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Thursday, July 30, 2020

Mangrove Action Project - Fight against shrimp that eats mangroves

Written by Monica Monsalve and Molly Multedo for


 Close your eyes and imagine some wetlands with magical trees, with huge roots that come out of a gray, half-swampy ground. A place that is right where freshwater and saltwater meet: where there are canals to navigate, manatees, crocodiles, monkeys and many species of birds. Those are the mangroves ”. This is how Mónica Gutiérrez Quarto, a Chilean artist who now lives in the United States, describes one of the ecosystems to which she has dedicated part of her work.

As a member of the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) team, an initiative founded by her husband Alfredo Quarto, she uses art to educate children around the world about mangroves: one of the most important forests for climate change. Although little is said about them, mangroves are full of stunning properties. They serve as natural barriers to prevent soil erosion, protect coastal communities from hurricanes, and are the place where fish breed. Furthermore, as Gutiérrez explains, "they sequester five times more carbon dioxide than other trees." In fact, according to The Convention on Wetlands, known as the Ramsar Convention, mangroves and the corresponding wetlands represent almost a third of the world's terrestrial carbon reserves. What makes them key to combat climate change.


But as with many ecosystems, mangroves are under threat. Alfredo found out about this several years ago when he traveled to southern Thailand and knew the problem first hand. There, as in other parts of the world, shrimp farms were being installed, which affected not only the ecosystem, but also threatened the communities that live on them and were opposing these projects. Since then, their mission, together with MAP, has been to work to reforest and restore them. But they do not do it in a conventional way, simply by planting the trees and their seeds, but by involving the community. A method that, according to Quarto, has proven to be more effective.


In addition, as part of the line of education, MAP has contacted several schools in different parts of the world so that teachers can teach students why their community benefits from mangroves. Part of the initiative is for children to make a piece of art to participate in a contest, led by Monica, to make one of those works part of the world's mangrove calendar. “Each school sends us three or four pieces and we choose one. Then we send them the calendar with the certificate that they participated and the children love it, because they are part of an international project, with students from all sides, "says the artist. Although most of the mangroves are Indonesia, Latin America follows in importance of these territories. According to the EcoAmericas portal, Brazil is the second country with the most mangroves and the ecosystem can also be found in Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and other Central American nations. In the United States there are mangroves on the Florida coast.

Note -

This story was developed in collaboration with Project Drawdown and is based on the Coastal Wetland Restoration solution .


Saturday, July 18, 2020

MAP Issue #499 - July 18, 2020

Mangrove Action Project
The MAP News
499th Edition                                                     July 18, 2020
FEATURE

Cyclone Amphan reminds us why mangrove conservation is essential
Myanmar CBEMR MAP Training
INDIA - “Before 2009, we had never planted a mangrove before, we were working on wildlife and tigers. Cyclone Aila was an eye-opener for us ﹘ whatever you do in the Sundarbans, it has to be mangrove conservation in essence. If the mangroves are not there, the wildlife won’t be there, the people won’t be there, the delta won’t be there.” Ajanta Dey, Joint Secretary and Program Director, Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS), a conservation NGO working on ecology, sustainable livelihood and natural resource management in the Sundarbans area of West Bengal said, days after the state was ravaged by Cyclone Amphan, one of the worst cyclones, since 1737, some have claimed, plunging many regions into a power blackout.  Jim Enright, Community-based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR) trainer and former Asia coordinator, Mangrove Action Project (MAP), an organization working on mangrove restoration, education and advocacy across the globe, explained MAP’s CBEMR model, which involves community buy-in from the inception of the program to better understand their needs and abilities.  “The community is central to the mangroves. They live in the mangroves, they depend on the mangroves, their livelihoods are connected to the mangroves. If they don’t have full ownership, it’s never going to work. This is again why we observe many government projects failing, because they never involve the local people in the decision-making process or long-term protection.” he says. READ MORE

