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Friday, November 24, 2017

MAP News Issue 430 November 25, 2017

Mangrove Action Project

The MAP News
430th Edition                                                     November 24, 2017

FEATURE STORY
 
A Global Day of Giving Tuesday November 28
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#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. MAP works to empower coastal communities around the world, providing support and building the local capacity to maintain stewardship over mangrove forests. MAP has chosen to remain small, partnering with other community-based non-profits in Asia, Latin America and Africa, while planting seeds of knowledge and support through a wide variety of projects and campaigns. As a result, most of MAP’s funding goes directly toward these efforts. We need your help to maintain and complete these projects. In areas where MAP works, communities lack the capacity and the capital to engage in sustainable livelihoods and rise out of poverty. Your support of MAP flows directly to others around the world; you enable MAP to carry on its work, and we need your help today.
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AFRICA

Fish vs. forests? Madagascar’s marine conservation boom
RMooreGerety_Fisheries_2
MADAGASCAR - For a few days each year, fishermen here can travel back in time. When octopus season opens on a new part of the reef every three months, a single boat with three or four divers might catch as much as 200 pounds in a few hours. That, says Jean François, a fisherman who goes by the nickname Retsipa, is almost as good as the good old days. In the 1990s, wholesalers working with the French- and Malagasy-owned seafood company COPEFRITO regularly bought 3,000 pounds of octopus each time they came to the village. “Today, 400 pounds for the whole village is a good day,” said Retsipa, who serves as treasurer of Vezo Mitsinjo ny Ho Avy, or “Vezo, Look to the Future,” a fishermens’ association named for the local Vezo ethnic group. “It’s the same trend with lobsters, squid, fish: It’s not the same as before.” He shook his head. “Now, we have to choose the fish we eat — only the little ones, the fish we can’t sell…Before, the Vezo wouldn’t eat ‘fiandolo,’” Retsipa said, referring to the small, spiny striped eel catfish (Plotosus lineatus). “Now, we do.” READ MORE

Play Your Part in protecting the environment
800Durban-Beachwood-Mangrove-Nature-Reserve
SOUTH AFRICA - Although South Africa faces the challenge of deteriorating environmental quality, everyone can play a part in tackling this task. Increasing quantities of waste, poor waste management and lack of access to waste services lead to pollution, health risks and environmental degradation. To address this, Brand South Africa joined the National Clean-up and Recycle 2017 initiative organised by Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife and Plastics South Africa in the Durban Beachwood Mangrove Nature Reserve on 16 September 2017. The monitored and collaborative coastal clean-up, with schools and community members, aimed to contribute to the preservation of the environment and to remove rubbish from the oceans that could be harmful to fish and other marine creatures. About 500 community members, including learners from three different schools, took part in the clean-up. READ MORE

ASIA

As the Chitra turns saline, mangroves appear
Chitra-mangroves
BANGLADESH - Environmentalists have consistently warned that climate change would adversely affect the world’s largest mangrove forest and World Heritage Site, the Sundarbans, with the reduction in flow of fresh water, and increase in salinity. In reality, salinisation of the freshwater river Chitra – adjacent to the Sundarbans – started a couple of decades ago. Now, new mangrove forests are springing up, replacing other vegetation and spelling the end of an ecosystem that was heavy with sweet water vegetation and fish. The newly emerged mangrove forest stretches across three and half kilometres, in the villages of Goalbari, Putia and Gurguria in Begerhat district. “The Chitra has always been a freshwater river [but] since our youth, we have seen Sundari, Keora, Golpata, Ura and other trees spreading along two sides of the river,” Tauhidul Islam, a former chairman of Mulghor, told thethirdpole.net, adding that the trees grow in the saline waters of the Sundarbans. READ MORE

