The MAP News |
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FEATURE STORY
Mangrove Meet-up: Sharing ideas, perspectives and experiences
March 9th, 2017 was another sweltering day in southern Thailand. The air was almost wet with humidity, the sun beat down from overhead, and the relentless heat hung around like a blanket. However, the midday temperature did not stop the seven villagers from Ban Thung Yor, Klong Thom, Krabi Province who were exploring the mangrove restoration site at Ban Nai Nang. This was the second stop on a two-day tour of three villages affiliated with Mangrove Action Project (MAP) and funded through Synchronicity Earth of the UK. The tour was set up to highlight the experiences of MAPs participants and share ideas of how to successfully restore their own mangrove area. Villagers here have worked for years to reestablish their mangrove area, and have divided it into two sections- one left to restore naturally, and another with the addition of the planning of Nypa plants that the villagers use for thatch roofs, cigarette rollers, food, and daily life. Villagers of Ban Thung Yor were invited to learn to make batik fabric prints and were taken on a tour of the mangrove area, which has grown a considerable amount since the last time it was visited. “Our biggest problem was hydrology of the site,” spoke Mr. Ekakarat Cheangyang, “once we got the hydrology fixed, the area grew back quite quickly, and is still growing.” READ MORE VIEW THE VIDEO AFRICA Unesco upbeat in scaling up floating mangrove project The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Doha Office will remain upbeat in its efforts to promote and scale up the floating mangrove project in Qatar. “We are trying to find more partners from the private sector for the project. We know the pilot went very well, but we need to scale it up,” Dr Anna Paolini, director, Unesco Representative in the Arab States of the Gulf and Yemen, said at a press briefing yesterday. Described as “a highly important environmental initiative” that will significantly sequestrate carbon emissions not only in Qatar but globally, she stressed that the idea was picked up by other Unesco offices in different parts of the world. She believes it is easier for their colleagues to present this idea to their partners due to larger mangrove populations in countries where they operate. READ MORE ASIA Sri Lanka project wins international funding competition SRI LANKA - The Sri Lanka Mangrove Conservation Project has been named a winner of this year’s Global Resilience Challenge, enabling a major expansion of Seacology’s landmark nationwide project! The competition, hosted by the international Global Resilience Partnership, selected a number of organizations working to bolster communities against climate change and natural disasters in Africa and Asia. The nearly $1 million grant will let Seacology expand the initiative’s reach and deepen its impact in the country’s northern and eastern regions. As the scientific consensus builds about the importance of mangroves in sequestering carbon, protecting coastal communities from storms, and supporting fisheries, Sri Lanka will be in an even better position to demonstrate these important benefits. “This project makes Sri Lanka the first nation in the world to protect all of its mangrove forests. This is very important as mangroves sequester more carbon than other forests and thus play a vital role in the battle against global warming,” said Duane Silverstein, Seacology’s executive director. READ MORE Kochi may get a mangrove heritage site INDIA - With the destruction of mangrove forests continuing unabated both in private and public lands, the district office of the state biodiversity board has come forward to protect one such area by declaring it a heritage site. The district biodiversity officials have proposed 20 acres of mangrove forests in Puthuvype campus of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) as 'district mangrove heritage site'. A proposal regarding this has been submitted to the state biodiversity board. Currently, the mangrove forest patch in Kufos houses 14 species including Xylocarpus brought from Andaman Islands. Rhizophora and Mucronata, locally seen in Puthuvype, have also been conserved in the area. The Mangrove Research Centre is conserving the patch that is being used for study purposes. "We are planning to declare mangrove heritage sites in four or five districts in the state in two months. Biodiversity management committees in respective local bodies should pass a resolution giving permission to declare mangrove forest areas as heritage site. READ MORE Ten Mumbai city spots to be rid of debris to save mangroves INDIA - In a bid to save existing mangroves in the city, the mangrove cell has identified ten places that need to be cleaned of debris so that it does not kill mangroves in the area. Mangroves in Bandra have been rid of debris however the cell, along with residents’ associations, local schools and colleges is to begin similar activities in areas such as Versova and Charkop. The objective is not only beautification of mangroves but also removing plastic from these areas. With debris collecting in and around mangroves, the plants are scarcely able to breathe