GLOBAL

Momentum Growing Globally for Using Marine Protections to Address Climate Change
Addressing Climate Change
GLOBAL - This year, the 197 Parties to the Paris Agreement are updating their domestic climate commitments, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), to reduce global emissions and climate change impacts. Science tells us that countries need to step up the ambition within these NDCs, and within each subsequent revision every 5 years going forward, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and bring the world on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Recognition is growing across governments that nature-based solutions, which the International Union for Conservation of Nature defines as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems,” can be a bigger part of the solution to climate change. The degree to which different nature-based solutions mitigate and build resilience to climate change varies but, nonetheless, policymakers are becoming increasingly aware that they are an underutilized tool. For example, some countries could protect and restore coastal wetlands, such as mangrove, seagrass and saltmarsh habitats, a move that could safeguard the range of benefits these habitats provide to people and nature. READ MORE

AFRICA

Supporting sustainable seaweed farming for East Africa’s coastal communities
Tanzania
TANZANIA - Climate change and unsustainable practices are threatening seaweed farming in Tanzania, an industry that employs over 25,000 farmers, of whom around 80 percent are women. To help address these challenges, The Nature Conservancy is partnering with Cargill, local governments and researchers to empower communities through increased productivity, environmental training and mentorship. Along the Tanzanian coastline, seaweed aquaculture is an important industry to coastal women and also serves as an alternative livelihood to overharvested local fisheries. However, Tanzanian seaweed aquaculture has been stagnating recently, due to issues that include changing water-quality conditions and poor seedstock. Additionally, unsustainable farming practices damage sensitive coastal habitats. That said, when practiced well, seaweed aquaculture has the potential to be ecologically restorative and provide ecosystem services, while still producing a marketable product. To help address these roadblocks to sustainability, my team at The Nature Conservancy and our partners at Cargill are launching a new community-empowerment and environmental-training programme in Tanzania. This partnership will be a collaboration between us, Cargill’s Red Seaweed Promise, local suppliers, government partners and researchers to work with seaweed farmers on Unguja and Pemba Islands, part of Tanzania’s Zanzibar Archipelago. By working with villages, we will be able to host farmer training workshops and build local leadership capacity via mentoring programmes. This mentorship will build much-needed local capacity and ensure a continued technical presence. READ MORE
 
ASIA

Neykurendhoo Mangrove Forest under threat!
Neyrukrendhoo-Maldives
MALDIVES - Neykurendhoo is home to one of the biggest mangrove forests in the Maldives which is now under the threat of being critically damaged. The mangove in the island of HDh. Neykurahdoo is one of the biggest in the country. But today we are faced with the stark reality that this natural gift for us might be taken away from us. The island’s council left no stones unturned in their attempt to highlight this concerning outturn to the relevant authorities. Photos of the disintegrating mangrove that has been circulated in social media platforms accentuate the graveness of its condition. In December 2018, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih pledged to protect and conserve H.dh Neykurendhoo’s mangrove forest and wetland as per his 100 day pledge to conserve– in accordance with international standards–at least one island, one reef, and one wetland in each atoll. READ MORE
 
Civil war didn’t hurt this Sri Lankan mangrove forest, but shrimp farming might
Sri Lanka Mangroves
SRILANKA - The Vidattaltivu coastal belt in Sri Lanka’s north was once home to the marine unit of the Tamil Tiger guerrilla group, known as the “Sea Tigers.” From here, the group launched explosive-laden suicide boats in attacks against the much more powerful fighter vessels of the country’s naval forces. The area’s lush mangroves proved an effective hiding place for storing explosives. More than a decade after the end of the civil war, the ecology of this picturesque nature reserve is under threat: there are plans to set up a shrimp aquaculture park here, which environmentalists have blasted as “environmental suicide.” Sri Lanka has a bitter history of shrimp farms going wrong. In the 1980s, large swaths of mangroves in the northwestern coast were cleared to farm shrimps for export. But frequent outbreaks of disease led to about 90% of the shrimp farms being abandoned. READ MORE
 
