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| FEATURED STORY CONFERENCE ALERT MMM6.
Colombia. 24th - 28th July. Call for abstracts  GLOBAL - MMM6 is currently inviting submissions of abstracts for oral and poster presentations. The sixth Mangrove Macrobenthos and Management conference (MMM6): “Mangrove Ecosystems for Human Well-being in a Changing Planet” is bringing together stakeholders from different sectors of society from many countries across the five continents in a single forum to present and discuss research advances and proposals for the conservation and management of mangrove forests, as well as to advocate for mangroves as Nature-based Solutions to climate change. MMM6 is the first conference of the series to be held in Latin America and the Caribbean, a neotropical region where mangroves have evolved among some of the most biodiverse tropical forests in the world. In particular, mangroves in Colombia are found in both the Caribbean and the Tropical Eastern Pacific Marine Ecoregions. The Mangrove Macrobenthos and Management (MMM) conference series is the world’s largest gathering of researchers and practitioners dedicated to the science and conservation of mangrove ecosystems. Presenters will have 12 minutes to give their talks and 3 minutes for questions. The total allotted time per speaker is 15 minutes. MMM6 features 3 poster sessions: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. Poster dimensions: 90cm width x 120cm height. With the aim of harmonizing global initiatives, the topics selected for the MMM6 conference correspond to the Ocean Decade Challenges for collective impact of United Nations. READ MORE GLOBAL Mangroves Dubbed Voracious Shoreline Guardians  GLOBAL - Mangroves are salt-tolerant shrubs that thrive in the harshest conditions. Still, new UniSA research shows that they are also avid coastal protectors, capable of surviving in heavily metal-contaminated environments. The researchers discovered that grey mangroves (Avicennia marina) can withstand high levels of lead, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, and copper in contaminated sediment without suffering adverse health effects. The health of the grey mangroves close to the Port Pirie smelter was the subject of the study. Mangroves were found to be unaffected by metallic contaminants when leaf chlorophyl content was used as a proxy for plant health, despite lead and zinc levels being 60 and 151-fold higher than regulatory guidance values. The findings emphasize the critical role of mangroves in stabilizing polluted areas and the importance of protecting these "coastal guardians" around the world. READ MORE AFRICA Travelling theatre presents pollution to Coastal fisherfolk  KENYA - Art mirrors society, reflecting our actions and natural phenomena. So, what do creatives do when the oceans rebel? This is what is going on with in the world today. Climate change and marine pollution are affecting life on earth negatively, and there are communities that are impacted and don’t understand why. Kenyan artiste Caroline Ngorobi, 37, has decided to break down the climate and pollution issues to Kenyan coastal communities. Ngorobi is the creative director at Jukwaa Arts, a Mombasa-based creative arts group using theatre in education to deal with modern day problems. In her latest project, a festival dubbed Bahari Huru, Swahili for ‘’free oceans,’’ Ngorobi, tells stories on the importance of marine conservation to provoke conversations on how pollution happens, who pollutes, why and what solutions communities can offer to avoid more pitfalls. READ MORE Institute National Action Plan to Protect Peatlands, Mangroves  GHANA -Mr Muntaka Chasant, a researcher and climate change activist, has suggested to the government to consider instituting a national action plan to protect Ghana's peatlands and mangrove ecosystems as a nature-based solution to climate change. "It is important the government considers an action plan to protect peatlands, mangroves mitigate climate change," he said. Mr Chasant who was speaker at the back of the just ended COP 27 held on from November 6 -18, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, repeated his appeal he made prior to the meeting, saying such a national action plan should address sustainable use and protection of peatlands and mangrove habitats for the longer term. "Unprotected, the vast peat swamp forests around Nzema are under anthropogenic pressures. They are under threat from oil and gas activities and land-use change, including logging and drainage for agriculture," he said. According to the Climate Change activist, those practices shifted the carbon-rich forests from net carbon sinks to net carbon sources -- meaning more carbon are leaving than being brought in. Referring to mangrove deforestation, Mr Chasant drew the government's attention to the degradation of mangrove habitats in the Ankobra River and Volta Delta through illegal mining (galamsey), making a case for an urgent national policy that would protect mangroves as well. READ MORE Mangrove forests won't be able to spread further in South Africa, so protecting them is crucial  SOUTH AFRICA - Mangroves are valuable assets as ecosystems