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Saturday, April 27, 2013

MAP News Issue 313, April 27, 2013

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Partnering with mangrove forest communities, grassroots NGOs, researchers and local governments to conserve and restore mangrove forests and related coastal ecosystems, while promoting community-based, sustainable management of coastal resources.
The MAP News
313th Edition                                April 27, 2013


Action Alerts:
Please help us spread the word about our Question Your Shrimp video and our QYS consumer/ markets campaign!  We hope that you will share this LINK TO OUR VIDEO with your list!

Please help RedManglar Mexico put pressure on the Mexican government to protect the mangroves now threatened by development. PLEASE JOIN US IN SIGNING THIS PETITION

Urgent Action Alert: Please Sign the Following Letter to Save Bimini Island from Destructive Development: SEE SAMPLE LETTER

Question Your Shrimp- Don't Buy or Sell Imported Tropical Shrimp! Sign the Petition

Action Alert: Massive Chinese Dam Threatens Cambodia's Cardamom Rainforests Sign the Petition

Action Alert: Demand India Protect Old-Growth and Abandon Coal Sign the Petition
CALLING FOR MANGROVE ART SUBMISSIONS!
We invite all primary school children from tropical and sub-tropical nations, and whose schools are located near mangroves, to create art telling us "why mangroves are important to me and my community". Selected winners will be published in a 2014 calendar to be distributed internationally to raise awareness of mangrove forest ecology. Email
monicagquarto@olympus.net or mangroveap@olympus.net or READ MORE
Phulbari Coal Mine Blog View Blog
Phulbari Update – NEW Watch Short Video

MAP's 2014 Children's Mangrove Art Calendar sponsors needed. View PDF

Donate to MAP via Paypal
Giving could never be easier
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Green Planet Fundraising Assists MAP – LEARN MORE


URGENT - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
MAP is looking for volunteer interns for its Thailand Headquarters – READ MORE

MAP’s VOLUNTEER INTERNS HELP MAP MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
READ MORE



MANGROVE ISSUES 


Please view our new video for our Question Your Shrimp Consumer/Markets Campaign! It is now on our website under the Question Your Shrimp section heading. WATCH VIDEO

Mangrove Restoration in Asia – Watch Short Video
Mosaic of Life
READ A MOSAIC OF LIFE” Peek into the underwater world of mangroves, "womb of the sea." By Liz Cunningham Photos By Wes Matweyew and Liz Cunningham

MANGROVE BOOK – J. Primavera
The book Beach Forests and Mangrove Associates in the Philippines by J.H. Pimavera and R.B. Sadaba (ISBN 978-971-9931-01-0; National Library  CIP QK938.C6  581.75109599  2012  P220120602) is now available. aves, flowers, fruits, utilization and silviculture
.
SEE POSTER and order instructions

View MAP’s uploaded Videos at MAPmangrover’sChannel
“Education In The Mangroves" can now be seen on the  PhotoPhilanthropy website here!

Marvellous Mangroves – A Curriculum-Based Teachers Guide.
By Martin A. Keeley, Education Director, Mangrove Action Project
Read this 10 page history of the development of MAP’s educational curriculum VIEW DOCUMENT

FOR MORE ON MAPs AWARD WINNING CHINA MANGROVE CURRICULUM VISIT THESE SIGHTS
SLIDE SHOW
    VIMEO SHOW

Education In The Mangroves
Six minute video features discussion of Mangrove Action Project’s Mangrove Curriculum VIEW THE VIDEO

Article in Canada's Green Teacher Magazine -
Read More


"Question Your Shrimp" Campaign

Learn more about the affects of the shrimp industry on mangroves by visiting our blog

Editor’s Note: Mangrove Action Project’s Executive Director, Alfredo Quarto was interviewed about shrimp by Green Acre Radio’s Martha Baskin
LISTEN TO INTERVIEW

Join MAP on Facebook

Sign the Consumer's Pledge to avoid imported shrimp

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Click here to subscribe.



Note to Our Readers:
We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control,
occasionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.