Save mangrove forests from destruction
Krishna Mangroves
INDIA - Officials of the Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) have cautioned the government over destruction of forest land, particularly the mangrove forests, along the coastal mandals in Krishna district. The V&E teams, which visited the seabed villages, were worried over the poor implementation of the AP Forest Act 1967 and Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. They submitted a report to the government recently on the need for a ‘Mangrove Restoration Project’ to protect the vegetation. Researchers say the mangrove forests will act as shields and protect the habitations from cyclones and sea erosion. The stilt roots of the plantations are the nurseries for many marine species, animals and birds, the environmentalists said. The V&E Department asked the government to take measures to protect the forests located in Kruthivennu, Machilipatnam, Nagayalanka and Avanigadda mandals. They suggested for a detailed survey of the mangrove forests to protect them. READ MORE

President Abdulla Yameen: Stop Destruction of Kulhudhuffushi Mangrove 
Stop destruction of Mangrove
Kulhudhuffushi Mangrove is the largest black mangrove forest in the Maldives. It hosts 8 species of true mangrove plants, 42 associated plant species and supports the entire ecosystem of the island.  Maldives is extremely vulnerable to climate change. We receive millions of dollars each year for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Just this year we received USD 23 million from the Green Climate Fund. It is hypocritical to actively destroy our most critical ecosystems while taking this money. As the chair of Alliance Of Small Island States (AOSIS) and our obligations under international environmental conventions, we must show leadership in taking action against climate change. The Environmental Impact Assessment done for the project itself states that “the positive impacts might not outweigh the negative impacts associated with the project”. We ask you to therefore reconsider the development of the airport by reclaiming the mangrove of Kulhudhuffushi and causing irreversible damage to island ecosystem. READ MORE

Soon, take a walk through mangroves
626896-mangrove-broadwalk.jpg?itok=6sNEmmFd
INDIA - In what would be a first of its kind initiative in Maharashtra, the State Mangrove Cell is planning to build a 2.8-kilometre boardwalk inside mangroves, which will be laid in a manner to resemble a flamingo. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF), Mangrove Cell, N Vasudevan said that the boardwalk will be part of the Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Centre (CMCB) at Airoli, located within the 1,690 hectares of Thane Flamingo Sanctuary declared by Maharashtra government on August 6, 2015. Vasudevan informed that the boardwalk will lead into four different paths, while one will provide a view of migratory birds that flock the Thane creek during winter, others will showcase the mangroves, aquatic life as well as insects and reptiles dwelling inside the mangroves. The boardwalks will be made using environment-friendly materials and the path will have to be created ensuring that there is no damage to the mangroves. “A major challenge will be providing supports for the boardwalk, and hence it will take some time. We are hoping that it will be ready by early 2019,” said another senior official from the Mangrove Cell. READ MORE

WHITEPAPER - Mangroves as protection from storm surges in Bangladesh
bangladesh_meris-thumb
BANGLADESH - This paper evaluates the protective capacity of mangrove forests against storm surge in seven coastal locations of Bangladesh, where surge heights can range from 1.5 to 9 meters. Estimates confirm varying levels of protection from different species, width, and density of mangrove forests. The findings highlight that mangroves must be used along with built infrastructure such as embankments. However, mangroves in the foreshore of embankments will contribute to savings in maintenance costs by protecting the built infrastructure from breaching and other damages. Mangrove forests can reduce the vulnerability of adjacent coastal lands from storm surges by slowing the flow of water. Although the potential utility of mangroves in disaster risk reduction is increasingly recognized by coastal managers, efficient use of this ecosystem-based protection is often hindered by the scarcity of location-specific information on the protective capacity of mangroves. READ MORE

In the steps of the Olive Ridley, here’s some interesting facts
TURTLE-06
INDIA - Olive Ridley sea turtles have started arriving offshore for mating. This congregation offers a spectacular sight along Odisha coastline, which fascinates both nature lovers and scientists. Mating happens in the sea itself and the males usually go back to their feeding grounds while the females linger around for almost a month till they are ready to lay their eggs. They then scale the sand slopes to lay eggs in January and February. Odisha coast has the world’s largest known rookery of Olive Ridley sea turtle. Besides Gahirmatha rookery, two other mass nesting beaches are on the mouth of Rushikulya and Devi rivers. Scientific findings have revealed that 50% of the world population of the turtles is endemic to Odisha and 90% of them along the Indian coastline comes to the Odisha coast for nesting. While the state Forest Department is making all efforts to protect these endangered turtles, several NOGs are also working in non-protected areas to ensure safe return of the hatchlings to the waters. READ MORE