because they are able to store more carbon than terrestrial ecosystems and they support a significant amount of biodiversity. Mangroves won't grow in cool climates. In the northern hemisphere, their range ends at areas where it snows in winter. But, even though the coasts of places like Brazil, Australia and South Africa don't get freeze events, mangroves still stop occurring at a certain latitude in the southern hemisphere. We wanted to know why this is the case and to determine whether there are other areas along South Africa's coast that are climatically suitable for mangroves but where the forests don't grow. We also wondered, since climate change will make some parts of the world warmer in the coming years and decades, whether mangroves might in future be able to grow in parts of South Africa where they're not found now. Finally, we wanted to understand whether climate change will make areas in South Africa where mangroves currently exist unsuitable for the forests in future. Our new study reveals the answers. READ MORE Eco heroes recognised for saving Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve  SOUTH AFRICA - This year, Durban came close to losing a portion of the Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve. Heavy sea swells and storm surges wreaked havoc on the 76-hectare reserve, posing a threat to its wildlife and its mangroves (black and white mangroves). The movement to save the reserve led to the formation of a Multi-Agency Task Team (MATT) project which included various stakeholders Environmental organisation, Oceans Alive, alongside the eThekwini Municipality, the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), The Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI), the North Durban Honorary Officers and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife came together to save the mangroves. Over the course of several days, plans were set in motion to open up the creek to the reserve that had been covered in sand to recreate the inter-tidal relationship with the Umgeni River. Teichmann Civils and Morgado Plant Hire provided the earth-moving equipment while Marshall Security provided the security. Recently, the honorary officers held an appreciation lunch for all the roleplayers involved in the project to save the reserve. Many of those involved in the project received a plaque of appreciation and a certificate recognising their efforts, including Tim Baker, a drone pilot, who helped with aerial footage of the rescue operation. READ MORE ASIA Coal Power Plant Opens Near Mangrove Forest  BANGLADESH - Bangladesh will soon begin burning coal at a large power station near the world’s largest mangrove forest. The country often experiences power failures and blackouts. The government expects the new power factory to increase electric power dependability. But, environmentalists say there are cleaner sources of energy the country should use instead of burning coal. The station will produce about 1,300 megawatts of power, as much as Bangladesh’s largest coal power plant produces. The new power station will burn about 4.7 million tons of coal. It will release close to 15 million tons of carbon dioxide waste gas each year. Carbon dioxide emissions cause the planet to warm. About 12,000 tons of coal will be shipped by boat through the mangrove forest, called the Sundarbans, each day. Sundarbans means “beautiful forest” in Bengali. The coastal area of trees developed over thousands of years. The Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers flow through the area, rich with sediment that helps the forest grow. Some environmentalists, scientists and people who live in the area worry that pollution from the new factory will damage the Sundarbans ecosystem. READ MORE The Moi struggle for land rights  NEW GUINNEA - On the ground and in the courts, members of the Moi indigenous group are resisting oil palm expansion in West Papua, Indonesia. At the northwestern tip of New Guinea, mangroves line rivers that wind their way through densely forested islands and capes. Mangrove roots sink into the water, providing a home for crabs, shrimp and shellfish, which filter water for snapper and shark. Higher up the riverbanks, deer, boar, birds of paradise and tree kangaroos live among sago palms and old-growth trees. “No artist can bring to life so many trees. No one can create a river or plant mangroves as beautiful as this, with all the creatures that live within,” says Yance Nibra, head of Segun district in the Sorong regency of West Papua province, Indonesia. “It’s beautiful, but it won’t be like this soon,” Yance says, as our boat passes a concrete pillar marked with the name of an oil palm company. “We’ve entered the company’s concession area.” Yance, his family and ancestors are part of the Moi indigenous group, who are spread across Sorong’s forests and towns. When he was an official in a neighbouring district, he witnessed the damage an oil palm plantation can bring, with cleared land leaching silt into rivers and pesticides infecting the air and water. That plantation has been linked to the Fangiono family, which has ranked among Indonesia’s largest deforesters in the last few years. READ MORE Study