PREVIEW VERSION
The MAP News
505th Edition Oct 10, 2020 |
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Photography award winners show the fragility and beauty of mangrove forests GLOBAL – Thank you to all who who made the 2020 Photography contest our best and most thought provoking competition to date! Please watch our video and hear the voices of those who stood behind these incredible photographs VIEW VIDEO GLOBAL VIDEO FEATURE - How Sri Lanka's mangrove forests can save lives Our oceans represent one of the biggest opportunities for slowing and reversing climate and ecological breakdown - but they are under continuing threat from over-fishing, dumping of toxic waste and other human impacts. By protecting and restoring the world's oceans, we can help restore the prospects of humanity. VIEW VIDEO AFRICA Conserving Biodiversity of the Cacheu Mangroves National Park GUINEA BISSAU - From 2015 to 2018 Wetlands International, IBAP and other partners implemented a ground-breaking initiative to conserve the mangroves, tidal flats, dryland forests and seagrass beds of Cacheu national park and its buffer zone in Guinea Bissau. Long ignored by the conservation community this beautiful area is home to many threatened species such as manatees and marine turtles, provides important breeding and staging habitat for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds and serves as a nursery ground for countless species of fish. READ MORE Gambia mangroves from space GAMBIA - An astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) shot this photograph of coastal western Africa where the Gambia, Casamance, and Saloum Rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean through The Gambia and Senegal. The Republic of The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa, extending about 320 kilometers (200 miles) inland from the Atlantic and hugging its namesake river. It is bordered by Senegal on all sides, except the coast. (Note: the white border is approximate.) The Gambia River flows approximately 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) from the Republic of Guinea through The Gambia. The dark green areas along the banks of the rivers and in the estuaries are mostly mangroves. READ MORE AMERICAS Mangrove Damage in Venezuela (Oil Spill) PLEASE SPEAK UP VENEZUELA - Venezuela is among the top 10 most biodiverse countries in the world, with irs portion of the Amazon rainforest, savannas, Andes, tropical beaches, the highest waterfalls in the world, and 8000 species of animals (world’s 5th highest total). Now, this same country has rampant mining, and an oil industry with years of under-investment in safe infrastructure, and now spilling thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean. Very few organizations dare to speak about this reality. Here are some of the fossil fuel issues impacting Venezuela. READ MORE Brazil revokes mangrove protections, triggering alarm BRAZIL - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government on Monday revoked regulations protecting mangroves and other fragile coastal ecosystems, in a measure environmentalists condemned as a "crime" that would lead to their destruction. The decision eliminated so-called "permanent protection zones" created in 2002 to preserve Brazil's many tropical mangroves and the sand-dune scrublands known as "restinga" along its Atlantic coast. Environmentalists warned that rolling back the regulations would open such lands up to development, with possibly catastrophic impact on their ecosystems. "These areas are already under intense pressure from real-estate development," said Mario Mantovani, head of environmental group SOS Mata Atlantica. READ MORE Mangrove loss has fallen dramatically, but the forests are still in danger USA - “We’re definitely headed in the right direction,” says Liza Goldberg, a researcher at the University of Maryland and NASA, who led a recent study of mangroves based on satellite data. According to satellite data, mangrove loss has fallen dramatically in the past two decades, with human-caused mangrove destruction declining even faster than loss from natural causes. But that doesn’t mean mangroves are out of hot water — figuratively or literally. Both Goldberg’s study and another paper using different methods found that sea-level rise and erosion could soon reverse the positive trend and, in the long term, possibly wipe mangroves off the map altogether. If you were tasked with choosing just one ecosystem to safeguard the future of humans and the planet, mangroves would be a strong contender. READ MORE Huge Mangrove Restoration Project to Begin in April USA - A huge 210-acre mangrove restoration project on Marco Island is scheduled to begin in April, according to Project Manager Corey Anderson for the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. I’m super excited,” remarked Corey Anderson. “This is about a 210-acre mangrove restoration along San Marco Road between Goodland and Marco Island. There’s those big dead patches of mangroves in there. We’re planning to do a restoration of those so they’ll come back.” Anderson said the big dead patches of mangroves are referred