AMERICAS

Mangrovealliance.org launches Mangrove Knowledge Hub
Mangrove Fish
USA - Developing this Mangrove Knowledge Hub delivers on a shared vision of the Global Mangrove Alliance and BMZ’s Save Our Mangroves Now! effort. We set out to create a clearinghouse for information that is accessible to anyone via an easy-to-navigate website. Information is critical if we’re to collectively increase the world’s mangrove cover at a scale that really matters for people and the planet. The Hub has general education content on mangroves as well as the details of projects making an impact around the world. We are also collecting and posting the types of resources that help communities, governments, policy-makers, the private sector and non-governmental organizations take action and support proven approaches that restore and protect mangroves. And we’re just getting started. Access to knowledge enhances collaboration and coordination among those on the front lines of protecting and restoring mangrove forests. The Mangrove Knowledge Hub will continue to grow and expand in ways that create efficiencies to help create change. READ MORE

EUROPE

From the Everglades to Kilimanjaro, climate change is destroying world wonders
IUCN report
SWITZERLAND - From the Everglades in the US to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, climate change is destroying the many of the greatest wonders of the natural world. A new report on Monday from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reveals that the number of natural world heritage sites being damaged and at risk from global warming has almost doubled to 62 in the past three years. Those at high risk include iconic places from the Galapagos Islands to the central Amazon and less well known but equally vibrant and unique sites such as the karst caves of Hungary and Slovakia and the monarch butterfly reserves in Mexico. Coral reefs are particularly badly affected by rising ocean temperatures, from the Seychelles to Belize, where the northern hemisphere’s biggest reef is situated. Global heating is also causing mountain glaciers to rapidly shrink, from Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch – home to the largest Alpine glacier. Other ecosystems being damaged are wetlands, such as the Everglades, where sea level is rising as the ocean warms and salt water is intruding. In the Sundarbans mangrove forest on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal, two islands have already been submerged and a dozen more are threatened. Fiercer storms are also increasing the risk of devastation. READ MORE

GLOBAL

WHITEPAPER - Global significance of seagrass fishery activity
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/faf.12259/asset/image_n/faf12259-fig-0001.png?v=1&t=jaeshz4m&s=f9caa588f8ffd75b056545c418a0b95d502b3b2d
GLOBAL - Seagrass meadows support fisheries through provision of nursery areas and trophic subsidies to adjacent habitats. As shallow coastal habitats, they also provide key fishing grounds; however, the nature and extent of such exploitation are poorly understood. These productive meadows are being degraded globally at rapid rates. For degradation to cease, there needs to be better appreciation for the value of these habitats in supporting global fisheries. Here, we provide the first global scale study demonstrating the extent, importance and nature of fisheries exploitation of seagrass meadows. Due to a paucity of available data, the study used a global expert survey to demonstrate the widespread significance of seagrass-based fishing activity. Our study finds that seagrass-based fisheries are globally important and present virtually wherever seagrass exists, supporting subsistence, commercial and recreational activity. A wide range of fishing methods and gear is used reflecting the spatial distribution patterns of seagrass meadows, and their depth ranges from intertidal (accessible by foot) to relatively deep water (where commercial trawls can operate). Seagrass meadows are multispecies fishing grounds targeted by fishers for any fish or invertebrate species that can be eaten, sold or used as bait. In the coastal communities of developing countries, the importance of the nearshore seagrass fishery for livelihoods and well-being is irrefutable. READ MORE
 
 
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ACTION ALERTS

President Abdulla Yameen: Stop Destruction of Kulhudhuffushi Mangroves! CLICK HERE

EARTHCORPS IS HIRING 2018 INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS Do you know a young adult who is working in the environmental field and is looking for an opportunity to advance their career? Tell them about EarthCorps!

PETITION: Cameroon: Release forest defender Nasako Besingi SIGN NOW!