launched on golden jackals in city’s mangrove patches  INDIA - Amongst the wild canidae found in India, golden jackals are the most widespread species, occupying varied habitat types ranging from forests and grasslands to agricultural landscapes. The mangrove ecosystem is one unique habitat used by golden jackals. A first-of-its-kind scientific research study on the golden jackal and other small carnivores in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has been initiated in a collaboration between the Mangrove and Marine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation of Maharashtra and the Wildlife Conservation Society-India. Titled ‘Baseline survey on golden jackal distribution in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region’, the study will be conducted between December 2022 and June 2023 in different phases covering mangrove forest patches at the Thane Creek flamingo sanctuary and in Central, Western and Navi Mumbai. The objective of the study is to document their presence and that of other small carnivores in this habitat by using sign surveys and remotely triggered camera traps. After initial reconnaissance surveys conducted during the first two months, the research team will finalise suitable methods and techniques to document and study the small-carnivore ecology from this habitat. READ MORE Plan to save mangroves must translate into action  INDIA - A senior official tweeted about action against land-grabbers, stating that 103 hutments in mangrove areas had been cleared out. There has been the uncovering of a massive land-grab racket in Navi Mumbai’s mangrove zones, and environmentalists have urged the forest department to expedite plans to install 111 CCTV cameras at nearly 20 locations in the area. The department’s Mangrove Cell has said that it has uncovered a racket involving the killing of over 17,240 mangrove plants and usurping around 3.88 hectares of land at Vashi and Turbhe. A senior official tweeted about action against land-grabbers, stating that 103 hutments in mangrove areas had been cleared out. We join the environmentalists in their demand for electronic eyes on the ground. Widespread surveillance is a powerful weapon and has to be installed both for pre-encroachment action, to serve as a deterrent, and action to nab those responsible and even those complicit if the land has been usurped. With every inch of green cover being precious, we need to safeguard trees and open spaces with zeal. Officials are responsible for tackling encroachment. Citizens, including activists, are vigilantes and must be alert to threats of takeovers. And electronic aids can complete this effort. READ MORE Like this newsletter? *Articles in this newsletter may mention practices being used and/or show exagerated results being claimed without proof. Stories are presented here in effort to show mangrove related activity around the world and do not necessarily reflect Mangrove Action Project's views or mangrove restoration best-practices. |
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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, MAP's news blog is a recap of news stories about mangroves and mangrove related issued globally. MAP promotes community based efforts to restore hydrology and health of the mangrove ecosystem and surrounding dependent species. Articles in this newsletter aid researchers and others by providing latest news about mangrove issues.
Saturday, December 3, 2022
MAP News Issue #560 - Dec 03, 2022
Saturday, November 19, 2022
MAP News Issue #559 - Nov 19, 2022
The MAP News
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| FEATURED STORY The Mangrove Breakthrough: a call to action for a critical ecosystem
 GLOBAL - The Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA) in collaboration with the UN Climate Change High-level Champions have identified the need for a unified global approach towards mangrove conservation and are therefore calling for signatories to the “Mangrove Breakthrough” being launched today at COP27. The Mangrove Breakthrough is a science-based, measurable, and achievable goal for non-state actors and governments to collectively restore and protect mangroves at the scale needed to secure the future of these vital coastal forests. This will be achieved by catalyzing financial flows to broadly activate proven solutions and mobilize action on the ground as part of the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda—a key roadmap to deliver on the Race to Resilience. Specifically, the Mangrove Breakthrough aims to secure the future of 15 million hectares of mangroves globally by 2030. Current signatories to the breakthrough include Global Mangrove Alliance members, the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), and Salesforce, among many others. By joining the Mangrove Breakthrough, signatories recognize the need and show a willingness to achieve a future where these critical ecosystems are restored and protected. The Breakthrough will channel finance at scale to ensure funding for both global and local initiatives aimed at protecting and restoring these coastal forests. “As we work together to scale up financial contributions for mangrove action