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Help Mangrove Action Project through your recycled E-Waste.  List of Accepted E-waste Items:
Injet Cartidges, Cell Phones, Pagers, GPS, Radar Detectors, Mobile Hot Spots, Calculators, eBook Readers, iPods/MP3 players, Digital/Video Cameras/Camcorders, PDAs, iPads/Tablets/Laptops, Video Game Consoles, Handheld Video Games
Visit the Mangrove Action Project recycle website Click on the recycle button then click on the Download Shipping Label, and follow the instructions.


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FEATURED STORY

Entire planet will soon have rapid deforestation detection system
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TURKEY - World Resources Institute (WRI) previewed a long-awaited tool that could revolutionize global forest monitoring, reports the UN Forum on Forests, which is meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. Global Forest Watch 2.0 is a platform that combines near-real time satellite data, forestry data, and user-submitted information to provide the most complete picture of the world's forests ever assembled. The system has been developed over the last several years as a collaborative effort between WRI and other partners, including Google, the University of Maryland and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Although Global Forest Watch 2.0 isn't slated to launch publicly until late this year, WRI demonstrated the system at the meeting to provide a sneak peak of a tool that could soon help governments, NGOs, local communities and companies fight deforestation. READ MORE

AFRICA

Editor’s Note – The following article starts with a recap of the importance of mangrove conservation. The snippet below starts after this introduction.
FAO Install Move to Protect Mangroves
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CAMEROON - …The government of Cameroon has teamed up with the FAO and local NGOs to safeguard the country’s surviving mangroves and restore depleted zones.  The over six million dollar venture, dubbed Sustainable Community Management and Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems in Cameroon, will last five years.  It was launched in February. Julius Niba Fon is a conservation expert in the Cameroon Ministry of the Environment.  He says the project will involve communities residing within and around mangrove forests. "We understand that the local areas have local development plans which don’t take into consideration this special ecosystem," says Fon. "We also have the creation of protected areas for mangroves." Elsewhere, the effort will help build legal and institutional frameworks for the protection of mangroves, compile inventories of remaining areas and teach local populations how to use and maintain mangrove forests.  It will also propose alternatives to using the trees for cooking and for smoking fish. And, it will propose new livelihoods, like snail breeding, for those who use the valuable coastal habitats. READ MORE

ASIA

New phone app can help save forests, wildlife
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THAILAND - Environmentally conscious tourists can help Thai authorities preserve forests and wildlife with the help of a smart-phone. With the A-Eye application, they can quickly report observations such as forest fires, illegal logging and illegal hunting. They can also send photos and details to monitoring centers. The app will help identify the location. Officials check updated reports via the app and will go to the area to deal with the problem, if necessary. In the case of a forest fire, a red circle will appear on the app's map feature. All tourists using the app will see the location of the fire and can avoid that area. The A-Eye app's formal name is "Extra eyes assisting in the environmental surveillance of national parks". When people find a rare species, they can take photos of it and share them on the app. Other tourists nearby will know where it is and can go to see it. READ MORE

EIA report on coal-fired power plant near Sundarbans rejected
BANGLADESH - Environmentalists rejected an environment impact assessment report on the proposed 1320MW coal-fired power plant adjacent to the world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarban.
India and Bangladesh signed contract to jointly set up the plant. The environmentalists observed that the EIA report failed to cover most of the important and critical aspects of the environment of Sundarban, its ecology, flora and fauna and also the local people’s livelihood. ‘We need electricity, but not at the cost of the Sundarban. It (power plant) will kill the world heritage and destroy the ecology,’ said Tahsin Ahmed, a local environment leader and a writ petitioner against the move of the power plant, at a consultative meeting on the issue. The Power Division organised the meeting at Bijoy Hall of Bidyut Bhaban in the city to discuss the environment impact assessment report on the proposed power plant which the government decided to set up at a location at Rampal upazila in Bagerhat. The power plant site is only 10-12km away from the Sundarban. READ MORE