EPIC REPORT Download the paper ‘Mangrove Restoration: to plant or not to plant’, available in 7 languages.

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We invite all school children from tropical and sub-tropical nations, and those who love mangroves, to create art for the 2019 Children's Art Calendar CLICK HERE



VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

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MANGROVE ISSUES 

Want to learn more about mangroves?mangrove-action-project-presentation-1-1024.jpg?cb=1424228039
Our short presentation will give you a better understanding of the issues we are working to solve. WATCH PRESENTATION


What is CBEMR? Easy to follow fact sheet – CLICK HERE

View MAP’s uploaded Videos at MAPmangrover’sChannel
Question Your Shrimp Consumer/Markets Campaign!  
WATCH VIDEO

Mangrove Restoration in Asia – Watch Short Video

Mosaic of Life 
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

The Value of Mangrove Forests View Video

Protecting the sea for people:  a new WFF video on the Philippines largest marine protect area
View Video


CBEMR Experience Exchange MAP 2017 English Subtitles
VIEW THE VIDEO

Mangroves: Guidebook to Malaysia – available for download here
 
Mangrove rehabilitation in Asia – Local Action and cross-border Transfer of Knowledge for the Conservation of Climate, Forests and Biodiversity VIEW VIDEOS HERE
SHARE MAP'S VISION 
CLICK HERE to watch short introductory video. Together we can work "at the roots of the sea".

Our short documentary, Reducing the Risk of Disaster through Nature-Based Solutions : Mangroves
EPIC-Film 2
 
Exclusive Interview with Alfredo Quarto, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mangrove Action Project - See more
 

Marvellous Mangroves Curriculum

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MAP Education Director Martin Keeley’s most recent book is Marvellous Mangroves: Myths and Legends, a compilation of stories from “Mangrove Peoples”—those who live on shorelines where mangroves thrive—from around the world. READ MORE

Marvellous Mangroves Curriculum in Bangladesh - WATCH VIDEO
MARVELLOUS MANGROVES IN BRAZIL
En Portuges


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Marvellous Mangroves – A Curriculum-Based Teachers Guide.


FOR MORE ON MAPs AWARD WINNING CHINA MANGROVE CURRICULUM VISIT
Education in the Mangroves - China
VIMEO SHOW

VISIT OUR "MM" WEBPAGE

Check out our presentation for more details on Marvellous Mangroves

“Education In The Mangroves" can now be seen on the  PhotoPhilanthropy website here!

Read this 10 page history of the development of MAP’s educational curriculum VIEW DOCUMENT
 
Article in Canada's Green Teacher Magazine - Read More

FREE MAP Mangrove e-cards CLICK HERE
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MAP’s e-Cards offer you a unique way to spread the word about MAP’s good works, while sharing beautiful photographs of the mangroves
 
Donate to MAP via Paypal
Giving could never be easier

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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

 
 Volunteer Opportunities with Mangrove Action Project CLICK HERE
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"Question Your Shrimp" Campaign

Question Your Shrimp- Don't Buy or Sell Imported Tropical Shrimp! Sign the Petition

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

Information sheds clear light on shrimp-mangrove connection

Question Your Shrimp
SEE DETAILS MANGROVE/SHRIMP


Sign the Consumer's Pledge to avoid imported shrimp
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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.

 
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Mangrove Action Project
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Thursday, November 9, 2017

MAP News Issue 429, November 11, 2017

Mangrove Action Project

The MAP News
429th Edition                                                     November 11, 2017

FEATURE STORY
 
Hundreds of dead sea turtles found floating off El Salvador
 Dead Sea Turtles
EL SALVADOR - Environmental officials in El Salvador are trying to establish what caused the death of hundreds of sea turtles found floating in the sea. Many of the 400 marine turtles were decomposing when they were discovered off El Salvador's Pacific coast, the country’s environment ministry said. They were found floating around 13km (eight miles) offshore from Jiquilisco Bay, a biosphere reserve located approximately 110km from the capital of San Salvador. “We don't know what caused the sea turtles' death,” the ministry said, adding that laboratory tests would be carried out. “We collected samples from the dead turtles,” they said. “They will be analysed in a laboratory to determine what killed them.” A similar incident occurred in 2013, when hundreds of dead sea turtles were found dead off El Salvador's coast between September and October. Authorities at the time attributed the cause to Toxic algae eaten by the turtles. The WWF says that “many species of sea turtles, freshwater turtles, crocodiles, iguanas, snakes, caimans and alligators” can be found utilising the area’s mangrove ecosystems. READ MORE