which often times kills them. The department started by cleaning the mangrove patch at Carter Road, Bandra, for which it roped in students from local schools and colleges and residents’ associations in the vicinity. Nearly 150 school students along with others collected 50 bags of trash stuck to the roots of the mangroves. A hundred saplings were also planted at the site. READ MORE A man-made mangrove forest thrives in Iloilo PHILIPPINES - A man-made mangrove forest in Leganes, Iloilo province, is now becoming a magnet for birds, a variety of spawning fish species, mud crabs and other marine wildlife. The 15-hectare Katunggan Park in Barangays Gua-an and Nabitasan, which used to be fishponds, is now thickly covered with mangroves. From being an abandoned, underutilized and unproductive fishpond, proponents of the project reverted the area into a mangrove forest for climate-change mitigation and adaptation—and later a tourist and learning destination. Located 11 kilometers north of the capital Iloilo City, Leganes is a fourth-class municipality that used to be one of the province’s top producers of milkfish. READ MORE Good intentions alone won’t grow new mangroves http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/srilanka_tsunami.jpg SRI LANKA - Perhaps no single ecosystem is more emblematic of nature’s benefits to humans than mangrove forests. Lining tropical and subtropical coastlines worldwide, they’re nurseries for countless species and protect inland areas from hurricanes and storms. They’re an environmental feature beyond our wildest technical capacities. In just the last half-century, though, more than half of all mangrove forests were lost to development. In response, people have tried to plant new forests—but as detailed in a new Restoration Ecology paper on the failure of restoration efforts in Sri Lanka, planting mangroves involves much more than putting seedlings in the ground. “Restoration projects in Sri Lanka have generally not been successful in restoring mangroves despite the good intentions which fueled them,” write the researchers, who were led by botanist Sunanda Kodikara of Sri Lanka’s University of Ruhana and Nico Koedam, an ecologist at Vrije University Brussel. Kodikara and Koedam’s team surveyed 23 mangrove restoration sites, most of them planted by government agencies and NGOs following a catastrophic 2004 tsunami drew global attention to the importance of mangroves. The 23 sites altogether represented about 1,000 hectares of plantings; on nine of those sites, not a single plant had survived. On just 200 hectares, or 20 percent of targeted area, had new forest grown, and sometimes these were stunted and unhealthy. The reasons for this were many. READ MORE AMERICAS Collaboration rescues a mangrove ecosystem MEXICO - The collaboration of academic and private interests has enabled the recovery of a mangrove ecosystem in Tamaulipas that just 15 years ago was thought to be completely lost. he Arroyo Garrapatas mangrove estuary, a 40-hectare coastal wetland located in the industrial port of Altamira, was severely damaged in the 1970s when state oil company Pemex built a pipeline in the area and effectively interrupted the natural flow of the tides. A precise mix of fresh and salt water is needed for a mangrove ecosystem to flourish. After the pipeline was installed, the Arroyo Garrapatas mangroves started to die off and disappear. In 2003, researchers from the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas and the Altamira port authority had been studying options to recover what was left of the mangroves when the answer literally fell into their laps. READ MORE Grant funds study of Mangrove loss and conservation in South Asia USA - A new NASA grant for nearly $820,000 will fund a three-year, Duke University-led study to monitor mangrove loss in South Asia and identify effective mitigation and protection strategies to help reverse the decline. South Asia’s mangrove forests provide numerous essential ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation, that benefit populations worldwide. They also help protect densely populated coastal regions in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Pakistan from storm surge and flooding. “These forests increasingly are under threat from both natural and human-derived forces, including pollution, development and sea-level rise,” says Jeffrey R. Vincent, interim dean and Clarence F. Korstian Professor of Forest Economics and Management at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, who is principal investigator of the new $819,540 grant. “Our new project, which integrates research on remote sensing, conservation biology and environmental economics, will help us better understand the rates, patterns and causes of changes occurring to mangrove cover since 1985, and the resulting impacts these changes have had on the vital ecosystem services mangroves provide,” Vincent says. READ MORE Why the momentum for mangroves? USA - Last week, the Global Resilience Partnership announced the winners of its Water Window Challenge, in which 12 projects will share $10 million to tackle flooding in vulnerable areas. One of those organizations was Seacology, a nonprofit environmental conservation organization dedicated