The MAP News
456th Edition November 24, 2018 |
|
FEATURE Stand with Mangroves this #GivingTuesday - Tuesday Nov 27
GLOBAL - The November 27th Giving Tuesday is right around the corner! This annual day of giving provides us a great opportunity to begin the new year with a strong base... and this year there is a chance to make your impact even greater! This year Facebook and PayPal are teaming up to provide a $7 million matching fund for Giving Tuesday – that means that if you donate through our Facebook page after 5AM (PST) Tuesday, you will have a chance to double your donation to Mangrove Action Project! With rising global temperatures and sea levels, saving and restoring the world's mangrove forests is now more important than ever – both for the health of our planet, and the 200+ million people who call these ecosystems home. So on this #GivingTuesday, please consider donating to MAP to help spur much-needed action on our world’s vital mangrove forests. From all those at the Mangrove Action Project team, and from mangrove communities around the world, we say thank you!
Sincerely, Alfredo Quarto & Dylan Skeffington Co-Directors, the Mangrove Action Project http://mangroveactionproject.org AFRICA MAP's CBEMR Training in the Saloum Delta SENEGAL - Another fascinating mangrove rehabilitation teaching adventure, this time to Senegal, at the behest of Wetlands International, with MAP’s Alfredo Quarto and Jim Enright. The travel allowed us to see a small bit of normal life in Dakar and the countryside. Driving needs care as there were many animal-drawn vehicles on the road, and the ubiquitous white Peugeot 505 taxis, held together by poly-filler and hope. Week one was a mix of theoretical training and field trips. We covered the reasons for planting failures, mangrove benefits focusing more on the obscure features such as water cleaning, a lot of relevant mangrove biology and ecology, species zoning, measuring spot heights, the importance of hydrology and how CBEMR uses all of these factors to facilitate natural regeneration. With removal of mangrove stressors and improvements of hydrology and topography a bio-diverse ecosystem can be re-established. So saline there were salt crusts everywhere as well as saturated soils. Leaves covered in excreted salt and a layer of dust inhibiting photosynthesis. Tough conditions. READ MORE ASIA MAP staff member joins the 6th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum 2018 PHILIPPINES - The 6th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum involved global participation and almost 1,000 delegates attended from government, the academic and scientific community, businesses, civil society organizations and NGOs, international development partners, media and youth from over 60 countries, focusing on sharing and learning from each other in a bid to proactively address the need to enable resilience for all, and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. MAP representative Jaruwan (Ning) Enright was invited to be one of panelists in the session on Technology & Practices under Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in the auditorium. She was joined by Alex Rendell, a Thai celebrity and Thai actor who influences young people and the public to be interested in and support the environmental work in Thailand. The session highlighted green technology and infrastructure to help increasing the resilience of ecosystems. Sheshared Mangrove Action Project’s experiences and challenges using the practice of Community-based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR) to show how it can increase ecosystems resilience by providing multiple services and reduce storm impacts on local livelihoods. READ MORE Blue Carbon: An Underreported Climate Story INDONESIA - “It’s sexy but underreported.” This is how Indonesian climate scientist, Daniel Murdiyarso, refers to the issue of blue carbon, or the carbon dioxide in coastal ecosystems. Indonesia has two major coastal blue carbon ecosystems: nearly 3 million hectares of mangroves and 300,000 hectares of seagrass meadows. Terrestrial climate and environmental issues, such as deforestation or the conservation of endangered animals, get far more play in the media. While public and media outrage over the cutting down of trees or the razing of orangutan habitats is justified, the reality is that mangroves can, per hectare, store more than five times the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by upland forests. This means that the clearing of mangroves emits five times more carbon dioxide than clearing a similar area of degraded forest or peatland, thus increasing carbon emissions and further exacerbating climate change. “On paper, if we handle the mangrove and peat problem, 80% of the problem is solved. But the problem is [that] it is not in the government agenda yet to include blue carbon in the process to reduce emissions,” says Murdiyarso, who is principal scientist for climate change, energy and low carbon development at the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), based in Bogor. READ MORE Rehabilitation of mangroves a boost for eco-system MALAYSIA - Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Berhad (“LCTH”) in collaboration with Tanjung Piai Johor National Park spearheaded the rehabilitation of 1,000 mangroves in Tanjung Piai, a coastal mangrove area located at the southernmost tip of continental Asia managed by Johor National Parks Corporation. The half-day event mobilised almost 50 people, including state Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Dr Sahruddin Jamal, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Berhad chief financial officer David Tan Gek Seng, Johor National Parks Corporation director Mustafa Kamal Abdullah, Tanjung Piai Johor National Park manager Norwati Abdul Wahab and staff of LCTH and Tanjung Piai Johor National Park. The event saw the planting of 1,000 mangrove seedlings along the coast of Tanjung Piai. The