AFRICA

Anger seethes on margins of historic clean-up in Nigeria's Delta
Nigerian Mangroves
NIGERIA - Nearly a decade after two catastrophic oil spills in the Niger Delta, a comprehensive clean-up has finally been launched in the southern Nigerian region. Oil companies and activists hope it will be a blueprint for wider rehabilitation but other badly polluted communities are unhappy not to be included. Earlier this month, crews of young men equipped with high pressure hoses began to attack the crude oil that has blighted the creeks and mangrove swamps in the area where they live. The workers from Bodo in Rivers State are beginning a three-year project that claims to mark a new approach to cleaning up the delta, the vast polluted swampland that pumps the oil vital to Africa’s largest economy. Four hundred workers will clear dead foliage and spilled oil before planting new mangroves. The site where they are working is small but organizers hope the anti-pollution drive can be repeated elsewhere in the delta. Unlike clean-up operations run routinely by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, this one is backed by local communities and teams of scientists who will take samples of water, mud and soil in each area to measure progress and determine the best cleaning method. READ MORE

Tanzania's Zanzibar in new drive to save mangrove forests
Zanzibar mangroves
TANZANIA - Tanzania's semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar has embarked on a campaign against mangrove destruction along the isles' coastline. Sheha Mjaja Juma, Director General of the Zanzibar Environment Management Authority (ZEMA), told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday that the campaign aimed at protecting and replanting mangrove forests. "Our aim is to save mangrove forests from extinction as the rate at which mangroves are being cut is worrying. In fact, the rate of replacement does not match with what we are losing," the official said, explaining that the dense root systems of mangrove forests trap sediments flowing down rivers and off the land. "It helps stabilize the coastline and prevents erosion from waves and storms. In areas where mangroves have been cleared, coastal damage from hurricanes and typhoons is much more severe," Juma said. Apart from protecting coral reefs and seagrass meadows from being smothered in sediment, mangrove forests also produce numerous good and services both to the marine environment and people, according to Juma. The strategies will include educating people on the need to protect the environment as well as reinforcing the fight against mangrove cutting along the coastline. READ MORE

ASIA

NOTE FROM THE E.D.> Here is yet another battle to save a primary mangrove forest area- this time in the Maldives. I ask that we take a stand on this and other current battle fronts to save the mangroves before they are destroyed. Restoration is an ultimate recourse after the damage has been done, but we must prevent that damage in the first place if we hope to reach our goals of a future with mangroves!
President Abdulla Yameen: Stop Destruction of Kulhudhuffushi Mangrove 
Stop destruction of Mangrove
Kulhudhuffushi Mangrove is the largest black mangrove forest in the Maldives. It hosts 8 species of true mangrove plants, 42 associated plant species and supports the entire ecosystem of the island.  Maldives is extremely vulnerable to climate change. We receive millions of dollars each year for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Just this year we received USD 23 million from the Green Climate Fund. It is hypocritical to actively destroy our most critical ecosystems while taking this money. As the chair of Alliance Of Small Island States (AOSIS) and our obligations under international environmental conventions, we must show leadership in taking action against climate change. The Environmental Impact Assessment done for the project itself states that “the positive impacts might not outweigh the negative impacts associated with the project”. We ask you to therefore reconsider the development of the airport by reclaiming the mangrove of Kulhudhuffushi and causing irreversible damage to island ecosystem. READ MORE

