Bioshields Best Defense Against Disasters

Mangrove forests effectively shielded some coastal areas from the Asian tsunami, while those areas without mangrove cover suffered immense damage. Credit: Malini Shankar/IPS
INDIA – In commemoration of the eighth anniversary of the Asian tsunami, December 26 was a day of prayer and mourning across the Andaman Nicobar Islands – located at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea – and south India's coastal Tamil Nadu state, two areas that suffered thousands of casualties on that fateful day. Also known as the 'Boxing Day Tsunami', the gigantic waves claimed 230,000 lives across South and Southeast Asia on Dec. 26, 2004. While the northern Andaman Islands were largely spared the pounding, the southern Nicobar Islands were virtually flattened by the tsunami. As the islanders remembered their dead, they also noted with gratitude that which spared them even more destruction – the mangrove forests that shielded the islands from the killer waves. READ MORE
 
AFRICA
 
Destroying Rainforests and Local Livelihoods in Cameroon for Palm Oil Plantations

CAMEROON – In the southwest region of Cameroon, a New York-based agri-corporation, Herakles Farms, its local subsidiary SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), and a US non-profit organization All for Africa are involved in a land deal that is about to destroy over 70,000 hectares (300 square miles) of rainforest and the livelihoods of thousands of rural Cameroonians. If the project goes forward, farmland and forest will be replaced by a giant palm oil plantation. The concession concerns the homelands of the Oroko, Bakossi, and Upper Bayang peoples in the Ndian, Kupé-Manengouba, and Manyu divisions of Cameroon. This plantation will have major impacts on up to 45,000 Indigenous Peoples in 88 villages who are dependent on the forest for their livelihoods. READ MORE  Read our LAST WORD below for more
 
ASIA
 
Lawsuit Against Bali Governor Over Mangrove Forest

INDONESIA – An international environmental watchdog is taking Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika to court for issuing a permit that endorses the building of tourism facilities in the Ngurah Rai mangrove forest. The lawsuit was registered at the Denpasar state administrative court by the chairman of the Bali branch of Friends of the Earth (Walhi), Wayan Gendo Suardana, and a team of 10 senior lawyers grouped under the Advocation Team for the Protection of the Bali Mangrove. READ MORE
 
MAP-Asia Utilizes Soil Excavator to Establish New Mangrove Habitat
THAILAND –  For the first time MAP-Asia is using the help of heavy machinery in the field in order to extend the toolkit of Ecological Mangrove Restoration (EMR) a little bit and undertake a slightly bigger scale demonstration project. The site is situated in Laem Makham Village, Sikao district, Trang province and concerning its dimensions and the amount of soil to be moved the use of a backhoe seemed appropriate and necessary this time to get the restoration process started. Also additional manual work is being carried out by villagers and MAP staff on the site to provide a higher grade of accuracy in terms of adjusting the topography and therefore the hydrology which will allow the natural succession of mangrove habitat to take place afterwards. The personal human effort invested into the EMR-process by the community members own hands, is still the best way to create project-stewardship/ownership READ MORE

Mangroves destroyed in Vasai, one held
INDIA – Even as the civic administration has started a survey of trees in the region, huge stretch of mangroves along the coast in Vasai were being burned and destroyed for the past two weeks. After much outcry by the villagers, the police have arrested one person. Two others are absconding. Mangroves spread over 66 acres of land at Bhaskar Ali, along the seashore in Vasai (west) were being burned in the wee hours for the past 15 days. Despite several complaints made by villagers to the police and Vasai tehsildar office no action was taken. READ MORE

Rise in sea level threatening Sundarbans
BAGLADESH –  The rise in sea levels around the Sundarbans delta – the world’s largest mangrove forest spread across India and Bangladesh — is a cause of concern, said R. K. Pachauri, Director-General of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute). “We have to be worried about the rise in sea levels in Sundarbans,” Pachauri told newspersons on the sidelines of a session organised by the Indian Science Congress here. Researchers of the School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, estimate that sea levels rose from 3.14 millimetres annually (recorded until the year 2,000) to about 8 mm by 2010. READ MORE
 

 
Vietnam determined to break Japan shrimp barriers
VIETNAM – Le Van Quang, President and General Director of Minh Phu Seafood Group, said that Vietnam needs to take “stronger measures” to pave the way for shrimp products to enter the Japanese market, emphasizing that taking legal procedures against the unreasonable barrier set up by the import country is a solution for consideration. “I think taking legal proceedings is the best choice in this case. If we do not sue them, more and more countries would install barriers and raise the ethoxyquin barriers to higher levels, which makes Vietnam impossible to overcome them,” Quang said. He complained that the technical barriers raised by importing countries have made the production costs of Vietnamese shrimp products much higher than that of other exporting countries. READ MORE
 

RELATED STORIES
Vietnam asks WTO to rule on shrimp dispute with U.S.