participants had the opportunity to experience hands-on mangrove planting and go on a tour around Tanjung Piai’s picturesque boardwalk. READ MORE How mangrove forests can rebound – and it's thanks to climate change PHILIPPINES - Humans have become adept at destroying natural habitats. Indeed, we’re so good at it we’ve changed the very makeup and climate of our planet. But there may be signs the natural world is fighting back by protecting itself against rising temperatures and changing weather patterns, and we face the tantalising prospect of helping this process. A recent study found that mangrove forests could be adapting to climate change by growing beyond their usual range. The risk of several days of continuous frost, which previously kept these trees in tropical and subtropical areas near the equator, is continuously shifting towards the poles. As average global temperatures rise, mangroves are able to increase their growth and expand their range beyond the equator. READ MORE Lack of land to compensate for mangroves affects major projects INDIA - Lack of land to plant the mangroves as compensation, since mangrove land utilisation for public interest projects, has affected the work of two major projects; Versova-Bandra Sea Link (VBSL) and Thane Creek bridge project. The high court recently rejected The Maharashtra State Road Development Corpora-tion (MSRDC), which is implementing both the projects, proposal to cut mangroves in the Juhu area for VBSL. Thus, despite awarding the letter of acceptance (LOA) to contractors to start the work, the piling works has not yet commenced. Joint consortium of Reliance Infrastructure and Astaldi received the LOA to commence work for VBSL in September this year. “We had proposed to plant mangroves in a land identified at Jalna, but court declared that the land is not suitable for mangrove plantation and turned down the proposal. Also, since the project is in Mumbai, the court directed to find a place in Mumbai itself,” said a senior official from MSRDC. The official further added, “We have identified a land at Charkop, once the land is approved by high court, only then the civil work can be started.” READ MORE OCEANA Bougainville move to highlight importance of mangroves NEW ZEALAND - It is driven by NGO, Tulele Peisa, which said trhere was widespread destruction of Bougainville's mangroves and it wants people to recognise the importance of protecting the coastal vegetation. The mangroves are under threat from development and people using them for firewood. Tulele Peisa has been working around the low lying Carterets and says it understands the importance of mangroves in protecting coastlines. Its leader Ursula Rakova said they had been working with the Bougainville Department of Primary Industry to change attitudes to mangroves. READ MORE GLOBAL Rally held in London on Global Day of Solidarity to Save the Sundarbans UK - On Saturday, the 10th November, London saw a vibrant rally by London’s climate activists at Altab Ali Park on the Global Day of Solidarity to Save the Sundarbans. In response to the National Committee to Protect Oil Gas and Mineral Resources in Bangladesh (NCBD)’s call to observe a worldwide solidarity to save the world’s largest mangrove forest, the UK branch of NCBD has organised a powerful rally which was joined by grassroots and community climate organisations. Speakers attending the rally called on Bangladesh and Indian governments to scrap Rampal coal-power plant urgently and to halt climate change in Bangladesh and across South Asia. Presided by a veteran Bangladeshi community leader and medical professional Dr Rafikul Hasan Jinnah and moderated by the general secretary of the UK branch of NCBD, Akhter Sobhan Masroor, the rally was outraged about the joint project of the Power Development Board (PDB) of Bangladesh and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India for 1320 Megawatt Rampal coal-fired plant because it is a deadly threat to the environment and livelihood of the Sundarbans. READ MORE Oceans Are Losing a Football Field of Seagrass Every 30 Minutes UK - Seagrasses are flowering marine plants that live in shallow coastal waters almost everywhere in the world. The more than 70 species of seagrass provide an important habitat for thousands of ocean animals, from tiny invertebrates, crabs and turtles to large fish and birds. Equally if not more important, seagrasses also are natural carbon sinks — even more effective at soaking up heat-trapping carbon pollution than forests on land. They soak up carbon in their leaves, and when they die, they decompose far more slowly than terrestrial plants, so that carbon remains buried for hundreds of years. “Seagrasses are the ultimate natural carbon sink,” said Richard K.F. Unsworth, a lecturer in marine biology at Swansea University in the UK. “In healthy seas, seagrasses are so productive you can see oxygen rapidly bubbling through the water column as they photosynthesize on a sunny day.”READ MORE UN Environment convenes world’s insurers to assess intensifying climate change impacts EUROPE - UN Environment’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) announced today a partnership with 16 of the world’s largest insurers—representing around 10% of world premium and USD 5 trillion in assets under management—to develop a new generation of risk assessment tools designed to enable the insurance industry to better understand the impacts of climate change on their business. This understanding is vital for an industry whose core business is to manage risk. The pilot group will develop analytical tools that they will use to pioneer insurance industry climate risk disclosures that are in line with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). This will require them to make use of the latest climate science, including some of the most advanced, forward-looking climate scenarios available. READ MORE |