through the Mangrove Breakthrough, it will be equally critical that we underpin these investments with scientifically robust restoration best practices and safeguards,” said Stewart Maginnis, Deputy Director of IUCN. READ MORE GLOBAL Among the mangroves, Biden cultivates diplomacy  GLOBAL - President Joe Biden capped off a consequential week of meetings with his foreign counterparts abroad – in which discussions centered on Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, climate change’s existential threat to the Earth and a pandemic that has unleashed food, energy and economic crises across the globe – with a final symbolic gesture in Bali. He planted a mangrove tree. The mangrove tree represents strength, resilience and stability in the face of adversity. So it appeared fitting that in the final hours before boarding Air Force One to return home, the president – surrounded by the leaders of some the United States’ most important allies – helped lower mangrove tree saplings into the earth. READ MORE AFRICA Senegal oyster growers fend off rising seas with mangroves  SENEGAL - WAIST-DEEP in brown water, Maria Ndong inspects a cord with rugged oysters clinging to it just below the surface. She raises a knife and cuts the string, slick with algae, measuring her catch before flinging it onto the deck of a nearby boat. As recently as a decade ago, the oysters would have been stuck to the roots of the dense mangroves that cover this corner of southern Senegal’s roughly 5,000-sq-km Saloum Delta. Then, Ndong and the other women of her village, Dassilame Serere, would have cut the tree itself to harvest the mollusks that are their livelihood. But three years ago, Ndong and her fellow villagers began replanting the mangroves, which were overexploited for decades by villagers seeking firewood, farmland or oysters, and have been battered by rising seas caused by climate change. The mucky, tangled forests of the West African coast absorb and blunt storms, nurture a diverse range of life — including young fish, crabs and shorebirds — and store vast amounts of carbon in their root systems. For the villagers of Dassilame Serere, the mangroves offer protection against the rising tide and the crashing waves that eat away at Senegal’s coastline. “Without the mangroves, the animals would disappear, and so would we,” says Ndong, 40. READ MORE Rising Sea Levels Besieging Africa’s Booming Coastal Cities  AFRICAN COAST - Africa’s coastal cities are facing converging crises—rising seas, rapidly growing populations, land pressure, and an affordable housing shortage. These crises are compounding one another as people are pushed to settle farther into the wetlands and shorelines surrounding cities, exposing these settlements to storm surges and flooding while weakening the protection these natural barriers and ecosystems provide the entire city. Mitigating the effects of rising seas, therefore, will require simultaneously addressing other sources of vulnerability (such as balancing between high-end developments that displace residents and affordable housing options). The Global Center on Adaptation has implemented rapid climate risk assessments (RCRA) in five cities, including the coastal cities of Bizerte (Tunisia), Conakry (Guinea), and Libreville (Gabon). Some of the most cost-effective measures for reducing loss and damages from extreme weather events generated from these RCRA’s include investing in water and sanitation infrastructure, restoring wetlands and ecosystems to reduce flood risks, and strengthening disaster evacuation planning. Instead of investing in expensive and maintenance-heavy infrastructure projects to defend against storm surges, many African coastal cities might choose the nature-based solution of restoring mangroves, dunes, seagrasses, wetlands, and other costal ecosystems. READ MORE East Africa should promote renewable energy, not oil pipelines  TANZANIA - On October 18, 2022, Ugandan President H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni delivered a keynote address during African Energy Week which took place in Cape Town, South Africa between October 18 and 21. During his address, President Museveni discussed the September 14, 2022 European Parliament resolution that urged TotalEnergies to stop development of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project for a year while studying an alternative route that is less environmentally- and socially-destructive. The EACOP is a planned 1,443 km pipeline that is expected to be built between oil fields in western Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. At peak production, the pipeline is expected to transport 216,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Construction of the pipeline is yet to commence. Independent calculations done by scientists from Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide-USA showed that the end-user or product use emissions (Scope 3) of the EACOP are over 34.3 million metric tons of carbon per year at peak production. This is equivalent to emissions from nine coal fired power plants. READ MORE Seychelles to Protect 100 Percent of Mangroves and Seagrass in 2023, Says President At COP27  SEYCHELLES - Seychelles will