to preserving the habitats and cultures of islands, which will use the nearly $1 million grant to expand its work to conserve mangroves in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. A partnership between Seacology, the Sri Lankan NGO Sudeesa, and the Sri Lankan government led this island nation to became the first country in the world to comprehensively protect all of its mangrove forests. “Mangroves are really the unsung heroes of conservation,” Duane Silverstein, the executive director of Seacology, told Devex from his office in Berkeley, California. He said that Sri Lanka could serve as a model for other countries, at a moment when scientific consensus is building about the importance of mangroves — and the international community is acting on that information. READ MORE Artificial Mangroves Could Bring Back Vanishing Habitats In Florida USA - A couple researchers created fake mangroves in Manasota Key to bring back marine life that was lost from development. Along Florida’s coasts are seawalls-- built to prevent the shoreline from eroding. But that defense sometimes means removing natural habitats. Experts are now trying to turn these solid barriers into thriving ecosystems. In Englewood, the blue-green waters of Lemon Bay lightly lap against the cement wall that shields local buildings and people from potential floods. What used to be here? Red mangroves— home to fish, crabs, and also oysters, which filter the water. "They're so attractive as an architectural kind of exhibit-- the tree itself, the way it branches, the way the roots and branches overlap and you get a kind of continuous structural network," says architect Keith Van de Riet. READ MORE |
ACTION ALERTSWORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY MAY 10, 2017
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Friday, March 31, 2017
MAP News Issue 413, April 1, 2017
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Mangrove Meet-up: Sharing ideas, perspectives and experiences
By
MAP Volunteer Intern, Emma McDowell
March 9th was
another sweltering day in southern Thailand.
The air was almost wet with humidity, the sun beat down from overhead,
and the relentless heat hung around like a blanket. However, the midday temperature did not stop
the seven villagers from Ban Thung Yor, Klong Thom, Krabi Province who were
exploring the mangrove restoration site at Ban Nai Nang. This was the second stop on a two-day tour of
three villages affiliated with Mangrove Action Project (MAP) and funded through
Synchronicity Earth of the UK. The tour
was set up to highlight the experiences of MAPs participants and share ideas of
how to successfully restore their own mangrove area.
Our group posing
for a picture in front of the bee and
rubber garden at Ban Nai Nang. March 8th, 2017. |
Earlier that day
they had explored the site at Ban Lang Da- a reclaimed shrimp pond area where
the abundant green mangroves showed the success of the Community Based
Ecological Mangrove Restoration project (CBEMR) started in 2008. The site was restored back to mangrove
forest, after it had been converted into a shrimp pond and then abandoned for
more than 10 years. Village leader Mr.
Bandon Mad-osot showed the sites’ foliage and reestablished fish, crab and bird
populations to the villagers from Ban Thung Yor. He
spoke of his community’s experience working with MAP and ended his tour by
saying, “I don’t have very much more to say.
Just do it! You will see so many
benefits for your community.” The
villagers asked many questions and were excited to see how the area has reestablished
the mangroves over time. “It is
beautiful,” spoke the village chief of Thung Yor, “so much green everywhere.”
The second stop of
the day brought the villagers to the heat of mid-day and to the eco village of
Ban Nai Nang. Villagers got to meet Mr. Sutee
Pankwan the chairperson of the villages apiculture group, and discussed
how the village has many different groups (crab bank, ecotourism, and
apiculture product production) and that all work together and contribute their
profits to the conservation group that aids the preservation of the mangroves. Sutee Pankwan highlighted the need to learn
and work together and share knowledge to be successful, and told the group
that, “working together is the key to our success. We all have different groups in the village,
but we always make sure that some of the money we make, goes into the
conservation fund. Without nature, our
projects would be pointless.” He also
shared that the village was trying to register as a community forest, and that
they have plans to work on rehabilitating the mangrove area in the coming
month. After trying some of the
delicious honey and touring the mangrove site, the villagers embarked on the
final step of their trip.
Participants show off their beautiful handmade Batik prints at Ban Talae Nok, March 9th , 2017 |
A group “selfie” in the Mangrove Restoration Site at Ban Talae Nok. March 9th, 2017. |
Upon saying
goodbye, and arriving back in Ban Thung Yor, the participants were left with a
lot of information and knowledge. Thung
Yor village chief, Mr. Raksa Komodkhan said, “Thank you so much for taking us on this
trip. We have a lot to think about now
and will raise these ideas with our community.”