Coastal erosion threatens life on Indonesia's Derawan Island
INDONESIA - An increased rate of marine erosion on the island of Derawan off the coast of Berau district threatens a local community and the endangered turtles that lay their eggs there, officials and conservationists warn. Bahri, the chief of the island’s sole village, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday that rising sea levels since 2004 have accelerated the rate of coastal erosion. “The rate at which the erosion is occurring is really fast. The island is visibly decreasing in area,” he said. “We’ve already lost a volleyball court and a helipad that were built along the coast. Some people have even lost their homes.” He added that officials from the district and provincial administration had conducted a survey of the phenomenon in 2010 and agreed on the need to build artificial breakers off the coast, but there had been no follow-up action since then. READ MORE

Shrimp exports get a boost as barriers removed
BABGLADESH – Exports of shrimp and frozen fish to the European Union (EU) market rose to Tk47.03bn last year, almost double the 2009 exports figure, as the government took stricter steps to maintain quality and control contamination. “The success we achieved has come due to the decision of the EU in November 2011 to withdraw the embargo of 20% compulsory test on frozen food items including shrimp and other fish items entering its market,” fisheries and livestock Minister Abdul Latif Bishwas told the Dhaka Tribune. The minister blamed unscrupulous exporters for creating trouble by exporting shrimp and fisheries items containing heavy metals and chemical contamination. He also said the EU authorities even closed its observation book for the Bangladeshi frozen food items as the officials concerned were satisfied with the measures the government recently took following complaints. READ MORE

Study shows serious threat to coral reef colonies, mangrove forests
INDIA – A recent study taken up by a team of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Chennai, brought to light the serious threat of extinction the coral reef colonies and mangrove forests in the Palk Bay are facing. At present, only two per cent of the coral reefs survive in the area. Global warming, siltation, release of untreated raw sewage into the water bodies and overgrowth of algae were stated to be the three important reasons for the possible disappearance of coral colonies and its associated organisms from the Palk Bay area. Giving details to TheHindu, K. Venkataraman, Director of ZSI said, a decade ago, the Palk Bay area used to be rich in biodiversity. The uniqueness of the place is that no where in the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve one could see coral colonies, sea weed and grass, besides mangrove forests. READ MORE

EUROPE

Slow Fish Movement looks at Mangrove Loss to Shrimp Farm Issues in Italy
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ITALY – Lider Góngora Farías, Coordinator of the National Environmental Assembly of Ecuador, will participate at Slow Fish 2013 to raise the drastic consequences of mangrove deforestation in their country. Dedicated to the world of fisheries and marine ecosystems, Slow Fish will have an outdoor market, Taste Workshops and events and meetings with fishermen, chefs and experts in the historic port of Genoa (Italy), from 9 to May 12. Farías will present the project "National Defense Coordination of Mangroves", launched to promote the reconstruction of mangroves in Ecuador. On Saturday, May 11,  Farias will lead the Water Workshop, "Towards a collective management of common resources", which will shed light on the unsustainable management of coastal ecosystems in Ecuador and its grave consequences for the communities and wildlife in the region. The Water Workshops are free and they will address a broad range of issues relating to fishing and fish consumption. READ MORE

AMERICAS

Dredging – mangrove clearance taking place north of marina channel
Dredging-on-North-Ambergris-Caye-7.jpg?70ebda
BELIZE - The San Pedro Sun can confirm that dredging is taking place in an area north of the San Pedro Marina Channel (located south-west of Ambergris Caye). The person to whom the dredging permit has been issued to is Darrin Sherry for Royal Belizean Land Co. S.A. The San Pedro Sun can also confirm that the recommendation was granted by the San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) and signed by Mayor Daniel Guerrero on April 2, 2013. Documents obtained by The San Pedro Sun shows that the owner of Lot Number 5481 and 5482 in the San Pedro Registration Section intends to dredge a total of 76, 917 cubic yards of sand, silt and mud. However the person has divided the dredging into three phases; the first will see 16,851 cubic yards of material dredged, the second 11,666 cubic yards and the third 48,400 cubic yards. It is interesting to note that the law requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for any dredging exceeding 50,000 cubic yards of material. READ MORE