Meet The Man Who Spent Time With The Mysterious Mangrove Tigers
bengal-tiger-yawning-in-sundarban
BANGLADESH - Over the years, few outsiders have dared venture into the beautiful yet terrifying terrain of the famous Swamp tigers. This Bengal tiger population inhabits the mysterious mangrove forests of the Sundarbans on the delta along the Bay of Bengal in India and Bangladesh. Throughout history, these tigers have inspired the awe. They have been revered for their enigmatic nature and ability to inhabit a land where everyday life is a constant struggle. These tigers have also earned a reputation as "man-eaters" but that remains a debatable issue.  The world's only tiger population to inhabit the mangroves, the lives of the Sundarbans tigers are shrouded in secrecy. Even today, a lot remains undiscovered about them. The harsh nature of their unique habitat hinders most from studying these tigers in detail. But one man, an award-winning wildlife cameraman, Mike Herd, was not to be stopped. His first glimpse of a stunning male Sundarbans tiger along the bank of a river enticed him enough to dedicate nearly half a year to filming these tigers. Without paying any heed to warnings about the alleged "man-eaters," he decided to enter the home turf of these tigers in the year 2000 in the Sundarbans forests of Bangladesh. His dedication, fearlessness, patience, and talent led to the production of the multi-award winning "Swamp Tigers" documentary. To this day, "Swamp Tigers" continues to thrill viewers by bringing them face to face with the legendary Sundarbans tigers! World Atlas had the privilege of speaking with Mike Herd, the first person in the world to film the elusive Sundarbans tigers. READ MORE
 
Oil slick threatens Philippine mangrove forest recovering from earlier spill
Philippines Oilspill
PHILLIPINES - An oil spill on July 3 threatens a mangrove forest on the Philippine island of Guimaras, an area only just recovering from the country’s largest spill in 2006. This latest spill stems from an explosion onboard a floating power barge in the 13-kilometer (8-mile) waterway between the city of Iloilo and Guimaras Island. Operator AC Energy Inc. said the incident spilled 48,000 liters (12,700 gallons) of fuel oil into the Iloilo River and its tributaries before being contained eight hours later. But the Philippine Coast Guard said around 251,000 liters (66,300 gallons) of oil had spread around the waterway. The day after, July 4, the Coast Guard estimated it had collected 130,000 liters (34,300 gallons) of oil. Some of the oil was swept out of the containment area by strong waves and carried across to communities in Guimaras. “The root cause has yet to be determined,” AC Energy said in a statement. “But initial findings reveal that the discharge is due to the ignition of fuel oil in storage which ruptured the barge’s fuel tank.” READ MORE
 
Overlooked Methane Emissions Can Halve Climate Benefits of Subtropical Mangrove Wetlands
overlooked-methane-emissions
HONG KONG - An international collaborative study led by Professor Derrick Yuk Fo Lai at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), joined by top-tier scientists from around the world, has discovered that sustained methane emissions from the subtropical estuarine mangroves can reduce its climatic cooling effects by over 50%, over a period of 20 years. The team produced the world’s first-ever multi-year dataset of ecosystem-scale methane emissions from a subtropical estuarine mangrove based on the data collected at Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong, which points out that global warming and greater river runoff may lead to increasing methane emissions. The findings have recently been published in Global Change Biology. Vegetated coastal wetlands such as mangroves and salt marshes sequester more carbon than any other ecosystems. They exhibit high rates of photosynthetic carbon dioxide uptake and sediment trapping, leading to significant carbon storage in the ecosystem and hence reduced accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The potential of managing this “blue carbon” for climate change mitigation has received increasing attention in recent years in the international community READ MORE

AMERICAS

Mangrove protection, Caribbean coral loss, dam development and more
mangrove study
USA - More than 31 million people worldwide live in regions that are extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise and hurricanes or tropical cyclones. According to a new study, mangroves and coral reefs could help protect more than a quarter of people at risk by serving as a buffer between coastal communities and ocean waves or flooding, and by significantly reducing erosion. Conservation International scientists Dave Hole, Will Turner and Mariano Gonzalez-Roglich looked at mangrove forests and coral reefs situated near coastal populations around the world. They found that communities across Central America, the Caribbean, Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific region stand to benefit the most from the conservation of these coastal ecosystems. Based on a range of economic and other societal factors, these communities have fewer opportunities to adapt via other means, such as building sea walls or buying insurance. READ MORE
 