Hopefully after some reflection, they will decide to join the MAP network
and make their site the latest addition to the restoration areas directed by
MAP.
For more images from the study tour, please look on the Mangrove Action Project Facebook
Thursday, March 16, 2017
MAP News Issue 412, March 18, 2017
The MAP News |
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FEATURE STORY
Ecological Mangrove Rehabilitation in Indonesia demonstrates effectiveness
In 1991, 20 hectares of pristine and biodiverse mangroves were cleared in Tiwoho Village, part of Bunaken National Marine Park, as part of a nation-wide program of aquaculture development known as the Blue Revolution, which has resulted in the loss of over 1,000,000 hectares of mangroves nation-wide. The aquaculture venture operated only for a period of 6 months, and the land lay fallow for the next decade. Six attempts to plant mangroves took place over the intervening years, but none of these attempts succeeded, as a result of failure to restore a functional hydrology to the system, which is the limiting factor for successful mangrove rehabilitation. In 2004, the principles of Ecological Mangrove Rehabilitation were applied to the site in a collaboration between villagers, local universities and NGOs, and international ecologists. The following pages bring to life this pivotal rehabilitation effort, the first of its kind in Indonesia where communities were enjoined to repair the hydrology of an abandoned shrimp pond complex to promote natural regeneration of mangroves. This pilot project has led to the successful rehabilitation of over 2000 hectares of mangroves in other parts of Indonesia, and serves as an example of collaboration and adaptive management that is changing the way Indonesian practitioners address mangrove restoration. VIEW STORY ONLINE -or- DOWNLOAD PDF HERE AFRICA Kenyan community project restores mangroves while selling carbon credits KENYA - Two villages living adjacent to the Indian Ocean in the southern coast of Kenya are improving their livelihoods after earning money from selling carbon credit from mangrove trees to international environmental organizations. Diana Wanyonyi reports from Mombasa. In the swampy, soft mud of the mangrove forest on Kenya’s south coast, farmer Idi BomaniI is with a local community group surveying and planting some of the seedlings that have fallen from the trees in the estuary. Idi is a member of the Mikoko Pamoja community project, a conservation and restoration program in which locals farm mangrove trees on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Mikoko Pamoja is the Swahili word for “mangrove.” The group was founded in 2009 after the residents of two nearby villages – Gazi and Makongeni – realized that the number of mangroves, which they depend on daily, were rapidly disappearing due to illegal harvesting for firewood, burning charcoal and building materials. READ MORE Mangroves give services worth millions of dirhams UAE - Millions of dollars’ worth environmental services provided by mangroves to the UAE people once again highlights the fact that their value goes beyond aesthetic beauty, a study presented on Tuesday said. A hectare mangrove offers ecosystem services valued at $193,845 (Dh71,1973) a year without including carbon sequestration services, according to the study. Mangroves offer a natural carbon sequestration process, by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, mitigating the global warming. Coastal ecosystems such as mangroves that store and sequestrate carbon are called blue carbon ecosystems. Corals, seagrass beds, salt marshes, costal sand dunes and oyster beds are the other components of this ecosystem. The combined value of Abu Dhabi’s blue carbon ecosystems’ services was estimated to exceed Dh 2 billion a year. These services include carbon sequestration and storage, coastline protection, habitat provision and water purification. READ MORE ASIA Reclamation ruining mangroves and livelihood MALAYSIA - Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has urged the Kedah Department of Environment to stop a reclamation project taking place in Kampung Tepi Laut near Kuala Kedah here. SAM president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the project had contravened environmental regulations and destroyed the area’s mangroves, adding that this would threaten the coastal fishermen’s source of income. “We are alarmed that the state government and local authority allowed the project to take place although the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project has yet to be approved. “The EIA report is now being exhibited for public review from now until March 25,” he said in a statement recently. Mohamed Idris said a survey conducted found that a distance of about 1km out to sea had been reclaimed and nearly 10ha of mangroves along the coast had been affected. “This will threaten the marine life and affect the income of some 500 local fishermen’s families who make a living in the area. READ MORE Mangroves in Manori-Gorai being destroyed Thousands of mangrove trees along the Manori-Gorai belt have been destroyed through debris dumping, according to environment