FEATURED STORY

10 Great Reasons to Support CBEMR – A newly launched website depicting the importance of mangroves and the methods of restoration that are so important for the future of these habitats. The website has been designed to support our crowd-funding campaign which we're still looking to reach it's goal. Enjoy and share!  CLICK HERE
 
ASIA
 
Senator seeks creation of coastal mangrove greenbelts

PHILIPPINES – Senator Bam Aquino recently filed a legislative measure for the creation of 100-meter greenbelts of mangroves and beach forest along coastlines to mitigate the devastating impacts of waves and storm surges such as those from the monster typhoon Yolanda last year. The proposal is contained in Senate Bill No. 2179, or the National Coastal Greenbelt Act of 2014, aiming for innovative, sustainable and cheaper ways to mitigate the devastating impacts of natural disasters and calamities that usually lead to loss of lives, livelihood and income opportunities for businesses. "The establishment of science-based coastal greenbelts is expected to protect biodiversity, improve fisheries productivity, and enhance the tourism and livelihood potential of numerous foreshore areas," Aquino said. Aquino made the proposal in the aftermath of super-typhoon Yolanda that killed thousands of people and left billions of pesos in damage in the Eastern Visayas, particularly in Leyte. READ MORE
 
China shrimp firm eases reliance on US with domestic product range
CHINA – U.S. countervailing duties against Chinese shrimp imports may ironically lead to higher prices in the longer term for U.S. buyers as the one of the top Chinese suppliers seeks to reduce its exposure to the U.S. market by ramping up sales at home. Demand from Chinese consumers will ultimately cause competition and higher prices for U.S. shrimp buyers, said a company source speaking to SeafoodSource. Announced last year, the U.S. duties — amounting to 18.6 percent — forced Zhanjiang Guolian to speed up R&D efforts and invest in marketing to switch product to local sales according to Li Zhong, company CEO, who has been promoting new products this month at a week-long set of events in the company’s base in southern Chinese province of Guangdong. READ MORE
 
Thai government condemned in annual US human trafficking report
THAILAND – In January this year the Thai embassy in Washington signed a $400,000-plus deal with leading US law firm Holland & Knight. The money was for lobbying to persuade the White House, Congress and US departments of state and defense that Thailand is a country that fights human trafficking and forced labour. It seems not to have been money well spent. Recently, Thailand was downgraded to the lowest ranking in the state department's annual report on Trafficking in Persons. The money invested in lobbying therefore represents both a defeat and a serious embarrassment for the Thai authorities. Shares in Thai seafood companies had already fallen on the Thai stock exchange amid news that Europe's largest retailer, Carrefour, together with Norwegian supermarket chain Ica, has stopped purchasing its products added to pressure. READ MORE
 
AMERICAS
 
Fewer Freezes Let Florida’s Mangroves Move North

USA – The mangrove forests that line much of Florida’s eastern coast are moving north because of climate change, scientists led by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center report December 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The migration isn’t because of rising average temperatures, however. Instead, it’s driven by a reduction in the number of extremely cold days. Mangroves are a group of about 80 different trees and shrubs that grow in tropical regions around the world. They’re usually characterized by their roots, which grow partially above the ground, giving the plants the appearance that they’re held up by a tangle of stilts. That nest of roots holds the trees above the water, which rises and falls with the tides. Mangrove ecosystems are complex, providing homes and food for a diverse array of species both on land and in the water. And they’re valuable economically–mangrove forests provide an array of services worth some $1.6 trillion per year, including serving as nurseries for commercially important fish, protecting coasts from destructive storm waves and providing places for recreation. READ MORE
 
Proposed billionaire’s playground could endanger the marine habitat
BELIZE – A consortium of environmental organizations has raised an alarm about a proposed megaresort in Belize that received maximum glam cred in May at what the Daily Mail described as the “most exclusive party” at the Cannes International Film Festival. John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston were the spokespersons for Italian developers of an eye-popping getaway that could pose a threat to the ecologically fragile Lighthouse Reef Atoll, a world-famous coral reef system. The atoll is home to two UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the famed Great Blue Hole. It's an important part of Belize's marine biodiversity, which includes more than 500 species of fish, three sea turtle species and one of the world’s largest remaining populations of the endangered West Indian manatee. READ MORE
 
