MAP News Issue 347 - Sept 13, 2014

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 347th Edition                                Sept. 13, 2014
Mangrove Action Project Action Alerts: Calling All Storymakers! Learn. Create. Win! Nonprofits overcome obstacles every single day. The most effective way to inspire donations, volunteering, and support is to share those stories of triumph. Our Storymakers challenge hopes to empower you with the tools and training to tell your stories, get noticed, and make an impact. Storymakers starts with free webinars and events to help you create, polish, and share your inspiring stories. It culminates in a challenge: Aug. 26 – Sept. 26 submit your digital story. A two-minute video, a short-form Vine or Instagram video, or a five-picture Flickr slideshow could land you up to $5,000. READ MORE Your Century! Event Information On Friday 21st November, 2014, 200 young people will go on a journey across continents, exploring environmental problems and their solutions. VIEW DETAILS CBEMR work on Klang Island, Krabi is Finally Underway – MORE INFO Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) has prepared a statement to world leaders on the serious risks posed by climate change. By clicking here you can add your name. The survival of the Sundarbans is now at peril as the government is adamant to set up a coal-based power plant (1320 mw) adjacent to the forest. VIEW VIDEO CALLING FOR MANGROVE ART SUBMISSIONS! A fun and exciting Art Contest for children 6 to 16 years old. 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 my community and me?”. Selected winners will be published in a 2015 calendar to be distributed internationally to raise awareness of mangrove forest ecology.  READ MORE SHARE MAP'S VISION  CLICK HERE to watch short introductory video. Together we can work "at the roots of the sea".  Join us in saving our beautiful country! We hope you have been following the ongoing battle in Bimini, Bahamas. We are in need of your help more than ever Click here   Exclusive Interview with Alfredo Quarto, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mangrove Action Project - See more    Save the Date! XIV World Forestry Congress, Durban, South Africa, 7–11 September 2015 READ MORE MAP VOLUNTEERS NEEDED IN THAILAND VIEW REQUIREMENTS Pre-Order your 2015 Calendar     1-20 calendars, $12 each plus shipping 21-49 calendars, $10 ea plus shipping 50-100 calendars, $8 each plus shipping. Over 100 $7 each plus shipping   Save the Sundarbans from Rampal power plant – View Sample Letter to Minister Sign the Petition   New information sheds clear light on shrimp-mangrove connection VIEW MORE Question Your Shrimp- Don't Buy or Sell Imported Tropical Shrimp! Sign the Petition Donate to MAP via Paypal Giving could never be easier It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. —Mahatma Gandhi Green Planet Fundraising Assists MAP – LEARN MORE MANGROVE ISSUES  View New Videos posted by MAP Asia intern, Delphine. CLICK HERE   The importance of restoring mangroves in an effective, long-term manner. Mangrove video - VIEW 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 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 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 Not yet a MAP News subscriber? 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. 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.	FEATURED STORY ‘Mangrove Man’ inspired by world travel CAYMAN ISLANDS - He’s traveled half a million miles over the years – enough to go around the world 12 times, or to the moon and halfway back – so it’s little wonder that writer, photographer, conservationist and educator Martin Keeley continues to find inspiration for his work. Keeley’s latest trips are with the Marvelous Mangrove education curriculum, a program that teaches schoolchildren about the importance of mangroves and the eco-systems which they support worldwide, as well as training teachers to teach both students and other teachers.  The program was developed by Cayman Brac-based Keeley in 1999 and initially was incorporated into Cayman’s primary school curriculum. It is part of the Mangrove Action Project, a conservation group comprised of more than 300 scientists and academics spanning more than 60 nations.  The Marvelous Mangrove program is now in 11 countries, with the expansion this year to South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and Queensland, Australia. “For me, the mangrove trips continue to stimulate the creative process,” said the writer.  READ MORE AFRICA Fish Dealers Challenged to Protect Mangrove for Sustainability of Natural Resource GAMBIA - Fatou Camara of the Department of Fisheries and Water Resources has challenged fish dealers to protect the mangrove for the sustainability of the natural resources. Camara made this call during a daylong sensitization on the importance of mangrove to fish dealers at the fishing community-landing site, in old Jeshwang. Organized by the Department of Fisheries and Water Resources, in collaboration with the National Sole Fishery Co-Management Committee (NASCOM), under the Technical Cooperation Program (TCP) support for Climate Change Adaptation in Marine Artisanal Fisheries Communities in West Africa project, it was co-funded by the West African Rural Foundation (WARF) and FAO for a period of two years. The concept of the project is to support and promote climate change adaptation among value-chain actors in the selected artisanal fisheries communities in Sierra Leone, Senegal and The Gambia. READ MORE Whistle-blowing website wildleaks targets powerful poaching networks KENYA - Wildleaks, a new website in the vein of WikiLeaks has set its sights on taking down powerful poaching networks and illegal logging operations. The site says it is the first anonymous and secure whistle-blowing site dedicated to wildlife and forest crime and it couldn’t come any sooner. Poaching has skyrocketed in recent years as the black market for rhino horn, elephant ivory and tiger parts has grown rapidly. A large part of these transactions are controlled by poweful networks of wealthy traffickers that have previously been untouchable. The anonymous and secure nature of Wildleaks lets people give tips on poaching activity while staying safe themselves. After it launched in February, WildLeaks received its first tip within 24 hours. READ MORE ASIA Mangrove plantation leader arrested MYANMAR – A leading environmental activist has been arrested for public order offences after planting mangroves in an area devastated by Cyclone Nargis. U Tun Tun Oo, a member of Human Rights Watch and Defend Network, was charged under section 61 of the forestry law by a Dedaye township forestry officer and has been detained in Pyapon prison. The arrest, in Ayeyarwady Region, took place on August 29. He is scheduled to appear in court on September 12. U Aung Kyaw San, who joined the defendant and others in the mangrove-planting campaign, told The Myanmar Times