groups. In a letter to the mangrove cell, suburban collector and local ward officer, NGO Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS-Mumbai) identified two locations with ongoing construction work within mangrove forests, a violation of environment laws and Bombay High Court (HC) rules. “Close to 2,000 mangrove trees have been hacked through land filling and dumping debris along Gorai - Borivali Road, near Essel World and Global Pagoda, which not only threatens marine life but disrupts the ecosystem, flora and fauna, and also harms the buffer zone against floods,” said Sunish Subramanian Kunju, secretary, PAWS-Mumbai. Through several images and satellite maps, the NGO identified that a gate had been setup to stop people from entering the site. A kilometre further down from the gate, excavator machines were spotted dumping debris and the area was cordoned off using tin sheets and green cloth. “Unidentified people have also set up watchtowers at the site to check the movement of citizens so that they cannot identify the violations,” said Kunju, adding, “It is clear a road is being constructed through the mangrove forests and a resort might be in the offing.” READ MORE Deforestation in Sri Lanka slowed by 0.4% over ten years SRI LANKA - According to the report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, deforestation in Sri Lanka has decreased by 0.4 per cent during the past decade. Conservator General of Forests Anura Sathurusinghe said that the FAO report, issued every five years, has rated Sri Lanka as a country with less deforestation during the period of years 2000 – 2010. Meanwhile, he said they had decided to launch an web portal to detect the places where deforestation was prevalent around the country. “The website will be launched in the coming month. Any person who has information of deforestation taking place in their areas can inform us so that we can investigate it,” he said, adding this would help immeasurably to control deforestation in the country. - READ MORE AMERICAS Fisherwomen from Venezuela recognized for their achievement VENEZUELA - For the first time in Venezuela, seven fisher-women from Paraguaná have been recognized by the Environmental Protection Association (AEPA Falcon), a non governmental environmental organization that is governed by the United Nations. The event, called ”Meeting of Fisher Women”, is aimed at enhancing the role of women in fishing, thus breaking with the norms that artisanal fishing in Venezuela. The award recognizes that their production and efforts are no longer solely relegated to men and shows that females are now being seen within this ancestral practice and play a crucial role in society. The meeting was attended by regional authorities, including the Legislative Council member Falcón (CLEF) Daicis López, Falcón Ombudsman Edisoi Sandoval, Los Taques councilor Ronny Falcón, the chronicler of Los Taques Jesus Muñoz Freites, representatives of the Regional Comptroller, Ministry of Fisheries, Unamujer and delegates of CONPPA Tío Pedro from the community of El Supí. READ MORE Honduras wetlands grabbing continues in Ramsar Site 1000 HONDURAS - Land (and water) grabbing and loss of biodiversity is taking place in the wetlands of Ramsar Site #1000 and the Protected Areas (PAs) of the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras, mainly due to shrimp aquaculture. The institutions responsible for conserving these ecosystems, such as the Instituto de Conservación Forestal (ICF), the Honduran Forestry Conservation Institute, and Mi Ambiente (MiA), the country’s Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mining Ministry, are unable or unwilling to enforce the environmental essence of their statements and those made by the president of Honduras. There are 4 business entrepreneurs in the Gulf in Fonseca who are taking over the wetlands along a large portion of the southern coast. READ MORE Industry lobbyists threaten marine monument designations USA - Elected representatives in Congress and industry groups are appealing to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to investigate the potential of removing marine monument designations made by Trump’s predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush. U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) sent a letter to Trump earlier this week requesting the removal of fishing restrictions and the reinstatement of fisheries management under federal law, according to a letter released by the committee. “Using the Antiquities Act to close U.S. waters to domestic fisheries is a clear example of federal overreach and regulatory duplication and obstructs well-managed, sustainable U.S. fishing industries in favor of their foreign counterparts,” the letter said. In their letter, Bishop and Radewagen urge Trump to “act swiftly and effectively to remove all marine monument fishing prohibitions,” but do not clarify what specific actions they are asking Trump to take to undo the marine monument designations made under the powers of the Antiquities Act. READ MORE Conservation groups push Mexican shrimp boycott to save vaquita MEXICO - Citing the need for emergency action to save the dwindling population