to as mangrove heart attacks. “The middle of the mangroves start to die from the inside out,” Anderson said. “We call them mangrove heart attacks. You can liken it to a heart attack in a human. When your arteries are clogged up. Basically, there’s no tidewater coming in and out. That causes rainwater to pool in the middle. The mangroves are actually drowning,” he said. “Just like in a heart attack,” Anderson continued, “what we plan to do is go in and clean out the arteries. READ MORE Honoring Trees: A Teacher's Guide USA - Blending the arts with science is a superb way to engage students — and our online art exhibition, Honoring Trees, is an excellent place to begin! This Guide offers educators 60 online resources to harness the power of Honoring Trees in art, science, history, social studies, language arts, and civics classes. We sponsor an annual Sustainability Award at the Smithsonian Women’s Craft Show and, through our quarterly Climate Art Beat® calendar (Climate Art Beat® | Honoring The Future) and online News articles and social media, promote public awareness of art exhibitions addressing climate change and environmental hazards. We also showcase educational resources for teachers from pre-school through colleg. READ MORE ASIA Mangroves, amazing sentinels of coastlines NEW GUINEA - Mangroves are very unique and peculiar in the sense that they are few coastline dwelling plants that thrive very well in highly saline conditions and in huge numbers often in loose soil substrate in anaerobic conditions. They are also exposed to severe battering by storms, violent waves and tropical cyclones but often in briny conditions with loose and muddy soil substrate but have withstood test of time and nature. One such species is Rhyzopora stylosa, which is the most abundant mangrove amongst coastlines, often found inhabiting the high tidal zones of coastlines. How are mangroves able to do that? They have various adaptations that enable them to do that. Mangroves serve a very important biological and ecological role in that most aquatic organisms spawn (breed) where the water/wave velocity is non-existing or minimal, especially for detritus feeders like crabs, lobsters and prawns. The mangrove swamps provide an ideal environment for breeding (reproduction) ground for such and food source. READ MORE State declares 4 eco-rich sites in Addu as protected areas MALDIVES - The state declared four environmentally rich sites in Addu Atoll as protected areas under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act.The Ministry of Environment announced that the areas protected from September 22 onwards are 'Kudakandu' area in Addu's lagoon, 'Maakilhi' and 'Fehele kilhi' in Hithadhoo, 'Maafishi Kilhi' (Keyvakaa Gon’do) in Hulhudhoo and 'Mathi kilhi' at the intersection of Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo. 'Kudakandu' area is known for its biodiversity, housing various types of rocks and coral as well as endangered species including Spotted Eagle Rays, sea turtles and dolphins. 'Maakilhi and 'Fehele kilhi' are two mangroves, dotted with lotus plants, found in Hithadhoo's southeastern wetlands. These mangroves assist in preventing floods on the island by draining rainwater. READ MORE Indonesia’s Stimulus Plan Draws Fire From Environmentalists and Unions INDONESIA -BANGKOK — Indonesia’s Parliament is on the verge of approving a sweeping coronavirus stimulus package that opponents charge would undermine worker protections and permit widespread destruction of the country’s rainforests. The legislation is backed by Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, and is seen as a way to attract investment and stimulate the creation of new jobs by reducing regulations on businesses. Its supporters hope to win passage before Parliament ends its session next Friday, even as opposition to the measure grows. READ MORE Indonesia to replant 600,000 hectares of mangrove areas INDONESIA - Indonesia will replant 600,000 hectares of mangrove areas in the next three years, said the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs. "Our damaged mangrove areas cover nearly 1 million hectares. Our target in the next three years is (to replant) 600, 000 hectares through this program," Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said at the virtual launch of the Labor Intensive National Economic Recovery Program through the Coral Reef Restoration.Pandjaitan said that replanting mangrove areas would have a broad impact on the trade of carbon emissions or known as carbon credit among countries. READ MORE LAST WORD For the mangrove peoples, our spaces are more than ecosystems, they are the territory of life that our ancestors entrusted to us to protect from generation to generation. the modern world does not understand this, and gets involved in the generality of classifying our lands, exploiting them, taking advantage of them and then abandoning them. |
ACTION ALERTSOur Paradise and Sovereignty under Siege - Protect Grenada from Destructive Development! SIGN THE PETITIONStop the destruction of Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve
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