that police had accused U Tun Tun Oo of destroying state-owned crops on a sandbank in Kyone Ka Nat village used by grazing cattle, but most of the plants were already dead. “This is ridiculous. Ko Tun Tun Oo didn’t do anything to the plants,” he said. The mangrove planters’ group met Ayeyarwady Region Chief Minister U Thein Aung and legal and forestry experts on April 9 to seek permission to plant mangroves on the grazing land. The group said it would help to protect the village from future natural disasters. “The minister gave us verbal permission,” said Ko Aung Kyaw San. Led by U Tun Tun Oo, the group started planting on May 12, and wrote to the state and regional governments to inform them when planting was complete. However, on June 3 a group opposed to the planting destroyed the mangroves. READ MORE Editor’s Note: the following story demonstrates the importance of continuing education about the benefits that mangroves provide to mankind, and highlights the ease at which environmental issues become political. Villagers in Lantau destroy mangrove in bid to halt 'protected status' plan CHINA – Dozens of villagers in northern Lantau chopped down a mangrove near an ecologically sensitive bay yesterday to protest against a government move to zone areas on the fringes of their villages as protected land. Excavators were brought in to raze trees, while machete- and hoe-wielding villagers chopped down shrubs on the coast of Tai Ho Wan, which is known for its oyster-rich mudflats and horseshoe crabs. Together with the three rivers that feed it, Tai Ho Wan is now designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), but not yet zoned as such. Statutory planning rules would ensure government departments give due consideration to conservation if the proposal was approved later this year. But indigenous villagers of the San Heung community, which includes Pak Mong, Ngau Kwu Long and Tai Ho villages, fear their rights to farm and build small houses will be restricted if the restrictive development plans are agreed to. READ MORE Mangroves undergo change in Sunderbans BANGLADESH – A recent study of mangrove forests in Sunderbans has revealed a change in their vegetation pattern, with the high salt-tolerant Avicennia species being edged out by Ceriops decandra, a relatively less-salt tolerant variety of mangrove, suggesting an evolution of the mangroves. The study titled ‘Benchmark Studies on the Status of Mangrove Forest’ has been conducted by the Nature Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS), sponsored by the Sunderban Biosphere Reserve under the ‘Mangrove For Future’ theme of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “It was earlier believed that salinity is the main determining factor for the mangroves in the Sunderbans. But the study points to pH ( which determines the acidity and alkalinity of water) also being an important factor,” Himadri Sekhar Debnath, principal scientist involved with the project and former Joint Director of Botanical Survey of India ( BSI) told The Hindu. A change in the mangrove species may lead to change in biodiversity, ecology species variation and finally to the variation in gene pool, Ajanta Dey, project director (NEWS) said. READ MORE Coastal communities to be given awareness about disaster risks PAKISTAN - The Mangroves for the Future (MFF) programme has decided to focus on developing shared understanding among coastal communities against disaster risks and climate change impacts. In MFF’s national coordinating committee meeting held here on Wednesday, to mark the beginning of the third phase with emphasis on regional initiatives and private sector engagement, the experts agreed that equal attention would be paid towards building resilience through capacity building among ecosystem dependent coastal communities. The NCB members decided that the new phase, from 2014 to 2018, will continue to make optimum utilization of the significant achievements realized by the MFF over the past seven years. The programme will also continue to build on its efforts to influence coastal management policy with an increased emphasis on expanding knowledge management and capacity development activities. READ MORE AMERICAS MAP’s Program recognized for its global impact USA - There is no doubt that the world is losing species at an alarming rate.  That’s why the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund is focused on supporting nonprofit organizations that provide expertise and solutions to make positive conservation impacts worldwide. Today we are recognizing the Mangrove Action Project as one of these organizations, and we are proud to support your efforts to protect the planet for future generations and inspire our conservation leaders of tomorrow. Congratulations on being selected as one of 141 projects chosen this year! You can learn more about Disney’s commitment to conservation by visiting our website. READ MORE MAP’s Program recognized for its global impact USA - There is no doubt that the world is losing species at an alarming rate.  That’s why the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund is focused on supporting nonprofit organizations that provide expertise and solutions to make positive conservation impacts worldwide. Today we are recognizing the Mangrove Action Project as one of these organizations, and we are proud to support your efforts to protect the planet for future generations and inspire our conservation leaders of tomorrow. Congratulations on being selected as one of 141 projects chosen this year! You can learn more about Disney’s commitment to conservation by visiting our website. READ MORE   Climate Change Will Disrupt Half of North America's Bird Species USA – The Baltimore oriole will probably no longer live in Maryland, the common loon might leave Minnesota, and the trumpeter swan could be entirely gone. Those are some of the grim prospects outlined in a report released on Monday by the National Audubon Society, which found that climate change is likely to so alter the bird population of North America that about half of the approximately 650 species will be driven to smaller spaces or forced to find new places to live, feed and breed over the next 65 years. If they do not — and for several dozen it will be very difficult — they could become extinct. READ MORE   LAST WORD(S) Dear Alfredo, Thank you very much on your Kind e.mail. it is very nice to get your kind information. Still we are friendly with our hearts. We are dedicated to MANGROVES. Very recently, due to our influence, All of Sri Lanka mangroves have declared as conservation Forest in Sri Lanka by Minister of Environment of Sri Lanka. This was one of our great victory on conservation of MANGROVES. Please visit at any time. We are not deviated from MAP. MAP is living in our hearts. Kind regards! Anu SMALL FISHERS FEDERATION of SRI LANKA (SFFL) http://www.smallfishers.com/ 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.
Mangrove Action Project