educational, and learned a lot - especially about the mangrove species in Coronie as well as birds and their feathers”
Thursday, September 15, 2016
MAP-Asia staff member joins IUCN Indo-Burma Hotspot Small Grants workshop in Bangkok
By Ms. Pimaaksara Chalermwon, MAP Thailand Project Manager
On 4-5 August, 2016 Ms. Pimaaksara Chalermwon (Pick), MAP Thailand Project Manager joined the meeting on “Project Development & Proposal Writing Workshop of Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund” (CEPF).CEPF is designed to safeguard Earth’s biologically richest and most threatened regions, known as biodiversity hotspots. The Indo-Burma Hotspot comprises all non-marine parts of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, plus parts of southern China. The workshop objective was to building capacity for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on project development and implementation.
This was a good opportunity for MAP staff to learn how to develop proposal successfully and meet with the grants requirement. The basic step in project proposal development shared at the workshop was understanding of Log Frame goals.
Finally, this opportunity provided motivation on grant writing. I’ve learned more about writing in a clear and concise manner. This workshop will also help support networking between organizations working in the environmental field and the result has certainly built capacity on proposal writing skills.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
MAP News Issue 399, September 17, 2016
The MAP News |
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FEATURE STORY
"Much of the vegetation in the pictures is early colonizing "mangrove grass" not planted, but helping with the efforts to establish both planted and volunteer mangroves. Much of what is shown is also not planted but volunteer mangroves mixed with planted mangroves. This is an example of Community Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR) without the participants really knowing the term or the method." Roy R. “Robin” Lewis III, Certified Professional Wetland Scientist, President, Lewis Environmental Services, Inc., Tampa, Florida, USA Farmer's son witnesses climate change, turns the island's fate for the better. BANGLADESH - A farmer’s son in the Sunderbans has been single handedly trying to change the fate of one of the biggest mangroves in the world. Born in the island known for the Royal Bengal Tiger, Pranabesh Maiti woke up to climate change sooner than most and decided to do something about the vast biodiversity they were losing out on. Maiti, 36, realised that many of the things that his land was famous for, were slowly slipping away, be it the juicy watermelons of Sagardip or the fresh produce from the rivers. However it wasn’t until the Aila cyclone that the full extent of soil erosion and devastation was understood by him. He saw land being washed away into the sea, fauna suffering and the mangroves that protected the entire ecosystem getting destroyed. “Aila taught me something important – in the areas where the mangroves were, the dams didn’t break or get damaged. It was obvious we had to revive the mangroves if we were to ever flourish again. Coming from a family of farmers, I knew we had to begin with planting trees.” READ MORE ASIA MAP-Asia staff member joins Indo-Burma Hotspot Small Grants workshop THAILAND - On 4-5 August, 2016 Ms. Pimaaksara Chalermwon (Pick), MAP Thailand Project Manager joined the meeting on “Project Development & Proposal Writing Workshop of Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund” (CEPF). CEPF is designed to safeguard Earth’s biologically richest and most threatened regions, known as biodiversity hotspots. The Indo-Burma Hotspot comprises all non-marine parts of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, plus parts of southern China. The workshop objective was to building capacity for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on project development and implementation. READ MORE Time to end our 'rubbish' behaviour THAILAND - Koh Samui is an island paradise. But if you have ever looked behind the paradise, what you find may be mountains of rubbish.It was reported early in the week that local authorities there have been struggling to deal with some 250,000 tonnes of rubbish. The landfill on the island has overflowed, with simply no room for more. So the authorities are looking to "export" the waste to some places off the island. Samui is not alone with this problem. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to say that every locality in the country is similarly mired in its own garbage. The magnitude of the problem is daunting. According to the Pollution Control Department (PCD), each Thai produces a daily average of 1.15kg of waste, amounting to over 73,000 tonnes nationwide. In 2014, the country had 2,490 dump sites but only 466 of them provide sanitary management services. The rest of them, I assume, were poorly-managed open dumps, and I suspect many more illegal dumps were missing from the statistics. READ MORE Forest of Tides: The Sundarbans BANGLADESH - Split not quite in half by the border between India to the west and Bangladesh to the east, crowning the Bay of Bengal, the world’s most complex river delta works like South Asia’s showerhead—one the size of Lebanon or Connecticut. Fed by Himalayan snowmelt and monsoon runoff, carrying a billion tons a year of Asian landmass suspended as sediment, the three great flows of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna rivers all end in one vast estuarial tangle, one of Earth’s great water filters, the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans. Most famously, the Sundarbans mangrove forest is a refuge for the endangered Panthera tigris tigris, or Bengal tiger, and the only mangrove forest in the world in which tigers live. On the Indian side, which comprises some 40 percent of the Sundarbans delta-estuary ecosystem, the protection of Sundarbans National Park keeps them relatively at a distance from humans; in Bangladesh, however, forest preserve mangroves are often just across narrow creeks—and tigers love to swim!