Building a global consortium opposing the imports of tropical shrimp or prawns into N. America and the EU

USA – We at Mangrove Action Project (MAP) are reaching out to other NGOs involved in seafood issues to ask your help in spreading the word concerning imported tropical shrimp. Today, shrimp is the number one seafood consumed in the US, surpassing tuna in 2001. 90% of that shrimp is imported from the Global South, and produced in ways that are destructive of both the marine environment and the local coastal comminities who depend on the sea for life and livelihoods. We are working to reduce this consumption demand in the US, which drives the very destructive expansion of the shrimp aquaculture industry.  MAP is part of a global campaign that aims to reduce US Consumer appetite for those all too plentiful imports of shrimp or prawns from Asia, Latin America or Africa. Please contact us if your organization is interested in joining our growing network and global alliance to stop this destructive industry. We need your help in reaching out to the general public. Please also help us get "signatures" onto our recently launched Avaaz petition. The more signatures we can muster, the better!
 
AFRICA

Antanandahy: Where the Women Rule the Mangroves

Editors note – This story is co-written by former MAP-Asia Volunteer Intern, Sylvia Paulot from Madagascar.  Sylvia interned in the MAP Asia office in Trang, Thailand and with our project at Phra Thong Island in Phang Nga (May-Aug. 2012).  She became very keen on mangroves while with MAP in Thailand and upon returning to Madagascar she joined Blue Ventures Conservation as a Mangrove Conservation Officer based in Tulear.  MAP wishes her well in new job hopes to continue to interact with her on conservation issues. 
MADAGASCAR -After winding its way west, Madagascar’s Tsiribihina River splits into a maze of tributaries entwined in mangroves, finally emptying into the Mozambique Channel. At the end of last year, Sylvia and Kate of the Blue Forests team made their way north to the Tsiribihina Delta, meeting with WWF Madagascar, local partners, and communities who have all worked together on mangrove conservation there since 2011. Our goal was to initiate a relationship with these communities and start a feasibility study for blue carbon in Tsiribihina – and what a place to do it! The locals of the Tsiribihina Delta truly live a mangrove lifestyle – from fish and wood to storm protection – the people here are linked with the mangrove forest at every turn. READ MORE

Thieves blight Nigeria's swamps with spilt oil
NIGERIA – In a mangrove forest at the edge of a Nigerian swamp a film of oil shimmers in rainbow colors for hundreds of meters around Royal Dutch Shell's Nembe creek pipeline. The cause of this latest environmental catastrophe, Shell says, was an unprecedented level of oil theft targeting a pipeline pumping 150,000 barrels of oil a day to the Atlantic coast. Nembe is one of the most important production routes for Africa's top energy producer, but it is also a frequent target for criminal gangs who tap into pipelines and steal crude for sale to world markets or local refineries. The impact on the environment of such so-called "bunkering" practices – and on the largely subsistence fishing communities who live around the pipelines in the creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta – is devastating. Decades of oil spills from a combination of theft and poor environmental management by oil majors has ravaged this fragile wetlands environment. READ MORE
 
Report warns of ways climate change threatens food security of urban poor
GHANA – Policies to increase food security in developing countries focus too much on rural food production and not enough on ensuring poor people could access and afford food, especially in urban areas. This is contained in a report published by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and made available to the GNA. It warns that climate change would only make this policy gap worse because climate change impacts would affect not only harvests but also the systems that people use to transport, store and buy and sell food. “Food security is back on the agenda thanks to rising prices and the threat that climate change poses to agricultural production,” says the report’s author Dr Cecilia Tacoli. READ MORE
 
ASIA
 
Concern grows over future of Thailand's endangered dugong

THAILAND – Marine experts and veterinarians met in Trang on March 21 to draw up a master plan to increase the number of dugongs in the sea off this southern province as they have dropped alarmingly in recent years. The meeting was attended by officials from state agencies concerned with marine and coastal resources conservation, environmental advocates and members of fishing communities from Trang and Phuket. The number of rare marine animals being found dead — especially dugongs, dolphins and sea turtles – in the Andaman Sea off Trang and Phuket provinces continued to drop, Patcharaporn Kaewmong, of Phuket Marine Biological Centre, said. Last year, 11 dugongs were found dead in the sea off Trang, the highest number for the province in 20 years (1992-2011), Ms Patcharaporn said. An aerial inspection conducted last year showed there were 110-135 dugongs around Koh Libong — Thailand’s largest habitat for the rare species located only 2km away from the Trang mainland — after 134-150 were estimated in a 2011 survey. READ MORE
 Video by Chumporn Sangvilert and Yanapon Musiket.