Dead dolphins and shrimp with no eyes found after BP clean-up
USA -  Hundreds of beached dolphin carcasses, shrimp with no eyes, contaminated fish, ancient corals caked in oil and some seriously unwell people are among the legacies that scientists are still uncovering in the wake of BP's Deepwater Horizon spill. This week it will be three years since the first of 4.9 million barrels of crude oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, in what is now considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. As the scale of the ecological disaster unfolds, BP is appearing daily in a New Orleans federal court to battle over the extent of compensation it owes to the region. Infant dolphins were found dead at six times average rates in January and February of 2013. More than 650 dolphins have been found beached in the oil spill area since the disaster began, which is more than four times the historical average. Sea turtles were also affected, with more than 1,700 found stranded between May 2010 and November 2012 – the last date for which information is available. On average, the number stranded annually in the region is 240. READ MORE

Update on the International Mangrove Project
HONDURAS - Smoked clams production by a women's cooperative in Nicaragua, the economic valuation of environmental services offered by one of the national parks in Honduras, or the creation of teaching materials on mangroves in Guatemala, are just some of the fruits planted and harvested by the International Mangrove Project, which has provided economic alternatives compatible with the sustainable use of natural resources in the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The footprint of the project is more extensive, and includes the construction of trails to increase attraction surrounded by small communities based mangrove conservation, holding training courses for foresters in blue carbon measurement (the carbon stored by coastal marine ecosystems such as mangroves), and the appointment of two new Ramsar sites in Honduras. These are some of the results achieved by the Mangrove Project, implemented by the United Nations Program for Environment (UNEP) with the ministries of Environment and Natural Resources of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, with the financial support of the Government of Spain. READ MORE

Mexico stops Vietnamese shrimp import
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MEXICO - Mexico has decided to stop importing shrimps in all forms from China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The government made the decision following the outbreak of the early mortality syndrome (EMS) in order to protect domestic shrimp farming, the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (Sagarpa) said on April 18. Sagarpa asked the national food hygiene and safety administration to keep a tight grip on the import of shrimps from other countries free from EMS. It insisted that the domestic shrimp farming industry is able to meet the local consumer demand without increasing imports from other countries. READ MORE

GULF OF FONSECA OR “DEAD GULF”?
HONDURAS - For decades, the arrest of traditional fisherfolk in the Gulf of Fonseca, shared by El  Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, has been used as an excuse by these  governments to deflect public scrutiny from their internal problems. Declarations and threats in “defense of their sovereignty” result in “Joint Declarations” where they offer to turn the Gulf into a paradise of brotherhood. And the fisherfolk? They are arrested once again, robbed, wounded, and even murdered. With an area slightly larger than three thousand square kilometers, the Gulf provides sustenance to thousands of fishing families and fish traders. Meanwhile, the surrounding watersheds are mismanaged and they drain pesticides and polluting nutrients onto the coasts. The shrimp aquaculture industry destroys billions of individual native species in various stages of development as they are trapped by hundreds of suction pumps. The polluted waters of shrimp farms and “larval laboratories” go straight towards the estuaries and the sea, affecting biodiversity in the mangroves and waterways that are themselves being destroyed, not only by the shrimp farms, but by sugarcane fields, melon farms, and others. READ MORE

Group seeks to harmonize various sustainable seafood certification standards
USA - The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Global Aquaculture Association (GAA) and GlobalGap agreed Tuesday to develop a plan to harmonize their various sustainable seafood certification standards to reduce duplication between the programs and make it easier for producers and buyers to adopt certification programs. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) comes short of unifying the three programs into one, but it does lay the basis for a more complete integration in the future. The agreement could lead to a tiering of standards. The MOU does not impact each certification group’s ability to develop its respective product independently. The agreement requires the groups to identify common elements of their standards and audit criteria and seek ways to conduct combined audits to their respective standards so certification bodies can conduct a single audit against all of the groups’ standards at once, to avoid duplication of effort and reduce the cost and inconvenience of multiple audits. READ MORE