—from villages where slow-moving goats and cows can tempt a carnivore whose diet otherwise consists mainly of spotted deer. READ MORE AMERICA Launch of Marvellous Mangroves in Suriname SURINAME - More than 40 teachers and students from regional schools came together in Coronie last week to launch the Suriname adaptation of the Mangrove Action Project’s Marvellous Mangroves curriculum-based Teachers’ Resource Guide. They were joined by gamekeepers from Nickerie as well as students from the Herbarium at Antom De Kom University and Eco-Tour Guides based in Paramaribo. Co-sponsored by the international non-profit organization the Mangrove Action Project (MAP), the Stichting Ontwikkeling Radio en Televisie Suriname (SORTS), the Disney Conservation Fund and the Singing Field Foundation, the Marvellous Mangroves workshop gave teachers a first hand experience of the curriculum guide.Led by MAP’s education director, Martin Keeley, and CORE’s director Loes Trustfull, participants spent of their time learning how to deliver simple and practical hands-on activities to their students and communities which give students a basic understanding of the science behind mangrove ecology. READ MORE The world's oceans produce around half the Earth's oxygen and store about 90 percent of the world's carbon dioxide. Conservationists push to protect 30% of world's oceans by 2030 USA - Ocean conservation efforts took a significant step forward on Friday when a measure to protect 30 percent of the world's oceans by 2030 passed during a major meeting in Hawaii. The resolution, which is non-binding, garnered widespread support from the governments and global organizations gathered in Honolulu for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress. Marine scientists say expanding Marine Protected Areas is essential in order to spare oceans from further destruction and ensure that ecosystems stay healthy enough to adapt to human-caused climate change. "Marine reserves are also climate reserves, and protecting 30 percent of the ocean will ensure local communities are more resilient to climate change," Seth Horstmeyer, a director with The Pew Charitable Trusts' Global Ocean Legacy project, said in a statement after the vote. The world's oceans produce around half the Earth's oxygen, store about 90 percent of the world's carbon dioxide and encompass a whopping 95 percent of the planet's living space. Yet marine ecosystems are increasingly at risk because of human activities — from industrial fishing and coastal development to dumping toxic waste, plastics pollution and ocean acidification. READ MORE Mud bank colonization by opportunistic mangroves: A case study from French Guiana FRENCH GUIANA - Mud bank colonization by mangroves on the Amazon-influenced coast of French Guiana was studied using light detection and ranging (lidar) data which provide unique information on canopy geometry an sub-canopy topography. The role of topography was assessed through analysis of vegetation characteristics derived from these data. Measurements and analyses of mangrove expansion rates over space and time led to the identification of two distinct colonization processes. The first involves regular step-by-step mangrove expansion to the northwest of the experimental site. The second is qualified as ‘opportunistic’ since it involves a clear relationship between specific ecological characteristics of pioneer Avicennia and mud cracks affecting the mud bank surface and for which probabilities of occurrence were computed from terrain elevations. It is argued from an original analysis of the latter relationship that mud cracks cannot be solely viewed as water stress features that reflect desiccation potentially harmful to plant growth. Indeed, our results tend to demonstrate that they significantly enhance the propensity for mangroves to anchor and take root, thus leading to the colonization of tens of hectares in a few days. READ MORE Seaweed farming, a sudden slimy success, needs greener rules: U.N. CANADA - Seaweed farming needs tighter regulation to limit damage to the environment after booming into a $6.4 billion business with uses in everything from sushi to toothpaste, a United Nations study showed recently. Led by China, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines, seaweed's surge in recent years has seemed environmentally friendly since it needs no fertilisers and has created both jobs and food in remote coastal areas of developing nations. But emerging evidence shows that seaweed can sometimes cause harm and spread diseases and pests, the U.N. report said. One Asian seaweed brought