Uh Oh. We Just Found Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in the Worst Place Possible

CANADA – Officially begin worrying now, North Americans. Something has entered your food supply that threatens true calamity — and there’s not much you can do about it. You wouldn’t think a Chinese grocery store in Saskatoon, Canada, would be the epicenter triggering so much concern within the medical community, but that’s how it happened. The problem was squid. Well, not the squid so much as what researchers found hiding inside it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced earlier this month that imported squid, most likely from South Korea, contained a bacterium that is resistant to carbapenems — the antibiotics of last resort. “Carbapenems are a type of antibiotic, and carbapenemases are enzymes that some organisms can produce to render these antibiotics ineffective,” said the CDC in a bulletin released on June 11. “Carbapenem-resistant organisms have been found in the environment and in animals used for food; but in the United States and Canada, they had not been found in food itself—until now.” READ MORE
 
Slavery and the Shrimp on Your Plate

EDITORIAL by New York Times’ Editorial Board
USA – The revelations about Thailand should persuade major global corporations, including Costco, Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco, that their business models have to change. They should refuse to import from fishermen or companies that have been reliably identified by watchdog groups as using slave labor. They also need to pressure the Thai government to ensure that abusers who hire trafficked employees are prosecuted and that the victims are protected and treated with respect. Under American law, aid and other assistance can be withheld if countries do not crack down on trafficking; Washington should not hesitate to use this tool when it can be effective. Consumers have a role to play, too, by refusing to purchase products produced with slave labor. READ MORE

EUROPE
 
Family forests and farms key to national sustainable development goals

Building strong relationships between small-scale family forest and family farm producers and governments through forest-and-farm producer organizations can achieve astounding improvements in rural livelihoods, forest cover and forest management and contribute to sustainable rural development.
This was a conclusion of an in-session seminar titled “Family forestry is family farming”, held today during COFO 22 at FAO headquarters. Seminar participants heard from diverse voices, including leaders from: a village-level organization in Myanmar; a federation in Nepal representing more than 11 million people; the National Farmers’ Platform of the Gambia, representing more than 200 000 farmers; a women’s producer group in Guatemala; the Farmers Union Network in Liberia, representing more than 35 000 forest farmers; and a national forest producer organization in Mexico, representing 670 000 producers. In each case, considerable success had been achieved through the organization of local forest farmers into producer groups and their subsequent increased role in national policy development and implementation. READ MORE
 
Carrefour Suspends Purchases from CP Foods
UK – On June 13, 2014, British retailer Carrefour, a multinational retailer headquartered in France and one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world, announced that it was temporarily suspending all direct and indirect purchases from CP Foods.  Carrefour called it “a precautionary measure” as a result of articles in the British newspaper, The Guardian, about slave labor being used to source the fishmeal used in CP’s shrimp feeds.  Carrefour  was a major buyer of shrimp from CP Foods. Carrefour said it would not purchase from CP Foods “until light has been shed on the situation.”  The retailer said it conducted a “social audit” of CP’s processing plant in July 2013, “as it has done regularly,” and found “nothing abnormal at the time.” The Environmental Justice Foundation praised Carrefour for its action, but cautioned that a boycott of a single supplier will not solve a problem that the EJF said is systematic throughout the Thai fishing industry. READ MORE
 
LAST WORD
 
From The Executive Director: It looks like the shrimp farm industry in Thailand is in very hot water now, as are the sellers of shrimp in the retail outlets! I think we need to get behind this campaign in the US and EU, and ask that we all spread the word about this via our websites and social media. Putting pressure on the largest grocers in the world is a good way to bring these issues home to the consumers! Some of the largest grocers in the world — Walmart and Costco — were named specifically in a new investigation by the Guardian for selling prawns raised on food tied to the slave trade. One week later, those companies are still refusing to take two simple steps to rout out slavery from their supply chains — and that’s where we come in. Join me in taking action: CLICK HERE
 
 
~ WE WELCOME YOUR LETTERS – 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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