25 million gallons of Longboat sewage spill onto mangrove habitat
Longboat Key
USA - More than 25 million gallons of sewage spilled onto the shoreline area of Longbar Point in West Bradenton from a ruptured wastewater pipe that carries all of Longboat Key’s wastewater to the mainland. Longboat Key Town Manager Tom Harmer said staff and state and county agencies will investigate the exact cause of the break, the time it began and the extent of the spill and any incursion into Sarasota Bay. The area of the spill is in the mangrove habitat that forms a buffer between the bay and the mainland and is on property owned by developer Carlos Beruff. Harmer said Longboat staff was aware of anomalies and disparities in what was shown being pumped at Longboat Key lift stations and what was registering at Manatee County’s wastewater facility on the mainland. Manatee County facility workers first noticed possible issues on June 17, and communicated with Longboat staff over the next two weeks. Initially, Longboat believed it was a meter or equipment issue at the pumping or treatment station. It wasn’t until June 29 that the spill was discovered by Manatee employees after they inspected the area that the pipe traverses.  The break in the pipe was discovered and repaired the same day by the town’s emergency contractors. It is unknown at this time how much sewage flowed directly into Sarasota Bay. READ MORE
 
Mangrove restoration to begin
Cape Coral Florida
USA - Mangroves that were damaged one year ago due to botched maintenance work project by the city of Cape Coral will be replaced next weekend, weather permitting. Local non-profit group Keep Lee County Beautiful, in conjunction with the city and with 15 volunteers from the Cape Coral group "Citizens for the Preservation of Four Mile Cove" will plant 164 mangroves along the shoreline at Coral Pointe Canal on July 18. This is the last box on a checklist mandated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on what the city needed to do to remedy its July 2019 maintenance work that's purpose, according to the city, was the removal of invasive exotic vegetation from the canal bank which impeded draining and restricted navigation. In the process, according to FDEP, they damaged mangroves, which are protected in Florida. Mike Thomas, program manager with Keep Lee County Beautiful said they were more than happy to take part in this replanting project." READ MORE

EUROPE
 
The carbon on your plate: mangrove and aquaculture
Aquaculture
E.U. - One of the biggest threats to mangrove forests is the expansion of aquaculture ponds. Roughly 30 percent of mangrove deforestation and coastal land-use change in Southeast Asia has been attributed to aquaculture, especially shrimp farming. And as the top aquaculture commodity, the marine shrimp industry is forecast to continue its expansion, according to a report launched by Planet Tracker. Yet, somewhat ironically, deforestation may damage the shrimp industry, which the non-profit financial think tank says is worth $45 billion, globally. Coastal degradation and deforestation will make shrimp farms more prone to damage and diseases, resulting in higher operating costs and lower profit margins. Positive signs are emerging for ecologically conscious investors and as more countries and companies within the shrimp aquaculture sector have started to adopt deforestation-free value chain policies. The European Union, the biggest importer of shrimp from Southeast Asia, is a trendsetter in this regard. Pressures from investors are also key to achieving more sustainable, deforestation-free aquaculture, says Matthew McLuckie, director of Investor Relations at Planet Tracker. READ MORE

LAST WORD

Dear All,

Please help spread the word on this year's children's mangrove art calendar competition! The contest is now open to anyone from any country between the ages of 6-15. Keep in mind, the deadline is Aug. 30th, so lets get those entries in ASAP!

Do you know a budding artist or a gifted child? We would love to feature their vision of what the mangroves mean to them, our planet and their future.

For more information, please visit Mangrove Action Project Calendar Project or download the PDF here

Ciao,
Monica Quarto
monicagquarto@olympus.net

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ENTRIES NEEDED!