VIETNAM – Vietnam has asked the World Trade Organization to appoint a panel of arbitrators to rule on a dispute over alleged dumping of Vietnamese shrimp on the U.S. market. The escalation of the case is awkward for Washington as it attempts to strike a regional free trade deal with Vietnam while under domestic pressure from American shrimp producers to clamp down on Vietnamese imports. Dumping, or damaging foreign competitors by exporting goods at unfairly low prices, is illegal under WTO rules. READ MORE

India to challenge US petition on shrimp import
INDIA – India will legally challenge the countervailing duty (CVD) petition filed by the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries (COGSI) in the US, the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) said. COGSI, a body of shrimp producers based in the Gulf of Mexico in US, last week filed a petition, seeking relief from subsidised shrimp imports from seven countries including India and demanding imposing 21% duty on imports. "Hearing on the CVD petition is done by the US department of commerce and hence we have to engage US-based lawyers. Along with that, we will send a team along with the promotional body Marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda) to the US. READ MORE

 
Two week course offered on Forest and Landscape Governance!
INDIA – A two week course offers participants a chance to gain insight in the inter-disciplinary and integrated nature of forest and landscape governance, in particular the role of stakeholders, institutions, and innovative governance arrangements, in particular  Payment for Environmental Services (PES). And last but not least, it stimulates participants to consider their own role as manager, policy maker or practitioner, making use of a wide range of principles and tools to foster inclusive and informed decision-making at forest and landscape level. The two weeks course is organized by the Centre for Development Innovation (CDI) of Wageningen University, together with CIFOR and ICRAF. The course offers a unique combination of novel participatory training approaches of CDI with the sound scientific research work of CIFOR and ICRAF. The course is planned for September 2st till September 13th, and will take place on the CIFOR/ICRAF campus in Bogor, Indonesia. Application deadline is Feb 6^th, 2013. READ MORE
 
Infected shrimp seedlings behind India mortality rise
INDIA – Introduction of infected shrimp seedlings and deteriorating environment should be blamed for the recent outbreak of virus diseases in prawn farms, say fisheries experts. Death of shrimps and crabs has been reported from aquatic farms in the outskirts of the city. The infection, which has caused heavy losses to farmers, has mostly been reported from Vypeen, Kuzhipally, Edavanakad, Ezhikara, and Nayarambalam areas. Death of farmed aquatic animals including shrimps due to White Spot Syndrome Virus has become a regular feature in the area. READ MORE

AMERICAS
 
Workshop for Young Mangrove Researchers

COSTA RICA – The Association for Tropical and Biology and Conservation (ATBC) and the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) are pleased to invite you to our special joint meeting scheduled for June 23-27, 2013. We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of both organizations, and together discuss the future of tropical biology and conservation. The proposed workshop contributes to the general mission of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) by promoting research, conservation and communication on a tropical coastal ecosystem that is highly threatened by a set of environmental and anthropogenic factors. The slogan of the conference: “The New frontiers in tropical biology – the next 50 years” serves as a perfect forum to gather young scientists working on all fields of mangrove ecology to discuss future approaches in the study of these ecosystems. READ MORE

 
LAST WORD
 
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff of Struggle to Economize Future Environment (SEFE), I hereby extend to you and staff of Mangrove Action Project (MAP) USA, my severest happiness and best wishes for the new year 2013.
 
I hope all is fine with you, health wise. As for me, am OK but still carrying with our worthwhile battle to save the ancient forest in Africa that is destined to be destroyed by the NY based investment film Herakles Farms without due regards to the environment and socio-economic impacts of the project.
 
Herakles has not conducted the free prior and informed consent of the over 30,000 population whose land has been illegally occupied by Herakles and hundred of thousands of people who live on coastal fringes in both Cameroon and Nigeria. Scientists consider the area as a hotspot for biological diversity, as it harbors some of the wildlife species classified by IUCN as endangered, rare and threatened species, some of which are endemic to the locale.

The proposed plantation also shares boundary with Rumpi Forest Reserve highly known as vital water catchment discharging abundant freshwater which abut the Atlantic ocean through the dense network of mangroves. If this plantation goes ahead, it will seriously affect the Rio-del-Rey mangroves which is the largest and richest mangrove area in terms of biodiversity in Cameroon. SEFE has been leading a campaign on this issue along with other organisations to stop this project, but its promoters are still stubbornly pressing ahead through the development of nurseries and clearing out pristine forest.

 
Best regards,
 
Nasako Besingi

~ If you’d like to have the last word on this or any other mangrove related topic, please send us your submission for upcoming newsletters. We’ll choose one per issue to have “the last word”. While we can’t promise to publish everyone’s letter, we do encourage anyone to post comments on our Blog at www. mangroveactionproject.blogspot.com

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