of the endangered vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise, representatives of several conservation-focused organizations are calling for a boycott on shrimp sourced from Mexico. Fewer than 40 individual vaquita live in their natural habitat in Mexico’s northern Gulf of California, and biologists estimate the species will become extinct within three years if no action is taken, according to a press release from the Animal Welfare Institute, which is spearheading the boycott movement along with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity. “This is the vaquita’s very last chance,” Sarah Uhlemann, international program director with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release. “For decades, Mexican officials have failed the vaquita, and now only the strongest of actions will get their attention. To save these wonderful little porpoises, we have to boycott Mexican shrimp.” READ MORE OCEANA Mangroves died of thirst AUSTRALIA - A James Cook University scientist has discovered why there was an unprecedented dieback of mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria in early 2016 – the plants died of thirst. As explained in findings published today in the Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, Dr Norman Duke, leader of JCU’s Mangrove Research hub, headed an investigation into the massive mangrove dieback, using aerial observations and satellite mapping data of the area dating back to 1972, combined with weather and climate records. Dr Duke said they found three factors came together to produce the unprecedented dieback of 7400 hectares of mangroves, which stretched for 1000 kilometres along the Gulf coast. “From 2011 the coastline had experienced below-average rainfalls, and the 2015/16 drought was particularly severe. Secondly the temperatures in the area were at record levels and thirdly, some mangroves were left high and dry as the sea level dropped about 20cm during a particularly strong El Nino.” READ MORE I hope that this email finds you all well and everyone is having an excellent week! My name is Emma McDowell and I am the new Volunteer Intern at MAP. I am from the United States (Vermont), I am currently completing a US Fulbright Grant in Nakhon Si Tammarat, Thailand. As part of my grant I am encouraged to take time to pursue an internship in a field that is of interest to me, and I am so excited to be working at MAP for the next month. I double majored in Environmental Studies and Spanish & Hispanic Studies in university, and am looking to apply for masters programs in Anthropology with an emphasis on Environmental Conservation and Management in the coming year. The past two years I have worked in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Thailand on different environmental and wildlife conservation projects and am excited to learn more at MAP. I am very interested in learning as much as I can about community based conservation projects, mangrove forests, and gaining experience working in the field and the office. I would love to help out in any way that I can, so please to not hesitate to let me know if there is anything I can do to make your jobs easier. I look forward to working with you all and getting to know everyone! Sending my best, Emma McDowell MAP-Asia Office Development & Field Project Assistant (Volunteer Intern) |
Save the mangrove forest in Pitas (Sabah), Eastern Malaysia
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Honduras Wetlands Grabbing in Ramsar Site 1000
Written by Jorge Varela Marquez / Goldman Prize recipient (1999)
Translated by Mira Maude Chouinard
Land (and water) grabbing and loss of biodiversity is taking place in the wetlands of Ramsar Site #1000 and the Protected Areas (PAs) of the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras, mainly due to shrimp aquaculture. The institutions responsible for conserving these ecosystems, such as the Instituto de Conservación Forestal (ICF), the Honduran Forestry Conservation Institute, and Mi Ambiente (MiA), the country’s Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mining Ministry, are unable or unwilling to enforce the environmental essence of their statements and those made by the president of Honduras.
There are 4 business entrepreneurs in the Gulf in Fonseca who are taking over the wetlands along a large portion of the southern coast. The Spanish transnational corporation’s (owned by Mr. Jaime Soriano and managed by countryman Antonio Cano) shrimp farm El Faro, was the first to violate Decree 5-99-e of the Declaration of Protected Areas (PA) in 2000 and destroyed about 100 hectares of the PA and Ramsar Site La BerberÃa, along with the acquiescence of state officials and the endorsement of the government’s forces. The actual offense was committed with impunity, and now the rest of La BerberÃa is under threat of destruction. Complaints of Cano’s actions reached the ICF and MiA, but they failed in their duty. The original El Faro Shrimp Farm colapsed and new farms expanded on tens of hectares in La BerberÃa; this time with the complicity of some fishermen and the sad silence of the NGO that was once a proprietor of its declaration as a protected area.