to Hawaii has smothered some coral reefs by out-competing local plants. "There's very little regulation" in many nations, Elizabeth Cottier-Cook, lead author of the U.N. University study who also works at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, told Reuters. "You can take a plant from the Philippines and plant it in East Africa. There are pests, there are pathogens that can go along with that plant. There is no quarantine," she said. A damaging bacterial disease known as ice-ice, for instance, has spread with a red seaweed from the Philippines and infected new farms in nations such as Mozambique and Tanzania. READ MORE OCEANA Study: One-tenth of Earth's wilderness lost since the 1990s AUSTRALIA - It’s a bleak revelation — a new study reveals that about a tenth of the Earth’s wilderness has been lost since the 1990s. Over the last 20 years, a total area half the size of the Amazon and twice the size of Alaska has been depleted. The researchers behind the study, published in the journal Current Biology, say they hope that the sobering revelation that rich natural habitats like the Amazon have been decimated in a relatively short amount of time will act as a wakeup call to global leaders to emphasize conservation efforts in their environmental protection policies. When asked why these important, at-risk areas haven’t been better protected, study lead author James Watson points the finger at government leaders around the world. “Put simply — no international treaty talks about the importance of wilderness or has any targets that nations must follow that limit their (wilderness areas’) loss,” Watson, an associate professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, wrote in an email to CBS News. READ MORE Pacific Community highlights climate change, resilience, sustainable fisheries MARSHALL ISLANDS - The world’s largest conservation congress kicked off last Friday in Hawaii and the Pacific Community has joined over 8,000 global leaders and decision-makers from government, civil society, indigenous groups, business and academia, to garner support for stronger action towards a sustainable future. The Pacific Community director general Dr. Colin Tukuitonga attended the Pacific Ocean Summit at the start of the IUCN Congress and moderated a session on Action on Climate Change-reducing emissions, increasing renewable energy, which included addresses from the President of the Republic of Marshall Islands, H.E. Dr Hilda Heine, the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Hon. Enele Sopoaga. and the Kingdom of Tonga’s Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni. The summit provided an opportunity to launch the 2030 Ocean Partnership for action on the world’s largest ocean with an aim to make commitments for action on climate change as well as renewable energy and for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (14) on Oceans. READ MORE LAST WORD Dear All, I too believe that Ville-Veikko Hirvelä is correct in pointing out that the so-called "ongoing wasting and polluting over-consumption of the Earth by the rich minority" is a main issue needing fuller attention, if we are serious about halting further biodiversity losses. In the last quarter century, we at Mangrove Action Project have been attempting to address such issues via our ongoing opposition to such wasteful, destructive industries as shrimp aquaculture, which has over the last three decades resulted in massive losses of our planet's important mangrove forests and related coastal wetlands. Mangroves are vital for both enhancing biodiversity and combating climate change, yet these unique coastal wetlands are being cleared at around 1% per year for such luxury industries as shrimp farming and tourism, fitting perfectly that same scenario spotlighted by Ville-Veikko Hirvelä today. In the US, shrimp is the number one consumed seafood, and 90% of that shrimp is imported from countries in the Global South. Shrimp imports to Europe, Japan and Canada are also increasing. If we are truly serious about addressing the loss of biodiversity upon this planet, we must address such "ongoing wasting and polluting over-consumption" in order to conserve and restore mangroves and other biodiverse rich natural resources that are otherwise still being degraded to support short-sighted luxury markets. For the Mangroves and Mangrove Communities, Alfredo Quarto, Co-director and Co-founder Mangrove Action Project PO Box 1854 Port Angeles, WA 98362-0279 360-452-5866 www.mangroveactionproject.org BACK TO TOP Not yet a subscriber? Click here to subscribe. Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.
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The community of adults and youth in Cayman Islands has come together recently to release a series of educational videos. Each is geared to...
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By: Isabel Robinson, MAP Volunteer Intern Some months ago I decided to come to Thailand and do an internship in mangrove conservation, ...
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J.H. Primavera, Ph.D. Among others, Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami have highlighted the importance of m...
MAP News Issue #594 - March 23, 2024
Saving Lamu Mangroves: From Futile Photo Ops To Real Progress KENYA - Hundreds flock Lamu County, not only for the beauty of Kenya’s oldes...