move to 100 percent protection of all its mangroves and seagrass meadows in 2023, adding to the already 32 percent protection of its ocean and 50 percent of its forest, President Wavel Ramkalawan said on Monday. Ramkalawan made the announcement in his statement at the high-level segment for heads of state and government in the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. "Like other islands, we contribute less to the destruction of the planet, yet we suffer the most. For example, the carbon emissions of Seychelles are very low, and we clean up through our mangroves and seagrass meadows, thus making us a zero contributor to the destruction of the planet, yet our islands are disappearing and our coasts are being destroyed," he said. Seychelles has one of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems on the planet while the carbon ecosystems cover over two million hectares, with seagrass beds accounting for 99 percent of the blue carbon extent. The other carbon ecosystem in the island nation is mangrove forests with more than 80 percent located within the Aldabra atoll. READ MORE AMERICAS Jamaica’s Mangroves Worth Millions  JAMAICA - Mangroves, the groups of trees and shrubs that line Jamaica’s coastlines, hold significant value not only in protecting and sustaining the lives and livelihoods of citizens along the coasts but also in real economic terms. It is estimated that these wetland forests are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. A report on Jamaica’s mangroves, launched in 2019, estimate that they provide approximately US$32.7 million in protection to Jamaica’s heavily settled coastline areas. The study, funded by the Program on Forests (PROFOR) through the World Bank, found that without mangroves, the estimated damage from flooding would be US$169 million annually. When the protection of approximately US$2.4 billion in assets (people and infrastructure) during storms is factored in, the value of mangroves is more than US$186 million per hectare. Director for the Centre of Marine Sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, Professor Mona Kay Webber, tells JIS News that the value of mangroves is directly related to what they protect. READ MORE ASIA Certain mangrove species may disappear from India’s east & west coasts  INDIA - According to a study based on a prediction model, certain mangrove species in Chilika and Sundarbans on India’s east coast and Dwarka and Porbandar on India’s west coast are likely to decline and shift landward by 2070 due to declines in suitable habitats in response to precipitation and sea level changes. The study can help identify highly suitable areas for conservation and management, as well as develop future conservation strategies. Mangroves provide numerous ecosystem services and aid in the reduction of coastal ecological risks, but they are one of the most critically endangered ecosystems, declining rapidly as a result of climate change, sea level fluctuations, and human activity. Many conservation initiatives along the Indian coastline have failed due to a lack of understanding of mangrove spatial distribution and species habitat requirements. This highlights the critical need for model-based studies to identify conservation target areas at Spatio-temporal scales, particularly along the Indian coastline’s rich mangrove biodiversity. READ MORE OCEANA Goals for mangrove recovery must be based on science  AUSTRALIA - A rapid scale up in mangrove restoration is required if the Australian Government hopes to reach the goals of a recently announced partnership with the Mangrove Alliance for Climate. “This week at COP27 the Australian Government announced that it will join the Mangrove Alliance for Climate, along with United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, who have goals of a global 20% increase in mangrove habitat by 2030,” said Associate Professor Chris Brown from the Australian Rivers Institute and the Coastal and Marine Research Centre and a lead researcher with the Global Wetlands Program. “Conservation targets need to be both ambitious, so that they inspire the urgent actions that life on earth needs, and also scientifically credible, so that that action is tangible and achievable. Unfortunately, the 20 per cent target lacks the latter, it has no scientific basis.” The government’s Mangrove Alliance for Climate 20% target of mangrove restoration seems to be based on the initial target of the Global Mangrove Alliance, an alternate collaboration NGOs, governments, scientists, industry, local communities, and funders. READ MORE Like this newsletter? *Articles in this newsletter may mention practices being used and/or show exagerated results being claimed without proof. Stories are presented here in effort to show mangrove related activity around the world and do not necessarily reflect Mangrove Action Project's views or mangrove restoration best-practices. |
NOTICEChildrens Art Calendars 2023
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The community of adults and youth in Cayman Islands has come together recently to release a series of educational videos. Each is geared to... -
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...