2021
CHILDREN'S ART CALENDAR

MAP Calendar 2020


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Saturday, July 4, 2020

MAP News Issue #498 - July 4, 2020

Mangrove Action Project
The MAP News
498th Edition                                                     July 4, 2020
FEATURE

Mangrove Conservation Can Help Countries Meet Emissions Reduction Goals
Mangrove Conservation Key
MEXICO - Protecting mangrove forests—one of the planet’s most effective habitats for capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide—could help countries meet their goals for reducing carbon emissions while providing other ecosystem benefits, according to new research. A team of researchers, including 2018 Pew marine fellow Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, used Mexico as a case study to demonstrate how countries can use the carbon storage potential of their mangrove forests to estimate the climate-related costs of deforestation. This type of accounting, the team says in its article published in the peer-reviewed journal Ambio, can enable countries to make progress toward emissions reduction targets by conserving their coastal habitats. The research was led by Joy Kumagai at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, where Aburto-Oropeza is an associate professor of marine biology. Aburto-Oropeza hopes that the research will inform future decision-making about how and where conservation resources are applied to maximize environmental and societal benefits, which extend well beyond carbon sequestration. As the authors wrote in their article, “If the costs of these programs are less than the projected damages, the benefits far outweigh the investment, as mangroves provide numerous other valuable ecosystem services.” READ MORE

GLOBAL

Thresholds of mangrove survival under rapid sea level rise
Mangrove survival
GLOBAL - The rate of sea level rise has doubled from 1.8 millimeters per year over the 20th century to ∼3.4 millimeters per year in recent years. Saintilan et al. investigated the likely effects of this increasing rate of rise on coastal mangrove forest, a tropical ecosystem of key importance for coastal protection (see the Perspective by Lovelock). They reviewed data on mangrove accretion 10,000 to 7000 years before present, when the rate of sea level rise was even higher than today as a result of glacial ice melt. Their analysis suggests an upper threshold of 7 millimeters per year as the maximum rate of sea level rise associated with mangrove vertical development, beyond which the ecosystem fails to keep up with the change. Under projected rates of sea level rise, they predict that a deficit between accretion and sea level rise is likely to commence in the next 30 years. READ MORE

Threatened mangrove forests won’t protect coasts
Threatened mangroves
GLOBAL - If sea levels go on rising at ever higher rates, then by 2 Researchers from Australia, China, Singapore and the US report in the journal Science that they looked at the evidence locked in the sediments in 78 locations from the last 10,000 years, to work out how mangrove forests have – through the millennia – responded to changes in sea level. At the close of the last ice age, sea levels rose at 10mm a year and slowed to nearly stable conditions 4000 years ago. In a high emissions scenario, by 2050 sea level rise would exceed 6mm: the scientists found a 90 per cent probability that mangroves would not be able to grow fast enough to keep up. Nor – because of the development of coastal settlements worldwide – would the forests be able to shift inland. “This research therefore highlights yet another compelling reason why countries must take urgent action to reduce carbon emissions,” said Benjamin Horton of Nanyang Technical University in Singapore, one of the researchers. READ MORE

Forests in a time of crises
Global Forests
GLOBAL - People everywhere recognize that forests and trees help combat climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. Many also understand their importance to rural livelihoods. Getting trees in the ground, keeping them there, and ensuring that the potential benefits materialize are not easy. In 2019, two of the world’s leading organizations focused on forestry and agroforestry, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) embarked on a bold merger venture in order to provide the evidence and innovative solutions needed to scale up investment in sustainable development and address the global challenges of our time. Uniquely equipped to deliver transformative science thanks to the diverse skills of our more than 700 staff and long-established partnerships, CIFOR-ICRAF is better placed than ever before to address local challenges and opportunities while solving global problems. READ MORE

AFRICA

Fish prices spike as Cameroon’s mangroves face total depletion 
Cameroon mangroves threatened
CAMEROON - In Cameroon, extensive mangrove systems provide an abundance to the communities that surround them. From firewood to fish, communities have depended on mangroves, locally known as matanda, for years. These low-lying, tide-resistant shrubs grow in salty water and cover nearly 60 percent of the southwest region alone, but also spread across three regions: Rio de Ray, Wouri Estuary Douala and Ntem South, according to Ekwadi Songe, southwest regional delegate of environment, nature protection and sustainable development. Due to overfishing and overharvesting its wood, mangroves have seriously depleted in recent years. Sea level rise due to climate change also threatens the mangrove ecosystem. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a spike in the price of fish is largely blamed on mangrove depletion. As of 2010, Cameroon’s mangroves were nearly 75 percent depleted, but today’s figures are likely much higher, according to the Andalou Agency. “If mangroves go extinct, fish will finish in Cameroon,” said Songe, the southwest regional delegate. READ MORE