Video: Mangroves for the Future - A look bacK. As the latest phase of Mangroves for the Future (MFF) draws to a close, this video highlights some of the project’s most successful initiatives – from local women supporting national park management in Viet Nam to an island in the Maldives that has become a model for waste management, and everything in between. View Here ACTION ALERT Making the case for Emergency Climate Change Action
Volunteer with MAP
|
Mangrove Action ProjectClick here to view past newsletters |
Search News Archive
Thursday, November 22, 2018
MAP News Issue 456, Nov 24, 2018
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
MAP staff member joins the 6th Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum 2018, Philippines.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Map News Issue 455, November 10, 2018
The MAP News
455th Edition November 10, 2018 |
|
FEATURE Mangrove Restoration Potential
GLOBAL - Mangrove forests are important for food production, carbon storage and sequestration, coastal protection, water purification, and tourism, which is why there is an increasing need not only to prevent further loses, but to increase mangrove areas through restoration. TNC has partnered with IUCN to develop a global model and map of mangrove restoration potential to help practitioners prioritize areas, and as a way to support and encourage mangrove restoration projects globally. The model incorporates information on both current and historic distribution of mangrove forests, as well as local drivers of mangrove loss and degradation (e.g., urbanization and industrial development, conversion to agriculture and aquaculture ponds, deforestation for fuelwood or timber, altered freshwater regimes, pollution and coastal erosion), which can vary in extent and severity depending on the region. Environmental (e.g., wave energy, tides) and social factors (e.g., population density, demographics), as well as future projections of sea level rise, urbanization, and weather events are other factors that can influence restoration suitability, and will also be incorporated into the model where possible. READ MORE AFRICA “Without our forest, we have no life, we disappear” CAMEROON - "Life in my Baka community is getting harder and harder. We live mostly from the resources of the forest, and with our forest is increasingly exploited by foresters, and as the state continues to create national parks and reserves, the forest no longer provides us with enough food and medicinal plants. With the introduction of heavy forestry equipment, the game animals have disappeared. Poverty has become established, and we must convert ourselves into farmers, where again we face serious problems linked to land conflicts and lack of land. Our Bantu neighbours hold all the lands. Our rights of use of the forest, land and natural resources are ignored. "We are a sharing community, and we try to share what we find in the forest to eat. During certain times of the year there is still enough food (wild mango, mushrooms, wild yams, rats, fish, leaves and roots). Since our community is growing, we divide into groups to go camping in the middle of the forest to stock up on food. During these trips, families eat well.” READ MORE ASIA Giving mangroves a voice: One man's mission to protect the future of Bahak Indah INDONESIA - The pioneer behind Bahak Indah’s transformation is 64-year-old Samsuri, who for 20 years has been planting mangroves and raising awareness among the local communities and government on the importance of mangroves Samsuri and his family used to walk on the east side of the beach, where the mangroves were thick and healthy. In the early 1990s, he noticed that the mangrove roots stabilise sediment, and had the idea of growing mangroves closer to his village, where fish and shrimp ponds were being heavily impacted by coastal erosion. At a time when most of his community were unaware of the role of mangroves in coastal protection, and mostly used mangrove leaves as livestock fodder, this was a revolutionary idea.In 1998, during Ramadan, Samsuri put his idea into action. After suhoor (the meal eaten at dawn before the start of the fast), he and his younger brother collected mangrove seeds and planted them on Bahak Beach, near the villages. READ MORE. Big aquaculture bulldozes Borneo MALAYSIA - Swinging his machete with an economy of movement that only the jungle can teach, Matakin Bondien lopped a stray branch from the path of his boat. He hopped barefoot from the prow, climbed a muddy slope and stared once more at what he’d lost. Not long ago, the clearing had been home to mangroves, saltwater-loving trees that anchor a web of life stretching from fish larvae hatching in the cradle of their underwater roots to the hornbills squawking at their crown. Now the trees’ benevolent presence was gone, in their place a swath of stripped soil littered with felled trunks as gray as fossils. “Do you think we can find any food in this place now?” asked Bondien, a village leader of the Tombonuo people. “The company thinks it can do anything it wants — that we don’t count.” The company is Sunlight Inno Seafood. READ MORE Mangroves can help countries mitigate their carbon emissions SINGAPORE - Geographers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have found that coastal vegetation such as mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes may be the most effective habitats to mitigate carbon emissions. The study, which was conducted by researchers from the Department of Geography at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, indicates that nations with large coastlines could expand these ecosystems to further counteract their fossil fuel emissions. These findings were published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters on 24 October 2018. With the recent Paris Agreement setting a target for all nations to become carbon neutral in the future, utilizing these natural ecosystems could help to achieve this goal.READ MORE Course