OCEANA

Ocean of Life: How our Seas are Changing
BigIdeas
AUSTRALIA - Professor Callum Roberts is a marine biologist and one of those rare creatures – he can deliver in scary detail the health of world’s oceans, but he maintains an optimism and he has some very rational strategies that we can enact to future-proof the marine environment. He’s the professor of marine conservation at York University in the UK and for the last 20 years he’s been studying some of our most fragile and damaged marine environments. In this address, the David Thomas Conservation Oration, he covers noise pollution, global warming, coral reefs, predatory crabs moving into the Antarctic, dead zones and vampire squids from hell! Key to Roberts' strategies for protection of oceans is the establishment of a network of protected marine zones. He suggests closing 30% of the oceans to control over fishing. The world wouldn’t go hungry and fish stocks would be replenished. READ MORE and VIEW VIDEO


LAST WORD

In response to last Issue’s report on Myanmar’s shrimp export growth, (MAP News Issue 312, April 13, 2013 "Myanmar: the next big thing in seafood?") MAP’s Executive Directed wrote the following letter to the author.

Dear Willem van der Pijl,

I have seen your credentials that state that you are a "Seafood Market and Supply Chain Specialist and Business Developer” at the Dutch Research Institute LEI Wageningen UR.  I just read the recent report you authored, "Myanmar: the next big thing in seafood?"  Your investigative trip to Burma was aimed at analyzing the EU market potential of the seafood sector there, and was done in collaboration with The Dutch Center for the Promotion of Import from Developing Countries (CBI).

We at Mangrove Action Project are quite concerned about the potential loss of large areas of mangroves to the expansion of shrimp farming in Burma, as this has been the case in other major shrimp producing nations, as so clearly evidenced in neighboring Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. I wonder how much you are aware of this serious threat posed by shrimp farming and Burma's now more vulnerable coastal mangroves. Certainly, there are other threats to Burma's mangroves from urban expansion, tourism and other developments, but shrimp farming is considered a leading threat, so we are concerned to read your enthusiastic endorsement of this destructive industry as a way forward for the country.

I attach a couple of articles on the subject, but urge you to reconsider your endorsement of the shrimp aquaculture industry for Burma. The value of Burma's mangroves far outweigh any temporary monetary gains from clearing the mangroves, and far more harm than good will become manifest for the thousands of coastal residents who will lose more of their mangrove bio-shield against cyclones and tsunamis, will lose their wild fisheries and their last defense against rising seas due to climate change. Please look at shrimp farming in the more realistic light of the last three decades of problems caused by this unsustainable and ruinous industry.

For the Mangroves and Mangrove Communities,
Alfredo Quarto,
Mangrove Action Project



~ WE WELOCME YOUR LETTERS - If you’d like to have the last word on this or any other mangrove related topic, please send us your submission for upcoming newsletters. We’ll choose one per issue to have “the last word”. While we can’t promise to publish everyone’s letter, we do encourage anyone to post comments on our Blog at www. mangroveactionproject.blogspot.com

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Mangrove Action Project

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Help Protect Mexico's Mangroves

Dear Friends, 

       Please help RedManglar Mexico put pressure on the Mexican government to protect the mangroves now threatened by development. Please join us in signing this Avaaz petition:


 Here is a Google translation of the Spanish written petition:
       The H. Congress of Mexico must not give in to pressure from the private sector to adapt to their interests the legal framework for the mangrove ecosystem. The Wildlife Act prohibits so far the change in land use in mangrove areas. This arrangement has been established with a broad academic and social support, to the rapid loss of mangroves that has led to a status of threatened species. Entrepreneurs pretexts that this provision has slowed the development and investment. Allow changing land use in mangrove development does not generate the high social and environmental cost of its destruction, not replaceable by the magnitude and complexity of its functions .
    
       Facing climate change and the current Mexican government's efforts to fight hunger, preserve our mangroves should be a matter of national security and food sovereignty non-negotiable.
    
