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The MAP News, 217th Ed., July 31, 2009

Dear Friends,

This is the 217th Edition of the Mangrove Action Project News, July 31, 2009.

For the Mangroves,

Alfredo Quarto
Mangrove Action Project

MAP's Mission

Partnering with mangrove forest communities, grassroots NGOs, researchers and local governments to conserve and restore mangrove forests and related coastal ecosystems, while promoting community-based, sustainable management of coastal resources.

All news items and notices published in the MAP News can also be accessed directly from our home page www.mangroveactionproject.org, with links to the full story and the original source. New items are posted daily and are available as an RSS feed!

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FASCINATING FACT

The mangrove monitor is one of only two species of monitor lizard, the other being Varanus Semiremex, that possess salt-excreting nasal glands, which enable them to survive in saltwater conditions and to consume marine prey. READ MORE

FEATURED NEWS

Mangrove Action Day July 26, 2009

The Mangrove Action Project (MAP) has been working since 1992 to halt the rampant destruction of the earth's mangrove forest wetlands that are threatened by unsustainable development. They have joined forces with other organizations from the global South to promote July 26, 2009 as Mangrove Action Day. Read about how Mangrove Action Day was celebrated and promoted around the world…READ MORE
SOURCE: Mangrove Action Project

AFRICA

KENYA
Kenya: Institutes in Major Move to Save the Mangrove
Nairobi - A local institute in collaboration with a UK research organization are on a mission to save the mangrove forest, which is among the most... READ MORE
SOURCE: AllAfrica.com

MIDDLE EAST

YEMEN

Memo of $ 200 Million Project of Cultivating Shrimps Signed

A memorandum of understanding was signed onSaturday to cultivate shrimps and set up a factory of caning and factory of provender... READ MORE
SOURCE: Yemen News Agency (SABA)

SOUTHEAST ASIA

CAMBODIA
Let a Thousand Mangroves Bloom
Today, the Kampong Smach estuary area is a rich fishing ground of about 1,500 ha of mangroves and mudflats - a main fishing ground for about 6,300 families living in the surrounding area…READ MORE
SOURCE: PEMSEA

PHILIPPINES
Negros Occidental to Celebrate
Similarly, the mangrove forest is very minimal, while the once pristine coral reefs are already in various stages of degradation... READ MORE
SOURCE: Visayan Daily Star

THAILAND
Mangrove Rehabilitation in a Former Aquaculture Pond: Biodiversity and Barry Bendell
This blog hopes to offer very practical advice for rehabilitating degraded mangrove areas and former aquaculture ponds, via articles which will document activity and progress on our site at Bang Lang Da, SW Thailand… READ MORE
SOURCE: mangroverehabilitation.blogspot.com

THAILAND
Community-based SGP-PEMSEA Project Crucial in Increasing Crab Catch and Mangrove Rehabilitation in the Province of Chonburi
Halfway through its two-year implementation, the first project of the UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme and PEMSEA Partnership in Thailand is reaping the benefits within the framework of integrated coastal management (ICM)… READ MORE
SOURCE: PEMSEA

THAILAND

Distribution of Storyboard Book to Schools in Thailand

‘Our Lives by the Sea’ is a book that opens many doors to the reader. Firstly, it is a different way of looking at coastal resources from the eyes of children living in them… READ MORE
SOURCE: Jim Enright, MAP/Asia

VIETNAM
Mekong Delta Seafood Packers Crying for Workers
A lot of seafood packers in Soc Trang province are trying to recruit workers. However, very few workers find the pay or the working... READ MORE
SOURCE: VietNamNet Bridge

MALAYSIA
Devastation of Mangrove Swamps in Selangor, Malaysia
ADVOCATING one thing and doing another best describes the situation in Sungai Sepang Kecil where mangrove trees lining the river have been sacrificed by a certain authority for a river-deepening and widening project. ... READ MORE
SOURCE: Wild Singapore News

SOUTH ASIA

BANGLADESH
Government Comes to Shrimp Industry's Aid
He said it was vital to buy laboratory equipment to clearly establish whether shrimp and prawns create nitro furans naturally in their bodies… READ MORE
SOURCE: Bangladesh News 24 hours

BANGLADESH
Beatings Spark Fears for Bangladesh Tigers, Mangrove Forest
He said a steep fall in the population of traditional tiger prey in the Sundarbans “largely due to rapid mangrove deforestation” such as deer and wild pigs, was forcing them to look elsewhere.... READ MORE
SOURCE: Look At Vietnam