builds capacity for integrated coastal management in Asia THAILAND - Since its implementation in 2007, Mangroves for the Future (MFF) has recognised ICM as an important approach towards the goal of building the resilience of coastal ecosystems and communities. Enhancing the capacity of coastal management practitioners at local, national and regional levels — whether in government, NGOs, the private sector, or research and academic institutions — is fundamental to achieving this goal. In 2007, MFF teamed up with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) to develop a regional postgraduate ICM certificate course that combined academic lectures, practical skills training, and field-based learning about coastal management. The programme was designed as an intensive six week course, and was offered on a near-annual basis at the AIT campus. Since it began in 2007, more than 140 mid-career professionals from government and non-government organisations in 11 MFF member countries across Asia have completed it. READ MORE Where goats drink first: Women struggle as coastal India grows saltier INDIA - Dripping wet and looking exhausted, Shompa Pal winces as she walks into her home, holding tightly to a knot at the end of her saree. From it she extracts and lays out to dry a soggy 100 rupee note, her earnings from wading waist deep in the brackish waters of the Bidyadhari River for four hours, dragging a triangular net behind her. On a good day, she catches a thousand thread-like baby prawns that swim in during the two daily high tides, earning 100 rupees ($1.40) from a dealer who sells them to private firms that grow and export prawns. Such work is common for poor women. Long contact with salty water, or bathing in contaminated pond water, gives many poor women skin diseases or reproductive tract infections, the health economist told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.READ MORE AMERICAS 60% of world's wildlife has been wiped out since 1970 CANADA - Well over half the world's population of vertebrates, from fish to birds to mammals, have been wiped out in the past four decades, says a new report from the World Wildlife Fund. Between 1970 and 2014, there was 60 per cent decline, on average, among 16,700 wildlife populations around the world according to the 2018 edition of the Living Planet Report released Monday. "We've had a loss of nearly two-thirds, on average, of our wild species," said James Snider, vice-president of science, research and innovation for WWF-Canada. "The magnitude of that should be eye opening… We really are reaching a point where we're likely to see species go extinct. That's true in Canada and abroad." READ MORE Capitalism is killing the world’s wildlife populations, not ‘humanity’ USA - The latest Living Planet report from the WWF makes for grim reading: a 60% decline in wild animal populations since 1970, collapsing ecosystems, and a distinct possibility that the human species will not be far behind. The report repeatedly stresses that humanity’s consumption is to blame for this mass extinction, and journalists have been quick to amplify the message. The Guardian headline reads “Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations”, while the BBC runs with “Mass wildlife loss caused by human consumption”. No wonder: in the 148-page report, the word “humanity” appears 14 times, and “consumption” an impressive 54 times. There is one word, however, that fails to make a single appearance: capitalism. It might seem, when 83% of the world’s freshwater ecosystems are collapsing (another horrifying statistic from the report), that this is no time to quibble over semantics. And yet, as the ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer has written, “finding the words is another step in learning to see”. READ MORE GLOBAL Driven by warming waters, marine life is on the move EUROPE - Reuters has discovered that from the waters off the East Coast of the United States to the coasts of West Africa, marine creatures are fleeing for their lives, and the communities that depend on them are facing disruption as a result. As waters warm, fish and other sea life are migrating poleward, seeking to maintain the even temperatures they need to thrive and breed. The number of creatures involved in this massive diaspora may well dwarf any climate impacts yet seen on land. In the U.S. North Atlantic, for example, fisheries data show that in recent years, at least 85 percent of the nearly 70 federally tracked species have shifted north or deeper, or both, when compared to the norm over the past half-century. And the most dramatic of species shifts have occurred in the last 10 or 15 years.READ MORE LAST WORD Please add me to your newsletter email list, thank you! We live in the Florida Keys, and Hurricane Irma did massive damage to our mangroves. We formed the Conch Republic Marine Army, that is focused on getting the trash out of the mangroves, and hope to replant new mangroves one day :) Laura conchrepublicmarinearmy.com |
Video: Mangroves for the Future - A look bacK. As the latest phase of Mangroves for the Future (MFF) draws to a close, this video highlights some of the project’s most successful initiatives – from local women supporting national park management in Viet Nam to an island in the Maldives that has become a model for waste management, and everything in between. View Here Volunteer with MAP
|
Mangrove Action ProjectClick here to view past newsletters |
-
The community of adults and youth in Cayman Islands has come together recently to release a series of educational videos. Each is geared to...
-
By: Isabel Robinson, MAP Volunteer Intern Some months ago I decided to come to Thailand and do an internship in mangrove conservation, ...
-
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 593, March 9, 2024
MAP News Issue #593 - March 9, 2024 Nigeria has Commenced Large-Scale Mangrove Restoraion in Ogoniland Eastern Niger Delta NIGERIA - The...