2,500 trees to be cut down for Kulhudhuffushi airport
Khulhunhuffushi
MALDIVES -The Kulhudhuffushi council expects about 2,500 trees and plants to be felled or removed from the island’s mangrove forest for the construction of an airport. With dredging and land reclamation expected to begin in early November, the wetland area in the island’s northern end is now under the authority of the Regional Airports department of the tourism ministry, the island council president Abdul Latheef Hassan told the Maldives Independent. “It is up to Regional Airports to decide when to cut down trees in the kulhi,” he said by phone Monday morning. “We shared the land use plan of Kulhudhuffushi that includes the airport with the people before the end of July. We’ve also counted and marked the coconut palm trees two months ago after a request from the housing ministry and opened for complaints regarding the procedure.” Latheef added that the council has also contacted families who would have to move from the airport construction site. “We’ve also identified people that need compensation after relocation from the area and asked them to get in touch with the council if they have any issues.” The opposition-dominated council came under fire last week after announcing that the public was free to cut down or remove plants, including ironwood, tall silted mangrove, and sea lettuce. READ MORE

Seaside villagers set example in mangrove conservation
Orissa India
INDIA - In the times of massive deforestation and large scale conversion of forest land for industrial and housing purposes, the inhabitants of a seaside village in Jamboo panchayat of this district have set an example of sorts in conservation of mangroves, a report said. Kandarapatia in Mahakalapara block has a fragile ecosystem. However, its 500-odd residents have been protecting the mangroves surrounding the village over the last 18 years and to a large extent have been successful in preventing felling of trees by the timber mafia. Mangroves act as protective shields during cyclones and play a major role in maintaining the ecological balance. Besides, mangroves are the earth’s natural filtering system, capable of absorbing pollutants and carbon dioxide, thereby lessening the impact of global warming. Samal Majumdar, the village head, says, “Some people from Digha, Contai and Midnapore of West Bengal settled in the forest land here in the 1960s. Like others, they also destroyed the fragile ecosystem by cutting mangroves for their day-to-day use. But everything changed after a team of the MS Swaminathan Foundation visited the village in 1997 and educated the locals about the significant role of mangrove vegetation in coastal pockets.” “It was the mangrove forest that acted as a bio-shield during the 1999 Super Cyclone and saved our village from nature’s fury,” says Satyaranjan Bera, member of a forest protection committee. READ MORE

Satellite Imagery to be Used to Track India's Mangrove Forests
India's Mangrove Forests
INDIA - he state mangrove cell has approved a proposal from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology in Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and commissioned the research project to them to track the health of mangrove forests using real-time satellite remote sensing data. Satellite images will be relayed to the forest department on a monthly basis in the form of reports to check area-wise increase, destruction cases and areas where restoration can be done. Maps indicating the health of mangrove forests will be developed, which will include mangrove density, fragmentation, diversity, vegetation indices, erosion or accretion status, drainage density, sedimentation and blockages along river or estuary courses. This is the first time any state in India has allocated its resources to survey mangrove cover along its coastline, said mangrove cell officials. The proposal was received earlier this year and after several meetings to discuss the requirements from either side, it was cleared and the research project was awarded to the organization. READ MORE

AMERICAS

Map’s Exec Dir to speak - Nov. 16 in Port Angeles
Mangrove-Project_A. Quarto
USA - “Global Perspective on the Value of Mangroves and their Importance in Combatting Climate Change”, presented by Alfredo Quarto, the executive director of Mangrove Action Project (MAP). The talk, part of Peninsula College’s “Studium Generale”, will takle place at Little Theater on Thursday, November 16, 2017 - 12:30pm. The theatre is located at 1502 E Lauridsen Blvd, Port Angeles, WA. While the event is college sponsored for students, the public is invited and the event is free. For more than 25 years, MAP has worked to conserve and restore mangroves, while promoting the rights of local communities to more effectively participate in the process. READ MORE

