Dear Friend;

Like the rest of the world, we at MAP have watched in shock as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico unfolds like a slow motion horror film. Mangrove ecosystems along the Florida coast, already threatened by development and climate change, now face the deadly poisons of the toxic brew spreading throughout and beyond the Gulf. But even without this environmental disaster, mangrove forest ecosystems are under siege everywhere they’re found, from destructive tourism development in Bimini Island to golf course development in Malaysia; from out of control oil exploitation in Niger Delta to unmanaged urban expansion in India’s Bhitarakanika Wildlife Sanctuary. One percent of our planet’s mangroves are disappearing each year- that’s 150,000 ha a year lost to unsustainable development, till less than half the world’s mangroves remain. And as you’ve heard us say before, industrial-scale shrimp farms are the leading cause of both ecosystem destruction and the loss of small-scale community sustainability.

While attending network meetings last February in Bangladesh, I personally visited a village area simply called by locals Polder 20 where a neighboring shrimp farm was aggressively attempting to open up sluice gates to allow sea water intrusion into the local farmers rice fields. This area became like a battle zone, with farmers desperately attempting to ward off the invaders and prevent their fertile fields from being ruined by the intended incoming ocean waters. One or two such soakings with salt water would leave their rice fields totally in ruin and these farmers landless and bankrupt, forcing them to leave their lands in order to survive. Then the shrimp farmer could conveniently move onto the ruined and abandoned land and establish his shrimp ponds on his newly “acquired” Polder!

Villagers console a grieving widow in Ploder 20. © MAP.

My small group was shown the wounds of several of the combatants. Village women and men, old and young had suffered from knife and club wounds while struggling to stop the intruders who were secretly intent on opening up their sluice gates late at night. The villagers, who caught them in the act, won that first battle, but suffered heavy casualties with some in hospital. In that same period just before we visited the area, two women had been raped by shrimp farm goons hired to “protect” the shrimp farmer’s “assets.” What we witnessed that day was a virtual state of siege where local village life was pitted against a ruthless investor bent on selling his shrimp to the highest bidder, but at terrible costs!

Local villagers at Polder 20 asked us to relay their message to consumers in North America and Europe that those of us who consume imported shrimp are sucking the blood from their people! This grim analogy will stay with me forever when I see those plentiful shrimp packets displayed so neatly on my local supermarket shelves. These sights and sounds of Polder 20 are what move me to write this letter of special appeal to you now.

Back on a more global scale, studies now clearly demonstrate that mangrove forests are critical to climate change mitigation due to their enhanced ability to sequester large amounts of carbon in their surrounding soils. This makes MAP’s work to build an international coalition that will work to save and restore these unique ecosystems of even greater timeliness and importance.

Thanks to your generous past support, MAP continues to be a leader in the international movement in conservation and restoration of the planet’s mangrove forest ecosystems, while directly involving and empowering the coastal communities that depend upon them in the conservation process.

According to a recent IUCN/FAO report, one out of every six mangrove species may soon go extinct because of over-exploitation and invasive industries, such as shrimp farming. With very limited staff and resources, MAP continues to take a leading role in building international support for this vital work to bring back from the brink of extinction our planet’s remaining mangrove forests and restore related coastal marine fisheries, wildlife and human communities that depend on them. Right now, MAP is working hard to achieve this goal.

MAP’s pivotal international coalition building is quickly becoming recognized as the leading force working to bring together an international scientific and activist response to the destruction of mangroves. Meanwhile, our focused, cost-effective programs that are underway as I write this include:

Ø      Our innovative In the Hands of the Fishers program which works to provide a toolkit of options for local fishermen to learn how to shift to more sustainable, ecologically viable fishing and development practices;

Ø      Our Ecological Mangrove Restoration Program, that trains local communities in Asia and Latin America on how to restore mangrove forests using a whole ecosystem approach:

Ø       Our Question Your Shrimp consumer and markets awareness campaign aimed at educating U.S. consumers about the impacts of industrial scale shrimp farming,

Ø      And our ongoing outreach and education efforts, such as MAP’s 300 page Mangrove Curriculum and MAP’s Annual Children’s Mangrove Art Calendar Contest, that are designed to reach both school-aged children and the greater consuming public here and in many other countries.

Like most small non-profits in this era of economic downturn, MAP is struggling to find the funds necessary to carry out these important and innovative programs. MAP continues to aggressively pursue foundation grants globally, and we are always on the look out for environmentally responsible and astute corporations who find MAP’s mission worthy of support. But these are few and far between. Foundation support has become increasingly limited as foundations deal with their own impacts from the current economy, and competition for grant monies, while always ferocious, has only intensified, leaving many critical programs unfunded worldwide.

MAP Executive Director Alfredo Quarto planting a
mangrove shoot for the future. © MAP.

Because of your past strong support of MAP’s work, we appeal to you for continued support at this critical time. I hope you will consider making a donation now to support our efforts to protect and restore these globally important ecosystems and communities like Polder 20 that depend on them. On behalf of the board and staff here at MAP, and all the communities, marine fisheries and wildlife that depend on mangroves, I thank you in advance for any support you can provide at this time.

For the Mangroves,

Alfredo Quarto

Co-Founder and Executive Director
Mangrove Action Project   

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