The Toxic Legacy of 60 Years of Abundant Oil
Nigerias Environmental Distress
NIGERIA - It’s one of the most polluted spots on Earth, and prospects of a turnaround only get worse as Covid-19 guts a global industry. In the past decade, crude has gone from providing about 80% of all Nigerian state revenue to about 50% last year. This year, with the global economy hit by the coronavirus adding to existing trends as the world shifts away from fossil fuels, the government projects an 80% decline in oil income. That creates a bitter reality for residents at the center of Africa’s biggest petroleum industry: they’ll have little help cleaning up pollution that’s deprived entire communities in the Niger River delta of their fishing and farming livelihoods. “Over so many years both the government and the oil companies have made promises to clean up without doing so,” said Pius Waritimi, an art teacher and environmental activist based in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt. “If oil loses its importance as a source of revenue, it’s likely the Niger delta will be abandoned to its fate.” READ MORE

AMERICA

New Aquatic Preserve Off Florida Is Big Win for Wildlife, Habitat, and Long-Term Economy
Florida Aquatic Preserve
USA - Off Florida’s west coast, seagrass beds stretch for miles and for decades have supported a significant part of the regional economy. That’s why the Florida House and Senate passed legislation to protect about 400,000 acres of seagrass—a measure that Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law today. The Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve off Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco counties is the first new preserve to be designated in more than 30 years and the 42nd in a state system designed to maintain water quality and biological value to ensure healthy ecosystems. The preserve, which covers part of the Gulf of Mexico’s largest seagrass bed, still allows traditional activities such as boating, fishing, and scalloping. “The Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve is an essential tool in keeping our marine environment healthy,” said Mike Desabrais, vice president of Port Hudson Fishing Club in Pasco County. “Lawmakers and the governor have significantly helped that environment, and future generations will see great value in their efforts.” READ MORE

ASIA

Unknown phenomenon destroying northern wetlands
MALDIVES
MALDIVES - “People used to say back then that even a bullet could not pass through the mangroves. That the mangroves were so thick, that even a bullet could not pass through. As long as I can remember, there were a lot of small-leafed orange mangroves.” Ali Adam, ,H.Dh. Neykurendhoo Council president reminisced his childhood. The wetland of Neykurendhoo, is some of the biggest in the country. The most prominent mangrove in the area is the small-leafed orange mangrove, locally called kan'doo. Residents of Neykurendhoo grew up by sourcing food from these trees. The strong wood from the small-leafed orange mangroves was used to build boats. The area is nature’s gift for the island and remains as its pride. However, this is slowly becoming the past. Ali Adam said that the mangroves were not as thick and strong as they used to be. Dangers faced by the mangroves have led to questions surrounding its future. Tree leaves in a large portion of the area have turned yellow. The trees on the other hand are withering and dying. Neykurendhoo is not the only location to be hit by this phenomenon. The wetlands of H.A. Kelaa and N. Kendhihulhudhoo are also experiencing similar issues. READ MORE

Bangladesh coal plants threaten world’s largest mangrove forest
Bangladesh Coal
BANGLADESH - Cyclone Amphan, the most powerful to strike in the Bay of Bengal in 20 years, made landfall on the India-Bangladesh coast last month. Amphan ripped off roofs, washed away homes, and flooded farms. Crucially, Bangladesh was able to mitigate impact and save lives because of its robust emergency response system with early warnings and mass-evacuations. But coastal communities were also protected by Bangladesh’s natural storm shield: the Sundarbans. A protected World Heritage site, this mangrove forest holds land together with its roots as the tides rise. As climate change increases the intensity of extreme weather events like Amphan, the Sundarbans are at risk when they’re needed most. But the Bangladesh government threatens to destroy these life-saving forests by building coal-fired power plants that could subject them, and the nearly 2.5 million people who depend on them for their livelihoods, to harmful pollution. And while the mangroves slow climate change by soaking up carbon, coal-fired plants contribute greenhouse gas emissions that fuel global warming. READ MORE