Seaweed could be scrubbing way more carbon from the atmosphere than we expected
Seaweed carbon sink
USA - If you’ve even eaten sushi, you know that seaweed goes great with rice and fish. But recent research suggests that seaweed is more than just a culinary partner — it could be an overlooked ally in the fight against climate change. By dying and drifting down to the deep sea, seaweeds like kelp may sequester more carbon than all other marine plants combined That’s a big deal, because saltwater plants like mangroves and seagrasses are well-known dynamos when it comes to storing carbon. Per acre, these “blue carbon” ecosystems can take up 20 times more CO2 from the atmosphere than land-based forests. The secret to their carbon-storing success lies not in the plants, but in the rich muck they grow in. As marine plants grow and die, their leaves, roots, stems and branches wind up buried in underwater sediments. These low-oxygen sediments can store carbon for decades or longer. Seaweeds, on the other hand, were long ignored as a carbon sink. But a study published in Nature Geoscience found that our assumptions about seaweed could be wrong. The study estimated that about 11 percent of total seaweed production may be sequestered, most of it after it sinks down into the deep sea. READ MORE

Could bombing Louisiana's coast with seeds save it?
Seed bombing mangroves
USA - A crop duster airplane took aim at Sarah Mack's little boat bobbing on the edge of a salt marsh. Swooping low, it began dropping thousands of little green pods. "Watch out," said Mack, ducking under the boat's roof. "They leave some good welts." The pods plopped in the marsh and splashed along the shore. A few pinged off the boat's bow as the plane pulled up for another run. Tierra Resources, a wetland restoration company, is trying a new tactic in the fight against coastal land loss - carpet bombing marshes with mangrove seedlings. Mack, Tierra's founder, led crews that spent last week gathering a half-million of the lima bean-sized seedlings, known as propagules, and then spilled them across marshes near Port Fourchon, a hub of oil shipping in the northern Gulf of Mexico. READ MORE

EUROPE

Indigenous forests could be a key to averting climate catastrophe
Indigenous Tropical Forest
GERMANY - The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 23), which opened Nov. 6 in Bonn, Germany occurs at a crisis point: most climate scientists now agree that the carbon cuts agreed to in Paris in 2015 are insufficient for keeping global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, with potentially catastrophic implications for civilization. More bad news: the world’s tropical forests which helped store human carbon emissions until the start of the 21st century, may no longer be carbon sinks. Researchers at the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts recently determined that tropical forests could have experienced a net loss of around 425 million tons of carbon between 2003 and 2014, largely the result of deforestation and forest degradation. READ MORE

Climate finance failing on forest protection
Climate finance failing
UK - Climate finance, while efficient in sectors such as renewable energy, is not effective in protecting increasingly threatened forests or the rights of their inhabitants, a new report shows. “It’s just so much easier to put money into wind farms,” Charlotte Streck, director of the advisory company Climate Focus, says during the launch of the report (24 October) in London attended by a delegation of indigenous leaders from Brazil, Indonesia and other developing countries. “You have energy projects worth hundreds of million dollars that are easy to invest in, easy to assess and whose results are measurable.” To emphasise the neglect, the report compared the finance flowing towards forest protection and subsidies supporting intensive agriculture and land development. Findings show that the US$20 billion invested in stopping deforestation is dwarfed by the almost US$780 billion spent since 2010 in what the authors call ‘grey finance’—which has an unclear but potentially negative impact on forests. READ MORE
 
 
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WHITE PAPER - RESEARCH ARTICLE APPLIED ECOLOGY
Science Advances 08 Nov 2017:
Vol. 3, no. 11, e1701345
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701345

Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests
Is active restoration the best approach to achieve ecological restoration success (the return to a reference condition, that is, old-growth forest) when compared to natural regeneration in tropical forests? Our meta-analysis of 133 studies demonstrated that natural regeneration surpasses active restoration in achieving tropical forest restoration success for all three biodiversity groups (plants, birds, and invertebrates) and five measures of vegetation structure (cover, density, litter, biomass, and height) tested. Restoration success for biodiversity and vegetation structure was 34 to 56% and 19 to 56% higher in natural regeneration than in active restoration systems, respectively, after controlling for key biotic and abiotic factors (forest cover, precipitation, time elapsed since restoration started, and past disturbance). Biodiversity responses were based primarily on ecological metrics of abundance and species richness (74%), both of which take far less time to achieve restoration success than similarity and composition. READ MORE






 

ACTION ALERTS

President Abdulla Yameen: Stop Destruction of Kulhudhuffushi Mangrove ! Click to share this petition on Facebook

EARTHCORPS IS HIRING 2018 INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS Do you know a young adult who is working in the environmental field and is looking for an opportunity to advance their career? Tell them about EarthCorps!