Mangroves in S. Sulawesi face uncertain future
INDONESIA – South Sulawesi is facing massive mangrove forest destruction as over the past 30 years deforestation and pollution have taken their toll and damaged almost 90 percent of the total original areas. The Mangrove Action Project (MAP) Indonesia recorded that the damage had reached 89 percent, citing that the worst damage took place in the 1980s. The deforestation rate of mangrove forests has reached 2.2 percent annually. Currently, the province only has around 22,353 hectares of mangrove forests. “Before 1980, South Sulawesi had 214,000 of mangrove forest hectares by 1991 only 23,000 hectares remained,” said MAP Indonesia project director Ratnawati Fadillah during a seminar on mangrove rehabilitation and aquaculture development in Makassar. READ MORE

Bangladesh to develop shrimp industry
BANGLADESH – Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA), Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) and American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) recently. According to the MoA, the BFFEA, BSFF and the ACILS will work together to ensure compliance issue and labor rights at the shrimp and fish processing industry in Bangladesh. U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W. Mozena while speaking at the signing ceremony emphasized on importance of the MoA to retain country's GSP facility in the U.S. market. READ MORE
 
Maldives first nation to become a biosphere reserve

MALDIVES – The Maldives are a chain of 1,192 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, grouped into 26 atolls. They are well know for their reefs, making them as one of the best places for scuba diving all over the world. And now, the Maldivian government is trying to make them a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve. The project will implement the reserve plan on more than half of Maldives islands by 2017, but they have still a lot to do. A Biosphere Reserve is not like a National Park, it is much more. It is a place based on a local community, made to promote sustainable development and conservation. READ MORE
 
EUROPE
 
Could social enterprise hold the key to saving our oceans?

UK – To quote WH Auden, "Thousands have lived without love, not one without water". He was also exactly right. Between 50% and 85% of the world's oxygen comes from the oceans, 50-80% of all life on Earth is found under the surface of the sea and over one billion people, often in the most deprived areas, depend on fish for their protein. Yet, very little is being done to protect and preserve the oceans. It is estimated that only 1% of the ocean are protected, compared with 12% of the land. However, some social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs (those working within organisations) are looking at how they can use social innovations to fill this gap and solve some of the ocean's many problems. READ MORE
 
Global celebration of forests
UN – The United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat partnered with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival to honor the creative efforts of film makers who visually capture how forests inspire, shelter, nurture and contribute to our lives. This year's Film Festival is for short films of five minutes or less. We received 127 entries from 38 countries. The 21 finalists, selected by an international jury of lauded film makers and senior UN experts, were announced on the 21st of March. The five winning film makers will be honored in person during the tenth session of the Forum on Forests (UNFF10) in Istanbul on Wednesday, 10 April 2013. VIEW VIDEO
 
2013 World Migratory Bird Day Set for May 11-12
GERMANY – Each year on the second weekend in May, dedicated organizations and people around the world plan World Migratory Bird Day events to celebrate migratory birds in their region and to raise awareness about the need for their conservation. Since World Migratory Bird Day began in 2006, events have reached 118 countries. In 2012 alone, over 250 events were celebrated for World Migratory Bird Day and this year we hope to motivate even more people and organizations to connect and work together towards conserving migratory birds worldwide. This year’s World Migratory Bird Day theme is “Networking for migratory birds”. It aims to emphasize the mutual importance of ecological networks and networks between organizations and individuals for the long-term conservation of migratory birds. READ MORE
 
AMERICAS
 
MAP’s “Question Your Shrimp” campaign renewed

USA – Mangrove Action Project has called for the US general consumer to pledge they will greatly reduce their consumption of imported shrimp. The petition on Avaaz.org tells consumers “Industrial Shrimp Aquaculture is causing massive environmental and social problems around the world, including mangrove forest loss, wild fisheries decline, shoreline erosion, coral reef and sea grass loss, displacement of countless coastal communities, loss of traditional livelihoods and displacement of countless coastal fishing and farming communities, human rights and labor abuses. And, most of this imported shrimp has serious health issues attached because of overuse of antibiotics and pesticides, and dirty water injected into the harvested shrimp to add more weight and thus dirty profits for an unscrupulous shrimp processor willing to risk your health for his profits”. READ MORE
 
Monterey Bay Aquarium releases updated Seafood Watch
USA – The Monterey Bay Aquarium has updated its Seafood Watch guide to sustainable buying of seafood from around the world. New “Good Alternatives” under the Aquarium’s science-based program include U.S.-caught monkfish, American plaice, some flounder; and tilapia farmed in Taiwan and China. The semi-annual Seafood Watch consumer update can be downloaded from the aquarium’s website, montereybayaquarium.org. READ MORE
Editors Note – It is good to see that the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Pocket Guide still Red Lists Imported Shrimp! They almost delisted it as a "Good Alternative" about two years ago. So this is a good thing to see them keep imported shrimp on their red list!
 