Plant 50 million mangroves in the Sundarbans? Improbable, say experts
50 million mangroves
BANGLADESH - The Sundarbans would need an area nearly half the size of Kolkata to plant 50 million mangrove trees as decided by the West Bengal government recently, which is improbable, experts have said. They cited a lack of space as the primary reason along with a number of other factors. On World Environment Day (June 5, 2020) this year, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that 50 million mangroves would be planted in the Sundarbans in the near future. The reason was to compensate for the plants’ loss during the recent Cyclone Amphan, that made landfall near Sagar island in the Sundarbans. A healthy mangrove population in the Sundarbans is considered critically important as it works as a barrier to high-intensity cyclones that impact the islands of the delta as well as its hinterland including Kolkata. Banerjee said about 28 per cent of the Sundarbans had been damaged by the cyclone and pointed out 1,200 square kilometres of the 4,260 sq km forest had been ‘destroyed’ severely, affecting its mangrove population. The Indian Sundarbans are spread over 9,630 sq km, of which, nearly 5,400 sq km is inhabited by humans while the rest is forest area. “The figures are not matching up. It is a fact that about 4,260 sq km in the Sundarbans is forest area. But close to 50 per cent of that is water,” an expert on the Sundarbans, said on the condition of anonymity. READ MORE

The Malay Peninsula is a dispersal barrier to certain mangrove species
Malay Peninsula
MALAYSIA - US ecologists showed that mangrove tree species with seeds/seedlings that float and survive shorter periods at sea have limited ability to disperse across the Malay Peninsula.Southeast Asia, with its thousands of islands and complex geological history, is one of the most interesting regions in the world to test ideas about dispersal by sea. The distribution and genetic patterns of coastal organisms that we see today contain signatures of their past dispersal activities and allow us to examine how genes moved across this complex landscape impact dispersal activities at present. A research team led by Prof Edward WEBB and comprising his then Ph.D. student, Dr Alison WEE from the Department of Biological Sciences, NUS used molecular tools to examine the genetic relationship among populations of four commonly occurring mangrove species in Southeast Asia. They showed that the Malay Peninsula functions as a filter to genetic exchanges between the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait. READ MORE

OCEANA

Mangrove collapse ‘inevitable’ unless emissions curbed
Australian mangroves
AUSTRALIA - The threshold beyond which the world’s mangrove forests can survive could be reached within the next 30 years if sea levels continue to rise at their current pace and greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed, according to new research. Mangroves have two particularly important roles: they buffer vulnerable coastlines from severe weather systems such as cyclones and storm surges, and are considered to be some of the most valuable carbon sinks of any terrestrial forests. Researchers studied samples of sediment from 78 tropical or subtropical mangroves that built up between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, part of what are known as the final stages of the Holocene period, when glaciers were melting and sea levels rose as a result. They determined that mangroves can only withstand a maximum relative rise in sea levels of 7 millimeters, about a quarter of an inch, per year: “a limit beyond which mangrove systems cease to function,” according to a statement that accompanied the report. Mangroves are able to adapt to fluctuations in sea level, but they have their limits, said one of the report’s co-authors, Neil Saintilan, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. READ MORE

LAST WORD

Dear All,

Please help spread the word on this year's children's mangrove art calendar competition! The contest is now open to anyone from any country between the ages of 6-15. Keep in mind, the deadline is Aug. 30th, so lets get those entries in ASAP!

Do you know a budding artist or a gifted child? We would love to feature their vision of what the mangroves mean to them, our planet and their future.

For more information, please visit Mangrove Action Project Calendar Project or download the PDF here

Ciao,
Monica Quarto

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INTERVIEW – Yale Climate Connection interview with MAP's Alfredo Quarto LISTEN

CHILDREN'S ART CALENDAR

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CBEMR Training in Tanzania: Ground-breaking training breathes life into mangrove ecosystem restoration - The Mangrove Alliance

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Marvellous Mangroves Curriculum

The Marvellous Mangroves Education Forum is an online hub for those utilizing the Marvellous Mangroves (MM) Curriculum. It gives students, teachers and anyone interested in mangroves, the opportunity to learn and share ideas themed around the curriculum, to connect and communicate with others around the globe whilst exploring mangroves from your computer or on the go. VISIT

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