BANGLADESH
Protecting the Sundarbans
The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and a UN world heritage site, is threatened with extinction by man-made factors... READ MORE
SOURCE: The New Nation

BANGLADESH
Cyclone Dashes Bangladesh Shrimp Farmers' Dreams
Like hundreds of thousands of people in the impoverished nation,Rahman turned his back on rice for shrimps, which became the second largest export earner... READ MORE
SOURCE: AFPINDIA

INDIA
Bhitarkanika Sans Mangrove Cover
According to a recent study, the mangroves are a lifeline for vulnerable coastal zones. They are getting systematically decimated, enhancing the... READ MORE
SOURCE: The Statesman

INDIA
Indian Shrimp Farming Hard Hit Hard Times
Also the Indian seafood exporters have decided to purchase shrimps from registered prawn farms from August 1. But the Fisheries Department is yet to register hundreds of shrimp farms, alleged Mohanty. Many shrimp farmers converted their... READ MORE
SOURCE: Thai Shrimp

INDIA
No Airport Over Mangroves
The minister has issued a directive to the Maharashtra government to shift the site of ambitious airport project over concerns of threat to mangroves... READ MORE
SOURCE: IBN Live

INDIA
Centre Seeks Heritage Tag for Bhitarkanika
BHUBANESWAR: If everything goes according to plan then Bhitarakanika mangrove forest will soon get the world heritage status, something no natural resource... READ MORE
SOURCE: Times of India

INDIA
REPORT OF DRAFT COASTAL MANAGEMENT ZONE SUBMITTED TO MOEF TODAY
PROTECTION TO TRADITIONAL AND CUSTOMARY RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OF FISHERMAN
India's Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has accepted the Report of the Expert Committee on the Coastal Management Zone (CMZ) Notification… READ MORE
SOURCE: Press Information Bureau Government of India

PAKISTAN
Editorial Comment by Jim Enright, MAP's Asia Coordinator
The Mangrove Action Project (MAP) has received the following news item from Pakistan regarding the Coastal Forest Division of the Sindh Forest Department regarding the planting over half-a-million mangrove seedlings in single day in order to obtain a Guinness World Record. They have requested us to share this news with MFF & IUCN, but MAP feels the mass planting of a single mangrove species over a wide area should not be promoted, for the obvious reasons. Concern should be given to the vulnerability of monoculture, mangrove species being planted outside their natural zonation, the likely low quality planting, and the longer-term maintenance and the protection of the seedlings. It is also unclear if the problems which caused the loss of mangroves in Pakistan in the first place, like hydrological changes, high salinity, livestock grazing, and human pressures for fuel wood are being dealt with, and if not there seems to be very little hope for seedlings to become trees. We're just concerned that if this achievement is portrayed as a success in the MFF News, then other countries may also try to achieve a Guinness Record by more mass mangrove plantings, where quantity rather than quality becomes the objective.

WWF Rewards Pakistan for Tree Planting World Record
With 541176 young mangroves trees planted by 300 volunteers from the local fishermen communities just in one day, the country broke the previous 447874... READ MORE
SOURCE: WWF panda.org

PAKISTAN
Pakistan Plants Half Million Trees in One Day, Breaks Guinness World Record
"Mangrove reestablishment strongly correlates with climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and improving community livelihoods." - Anada Tiega, Secretary General of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands... READ MORE
SOURCE: Pakistan Wildlife Conservation News

LATIN AMERICA/CARIBBEAN

CHILE
Chile's Salmon Farms Verging on Breakdown
The approximately three pounds of wild fish needed to produce each pound of farmed salmon has caused some people to refer to finfish aquaculture operations as "reverse protein factories." Equally alarming, salmon farms have become... READ MORE
SOURCE: Intent.com

BRAZIL
New Brazilian Conservation Area Will Protect Mangroves, Corals, Fisheries
The Brazilian government on June 9 officially declared a new conservation area that will help protect one of the world's most important coral reefs, and benefit thousands of people who depend on the nearby fisheries to make a living... READ MORE
SOURCE: Mangrove Action Project

BRAZIL
"Marvelous Mangroves of Brazil" Teachers Guide to be Presented at National Seminar
On 24 June in the city of Cariacica, Espirito Santo state, the National Seminar "Marvelous Mangroves of Brazil" will be take place. The event will present the teacher's guide of the same name and its applicability, with the objective of developing an action plan for its implementation in Brazil... READ MORE
SOURCE: Mangrove Action Project