       ========
       Why is it important
    
       Between 1976 and 2000, Mexico lost between 20 and 25% of the mangrove area, according to official data (National Institute of Ecology, 2005), at a rate of 1%. Mangroves are highly productive ecosystems of which depends on the food chain of fish species and shellfish with high economic and social value, among other environmental features are also home to a rich biodiversity of species of conservation concern, are important reserves water and protecting the coastline against storms and hurricanes, are important reservoirs of gases that contribute to climate change and represent the way of life, territory and culture of hundreds of human communities on the Pacific coast and Atlantic. The main causes of mangrove loss in our country are the sprawl of urban centers and tourist industrial aquaculture and construction of infrastructure such as dams, roads and ports.

       Red Mangrove In Mexico we have as purpose the defense and participatory management of mangrove ecosystems, coastal marine and island ensuring its vitality and populations living in relationship with them, facing threats and impacts of human activities or works and likely to degrade the natural environment, altering the natural ecological balance and / or violate the human rights of local communities.
       To know more
    
      Note in signing the petition, the information needed is translated as follows:
    
       Nombre: Your Name
       Pais: Your Country
       Codigo Postal: Your Postal Code
       FIRMAR Button is what you press when ready to sign on!

GULF OF FONSECA OR “DEAD GULF”?


For decades, the arrest of traditional fisherfolk in the Gulf of Fonseca, shared by El  Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, has been used as an excuse by these  governments to deflect public scrutiny from their internal problems. Declarations  and threats in “defense of their sovereignty” result in “Joint Declarations” where they offer to turn the Gulf into a paradise of brotherhood.  

And the fisherfolk? 

They are arrested once again, robbed, wounded, and even murdered.

With an area slightly larger than three thousand square kilometers, the Gulf provides sustenance to thousands of fishing families and fish traders. Meanwhile, the surrounding watersheds are mismanaged and they drain pesticides and polluting nutrients onto the coasts. The shrimp aquaculture industry destroys billions of individual native species in various stages of development as they are trapped by hundreds of suction pumps. The polluted waters of shrimp farms and “larval laboratories” go straight towards the estuaries and the sea, affecting biodiversity in the mangroves and waterways that are themselves being destroyed, not only by the shrimp farms, but by sugarcane fields, melon farms, and others. 

The fisherfolk are ever growing in numbers and their fishing gear is becoming more  lethal. The nets have no limits and are doubled-up to keep small species from  escaping. The gunpowder explodes in the estuaries that are also crossed from  shore to shore by “fishing bags.” Marine species cross “without regard” the national  borders. Fisherfolk are right behind them and right behind them in turn are the  authorities who arrest them without giving them receipts for the confiscated catch,  gear, and fine, while they violate their human rights. 

Most of the arrests are made within the gulf itself, and this is why national borders  need to be clearly marked. But what would be more advisable is the joint execution  of an Integrated Management Plan for Coastal Resources. This way arrests could  be avoided, fisheries could recover, and the death throes of the Gulf could be  stopped, a gulf that is becoming a “Dead Gulf.” 

The disputed use of the gulf¹s mouth to the Pacific Ocean by Honduras must be dealt with without delay in the Security Council of the United Nations, and if necessary with Nicaragua in the Haya international Court. The solution is in diplomacy, not in the armed forces. It¹s outrageous to see how some governments adjust their laws so that they can hand over their natural resources, roads, harbors and other infrastructure to transnational companies and small local groups of wealthy individual people, while they attack the general population whose common problem is poverty, and who, in the end, are only those that need careful sustainable development, not an arms build-up.
 

Jorge Varela Márquez
International Goldman Prize, 1999

An update on the International Mangrove Project

Smoked clams production by a women's cooperative in Nicaragua, the economic valuation of environmental services offered by one of the national parks in Honduras, or the creation of teaching materials on mangroves in Guatemala, are just some of the fruits planted and harvested by the International Mangrove Project, which has provided economic alternatives compatible with the sustainable use of natural resources in the Caribbean coast of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The footprint of the project is more extensive, and includes the construction of trails to increase attraction surrounded by small communities based mangrove conservation, holding training courses for foresters in blue carbon measurement (the carbon stored by coastal marine ecosystems such as mangroves), and the appointment of two new Ramsar sites in Honduras.

