MAP-Asia staff attended the Daimler Review Meeting in India

Udomsak Pariwatpan (Em), MAP-Asia

          
    Three MAP-Asia staff (Jim Enright, Jaruwan Enright (Ning) and Udomsak Pariwatpan (Em)) participated in Daimler Review Meeting "Involving communities in the restoration and rehabilitation of tropical mangrove ecosystem in Asia" held at Chennai Park Hyatt Hotel and the YWCA International Guest House, Chennai, India on 19-20 September 2017. The meeting was co-organized by Global Nature Fund (GNF) of Germany and the Center for Research on New International Economic Order (CReNIEO) based in Chennai. There were 24 participants from 7 organizations in 5 countries (The Center for Research on New Economic Order (CReNIEO) and Nature Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS) from India, EMACE Foundation and Nagenahiru Foundation from Sri Lanka, The Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT) from Cambodia, The Mangrove Action Project (MAP) from Thailand, The Global Nature Fund (GNF) and Daimler AG from India & Germany.

On the first day (Sept. 19) there were 2 programs. In the morning, the session was a review of each organization’s project under Daimler support. Jim, MAP’s Asia Coordinator, presented details of the project in Thailand. The project took place in Tha Sanook Village, Tubpud District, Phang Nga Province between 2015-2016, and it consisted of three parts: Building a Mangrove Nature Trail, Environmental Education and Developing Livelihood Groups. A short 4 minute video produced by Em was also shown, which brought the testimonies of the village chief and the Women’s Livelihood Group directly to the donor. 

In the afternoon, delegates divided into 2 groups, with representatives from GNF & Daimler along with 2 facilitators from CReNIEO visiting Pulicat Lake to view CReNIEO’s mangrove restoration site and meet the local community beneficiaries.  The other organizations (MAP, Nagenahiru, FACT, EMACE & NEWS) took the opportunity to visit several interesting place in Chennai.

On day two (Sept. 20) experiences were shared on mangroves, restoration and other measures of success and failures regarding different activities undertaken by partner organizations to protect mangroves and bio-diversity. Ning, MAP-Asia’s Field Project Manager, presented experiences implementing Community-based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR) in Thailand at this session. She talked about the successes, lessons learnt, and challenges of mangrove restoration using CBEMR.  The importance of species diversity was highlighted in contrast to failures in the Thai government monoculture plantations.
           The meeting was a great opportunity for MAP-Asia to share experiences, learn from others and to re-connect with mangrove network friends while making some new ones.