Open letter to the UN and its institutions and initiatives related to forest issues
URUGUAY – On the occasion of March 21st, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly as International Day of the Forests (1), the World Rainforest Movement (WRM) and more than 300 signatories call on the General Assembly and UN Institutions and Initiatives related to forest issues to use the new initiative to address the underlying drivers of deforestation. The letter is motivated by the fact that in spite of several UN initiatives aimed at calling attention for forests at the international level, the process of deforestation -affecting especially tropical forests- continues and the proposed solutions have not slowed down tropical forest loss worldwide – on the contrary. READ MORE
 
Genting Group swallows Bimini Bay
BIMINI ISLAND – One of the largest corporations in Asia has agreed to take over operations at Bimini Bay Resort and invest $100 million in air and sea transportation to the island. In a speech to the House of Assembly yesterday, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that Genting Group has engaged the government in a master plan that should  result in 400 new jobs. READ MORE
 
April, 2013 is Coastal Awareness month on Bimini Island
BIMINI ISLAND – The Honourable Prime Minister, Perry Gladstone Christie has declared April Coastal Awareness month. The Bahamas is a leader in conservation in the Caribbean and has made some historic decisions that have an impact worldwide. Our country has signed on to International Conventions related to the environment. The Bahamas Government signed the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992, recognizing the importance of marine biodiversity and the necessity to develop mechanisms for the sustainable use of coastal and marine biological diversity. The country signed the RAMSAR Convention which provides for the protection of wetlands including shallow coastal and marine ecosystems in June, 1997. READ MORE
 
Crabfisher killed by electric fence in mangrove forest
BRAZIL – Retired crabfisher José Ribeiro dos Santos, age 74, died when he came into contact with an electric fence inside the mangrove swamps. It happened on 14/02/2013, around 16:00 pm, at the location of the Baixão Guahy, municipality of Maragojipe in Brazil. The area where the death occurred is recognized as belonging to Quilombo Palmares Cultural Foundation and was in the process of becoming protected before efforts stalled in 2006 due to interference from large contractors who covet the territory of fishermen. The person responsible for the death of Rieiro José dos Santos is an entrepreneur known as “Amazon John”, also called Coscoba who owns three hotels in the region between San Roque and village Guahy. It is believed Coscoba had appropriated the mangrove area next to one of his lodgings, and made ​​a clandestine network of high-voltage fencing to keep the fishermen out. READ STORY IN PORTUGUESE
 
LAST WORD
 
FROM MAP's EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:
 
To Whom It May Concern,
 
I wish to inform you that we at Mangrove Action Project have been alerted of gross official negligence in following proper procedure regarding a required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the a port facility proposed for Lamu, Kenya. Apparently this questionable EIA has already been submitted to NEMA since Feb 14, but the necessary public notice and request for comment was not given, In fact, only a few select stakeholders were notified, giving them 30 days to comment. And now the deadline is passed!!
 
We at MAP must strongly protest this illicit procedure, and ask that proper public notice and time for comment be given. MAP is an international network, working for over 21 years to conserve and restore our planet's still threatened mangroves, and we have already been contacting our network to publicize this issue at Lamu because of the threat to the mangroves this port proposal poses. It would be a sorry follow-up to now report that required public notification and comment period were not allowed. I ask you now, how can one get to comment if he/she is not aware that the report is out. And now, with no time to read a 200-page document and comment on its contents, we see a grave credibility issue brewing.
 
Let us face the facts; the law has been broken, as it is NEMAs duty to carry out a public forum which is announced at least two weeks in advance as per the EMCA Act. We ask that you extend the comment period to at least two weeks to a month to allow public review and comment on this important issue.
 
We at MAP await with deep concern your prompt reply and hopeful remedy of this troublesome situation!
 
For the Mangroves And the Mangrove Communities!
 
Alfredo Quarto,
 
Executive Director
 
Mangrove Action Project
 
mangroveap@olympus.net

~ 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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