PETITION: Cameroon: Release forest defender Nasako Besingi SIGN NOW!

EPIC REPORT Download the paper ‘Mangrove Restoration: to plant or not to plant’, available in 7 languages.

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We invite all school children from tropical and sub-tropical nations, and those who love mangroves, to create art for the 2019 Children's Art Calendar CLICK HERE



VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Become a volunteer at Gunjur Environmental Protection and Development Group (Gambia) GEPADG, see the photos below on some volunteer activities. http://gepadg.jilankanet.com/our-volunteers/4548872938


The Value of Mangrove Forests View Video

Protecting the sea for people:  a new WFF video on the Philippines largest marine protect area
View Video


CBEMR Experience Exchange MAP 2017 English Subtitles
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The world's largest mangrove forest is in danger from a massive coal plant.
UNESCO can put pressure on India and Bangladesh to protect the forest, but they need to see that people around the world are speaking out. Click here to add your voice

Mangroves: Guidebook to Malaysia – available for download here
 
Mangrove rehabilitation in Asia – Local Action and cross-border Transfer of Knowledge for the Conservation of Climate, Forests and Biodiversity VIEW VIDEOS HERE
 
STOP PLANTING MANGROVES ON SEAGRASS BEDS _ A CALL TO ACTION
Want to learn more about mangroves?mangrove-action-project-presentation-1-1024.jpg?cb=1424228039
Our short presentation will give you a better understanding of the issues we are working to solve. WATCH PRESENTATION

What is CBEMR? Easy to follow fact sheet – CLICK HERE

SHARE MAP'S VISION 
CLICK HERE to watch short introductory video. Together we can work "at the roots of the sea".

Our short documentary, Reducing the Risk of Disaster through Nature-Based Solutions : Mangroves
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Exclusive Interview with Alfredo Quarto, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mangrove Action Project - See more
 
Question Your Shrimp- Don't Buy or Sell Imported Tropical Shrimp! Sign the Petition

Marvellous Mangroves Curriculum

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MAP Education Director Martin Keeley’s most recent book is Marvellous Mangroves: Myths and Legends, a compilation of stories from “Mangrove Peoples”—those who live on shorelines where mangroves thrive—from around the world. READ MORE

Marvellous Mangroves Curriculum in Bangladesh - WATCH VIDEO
MARVELLOUS MANGROVES IN BRAZIL
En Portuges


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Marvellous Mangroves – A Curriculum-Based Teachers Guide.


FOR MORE ON MAPs AWARD WINNING CHINA MANGROVE CURRICULUM VISIT
Education in the Mangroves - China
VIMEO SHOW

VISIT OUR "MM" WEBPAGE

Check out our presentation for more details on Marvellous Mangroves

“Education In The Mangroves" can now be seen on the  PhotoPhilanthropy website here!

Read this 10 page history of the development of MAP’s educational curriculum VIEW DOCUMENT
 
Article in Canada's Green Teacher Magazine - Read More

FREE MAP Mangrove e-cards CLICK HERE
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MAP’s e-Cards offer you a unique way to spread the word about MAP’s good works, while sharing beautiful photographs of the mangroves
 
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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

 
 Volunteer Opportunities with Mangrove Action Project CLICK HERE
MANGROVE ISSUES 
View MAP’s uploaded Videos at MAPmangrover’sChannel
Question Your Shrimp Consumer/Markets Campaign!  WATCH VIDEO

Mangrove Restoration in Asia – Watch Short Video

Mosaic of Life 
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

 
"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

Information sheds clear light on shrimp-mangrove connection

Question Your Shrimp
SEE DETAILS MANGROVE/SHRIMP

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Sign the Consumer's Pledge to avoid imported shrimp
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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.

 
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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...