These are some of the results achieved by the Mangrove Project, implemented by the United Nations Program for Environment (UNEP) with the ministries of Environment and Natural Resources of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, with the financial support of the Government of Spain .

On 12 and 13 April 2013, in La Ceiba, Honduras, met the project team and other special guests, including representatives of the governments of neighboring countries and the world of cooperation. The aim was to spread the achievements, experiences and lessons learned in the course of project implementation, as well as discussing the challenges that were encountered. Although the workshop marks the official closure of the project, participants will also discuss possible next steps and future opportunities to continue the Mangrove Project.

The workshop will end with a field trip, where you will appreciate the achievements of the EU project "Generating revenue through mangrove conservation, local production, fishing and tourism community in Temple Bar", in the protected area Cuero y Salado . There, a group of women has begun to produce crafts that highlight the wealth of natural resources and coastal lagoon system. Furthermore, it has trained tour guides and strengthened the capacity of the area to accommodate environmental camps and receive people who practice sport fishing. On the other hand, has created a breeding ground for several forest species, including mangroves, which are being used to restore some vulnerable areas of the protected area.

As part of the meeting, the Government of Honduras received special recognition by the appointment of two new Ramsar sites, the Wetland System Utila Island and Wetland System Cuyamel-Omoa, which this week have been formally included in List of Wetlands of International Importance of the Ramsar Convention, with support from the Mangrove Project. The designation of these sites has been the result of a successful collaboration between the focal point of the Convention for Honduras, the Biodiversity Directorate of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (SERNA-DiBio), and organizations that manage these sites, including Conservation Corps Omoa, the municipality of Utila and the Bay Islands Conservation Association (BICA Utila).


Claudia Sanchez
Communication
International Mangrove Network

Monday, April 22, 2013

Earthday With MAP

VerticalResponse
 

Earthday 

Partnering with mangrove forest communities, grassroots NGOs, researchers and local governments to conserve and restore mangrove forests and related coastal ecosystems, while promoting community-based, sustainable management of coastal resources.

Dear Friends,

Today on Earthday we renew our commitment to the struggle to preserve our beautiful planet and its intertwined ecosystems.
 
The Mangrove Action Project is in the forefront of this struggle, working tirelessly for a sustainable future, not only for the mangroves, but also for the communities and wildlife that depend on them.
 
Mangroves are the unsung heroes of the planet. They combat climate change by sequestering up to five times more atmospheric carbon per acre than rainforest. Mangroves prevent erosion, protect coastal communities from hurricanes and tsunamis, and serve as nurseries for a myriad of ocean life. Mangroves are finally gaining the recognition they deserve.

 image381
In 2012 we achieved many things with the support from our members. Here are some of the highlights;
 

Mangrove Restoration and Community Empowerment

In Thailand wimage3061e launched an important new project which will restore mangroves to wastelands left behind by shrimp farming, using our revolutionary Community-Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration approach, which empowers coastal people to restore their mangroves and derive sustainable mangrove-based livelihoods.


 

Teaching the Next Generation

image3041MAP’s “Marvelous Mangroves” curriculum teaches mangrove ecology and conservation to school children in 9 countries around the world. In 2012 we introduced it to Australia and Belize, where it will reach tens of thousands of students.
 

Fostering Responsible Consumer Choices

Our Question Your Shrimp Campaign alerts consumers and merchants to the relentless mangrove destruction caused by tropical shrimp farming, and helps people make more environmentally responsible choices in the shrimp they eat or serve.
 
MAP would like to invite those of you who haven’t donated before to please consider becoming an annual member on this special day of the year. Just click here to become a member and you will also receive our bi-weekly newsletter!
 
We would like to thank those of you who have donated to MAP previously. It is support from people like you that allows us to continue these efforts that are providing sustainable low-cost solutions to saving the mangroves and our planet. We are grateful for your support – please help us ensure that these beautiful forests and their amazing wildlife are still there for generations to come.
 
We thank you in advance for your generosity.

For the Mangroves
image363 2
Alfredo Quarto,
Executive Director
Mangrove Action Project
 



 

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Mangrove Action Project

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