On February 14, 2017, the complaint about this ecocide was formally presented, but the ICF and MiA remained silent. On February 15, the newspaper El Heraldo published the headline: “The European Union can RESTRICT ACCESS TO SHRIMP FOR MANGROVE LOGGING". The article mentions other cases of protected areas being grabbed and converted to shrimp farms. Almost immediately, on February 17, MiA retorts in El Heraldo, “Environment Ministry would fine SHRIMP FARMERS WHO HAVE DESTROYED PROTECTED AREAS”. In this regard, it should be noted that if the fine does not include the recovery and restoration of the intervention area, it can be perceived as mockery and complicity.
To worsen the situation of the official environmental policy, the digital journal Criterio writes "EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY REQUESTS END OF PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND HONDURAS”. This was presented on the anniversary of the murder of environmentalist Bertha Cáceres and also proposes cutting off bilateral aid to the Honduran state, particularly in the Eurojustice program.
In response to this threat, it should become a priority to truly protect the environment, to do justice to those who gave their lives in the fight for the conservation of territories and to protect other environmentalists exposed to the threat of extractive companies.
Of the 3 Goldman Prize winners in Honduras who were recognized internationally for their environmental struggle, one of them escaped the country, another was killed (Bertha), and only one remains.
For how long?
Seven women from Venezuela receive awards from Global Environment Facility
Through
the mangrove restoration project in Amuay, led by AEPA FALCÓN, the
Small Grants Program of the Global Environment Facility Venezuela,
has sought to recognize the role of fisherwomen/.
For
the first time in Venezuela, seven fisher-women
from Paraguaná have
been
recognized by the Environmental Protection Association (AEPA Falcon),
a
non
governmental
environmental organization that is governed by the United Nations.
The event, called
”Meeting
of Fisher
Women”,
is
aimed at enhancing the role of women in fishing, thus
breaking with the norms that artisanal fishing in Venezuela. The award recognizes that their production
and efforts are no longer solely
relegated
to men
and shows
that
females
are
now being seen within this ancestral practice
and play
a crucial
role in society.
The
meeting was attended by regional authorities, including the
Legislative
Council member Falcón (CLEF) Daicis López, Falcón Ombudsman Edisoi
Sandoval, Los Taques councilor
Ronny Falcón, the chronicler of Los Taques Jesus Muñoz Freites,
representatives of the Regional Comptroller, Ministry of Fisheries,
Unamujer and delegates of CONPPA TÃo Pedro from the community of El
SupÃ.
During the event, the first fisherwoman of Amuay given special
recognition was Carmen Benita Sánchez, who on March 8 turns 100 years old, and
has established
an example of the
struggle
and work
fisherwomen have earned. Also honored were Juana Valbuena (86), Juana Sánchez (86), MarÃa Ramona Sánchez (78)
and Deisy Frontado (49) who each received
well-deserved awards as well.
Engineer
Henderson Colina,
a
general coordinator of AEPA Falcón, said that this recognition aligns with the goals of the group, and its differentiating factor in other communities was
the leading role of women in atisinal
fishing
and
the
community reflects this participation.
"We
are sure that this is only the first meeting to empower the women's
experiences with other communities from other latitudes.
We
are planning a
2018 exchange with institutions in Brazil, where women play an
important and even
more active
role than in Venezuela.
In fact, the change
in cultural attitudes towards female fishers
is in our country, because in other nations women are more organized and accepted for their roles.
For
example,
in
Brazil there is the council of artisanal fishers within the Mangrove
Network, led by women,"
Henderson Colina said.
He
stressed that this activity is part of n
ambitious
project. "The Mangrove ecosystem source of food sovereignty for
the community of Amuay, (chosen
by the Small Grants Program of the United Nations system in 2015)
its first phase was based on the restoration of the mangrove, and
recovery
of the water system for its regeneration.
This
recognition,
in the framework of achieving sustainable livelihoods is in line with
the United Nations Global Agenda for 2015-2030, which includes 17
sustainable development goals."
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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, ...
MAP News Issue #596 = April 20, 2024
ENTRIES NOW OPEN! Mangrove Photography Awards 2024 10 Years Celebrating Mangroves GLOBAL - MAP has launched our 10th Mangrove Photograp...