MAP News Issues 454 – Oct. 27, 2018
The MAP News 454th Edition October 27, 2018 | |
FEATURE Mangrove no longer for shrimp farming  MALAYSIA – No more mangrove land will be approved for shrimp farming in Sabah. Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Junz Wong said mangrove destruction must be stopped for the sake of the environment. “The destruction of valuable natural environment assets are irreversible. Instead, we should encourage agricultural development, Wong said during a visit to a privately-owned shrimp farm at Sungai Telaga in Pitas to learn more about how farming is done. “We need to make sure that there is enough for the local market before exporting.” Meanwhile, Wong said he rejected an application to start prawn farming on mangrove land. A representative from six villages which were initially going to be affected by shrimp farming on the land, welcomed the minister’s decision. “We have been pleading for the government to stop mangrove destruction and prevent businesses from coming in,” said Mastupang Somoi. READ MORE AFRICA A fifth of Abu Dhabi's mangroves in moderate or poor health, study shows  ABU – DHABI – An estimated 20 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s mangroves are in deteriorating or moderate health, a new assessment by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi revealed. More than 150 square kilometres of Abu Dhabi’s coastline are covered in mangrove forests, whose dense thickets are a breeding ground for fish, birds, insects and marine invertebrates, and a carbon sink. Satellite mapping found that 80 per cent of the emirate’s mangroves are healthy, while 15 per cent are in moderate condition and 5 per cent are in deteriorating health. “This gives a snapshot of the condition right now and can help identify areas under stress,” said Amna Al Mansoori, an assistant scientist in marine habitats at the agency’s terrestrial and marine biodiversity section. “This project can give us a bird’s-eye view.” Mangrove health was determined by measuring the spectral reflectance of the forests. The greener the mangroves, the healthier the site. Patches of the Eastern Mangroves on Abu Dhabi island were found to be under stress. READ MORE Satellite-derived Mangrove Health Assessment to Abu Dhabi  ABU DHABI – TCarta, a global provider of geospatial products and services, has been commissioned by Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) to carry out a landmark mangrove health assessment covering the entire Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The assessment contains mangrove condition information derived from high-resolution multispectral satellite imagery. “The satellite-derived vegetation analysis process we developed for this project can be applied to large-area crop and forestry health mapping anywhere in the world,” said Chris Burnett, TCarta project manager. For EAD, the TCarta report delivered some promising results. With 80 percent of the Emirate’s mangrove forests found to be healthy, this was encouraging news. The innovative project also enabled EAD to designate conservation areas for immediate protection. The data helped EAD to assess the relative success of existing schemes with the view to applying the lessons learnt into practice for future endeavours. “As part of the assessment, we created a Disturbance Index showing precisely where the most mangrove stress is occurring,” said Burnett. “EAD will use this to determine – and potentially mitigate – the external factors causing the mangrove conditions to decline.” READ MORE ASIA MMM5 Mangroves & People – A call for submissions  SINGAPORE – The 5th international Mangrove Macrobenthos and Management (MMM5) conference will be held in 'downtown Singapore' from the 1st to the 5th of July 2019. The MMM series, first started in 2000, represents the largest single gathering of researchers, practitioners and policy makers interested in the science and conservation of mangrove forests. MMM is a global conference series, and MMM5 is the first MMM conference to be held in Southeast Asia – a region home to the highest biodiversity and largest extent of mangroves. However, it is also a region that has seen some of the highest rates of mangrove loss over the last 50 years. Thus, MMM5 is a great opportunity to share research on linkages between mangroves and people, and how we can better conserve threatened mangrove forests. READ MORE Come clean on mangrove forest clearing in Juru, authorities told  MALAYSIA – A swathe of the last remaining mangrove forest here is allegedly being cleared indiscriminately, believed to be for the development of aquaculture ponds. The location is accessible via a bund road that starts at the Sungai Belanak Fisherman Jetty towards the Permanent Food Production Park (TKPM). Machineries were spotted at the site recently to clear the 0.9ha mangrove forest and level the muddy soil. Checks by NSTP at the area today showed the entrance had been cordoned off with a black trawler net. Next to it was a shrimp pond, which has been in operations for the past five years Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) president S.M. Mohamed Idris urged the Penang government, the Seberang Prai Municipal Council, the Drainage and Irrigation Department, state Forestry Department and the Seberang Prai Tengah Land and District Office to investigate the destruction of mangrove forest in the area. “In a survey along the bund road in Juru, Bukit Tengah recently, we were shocked to see machinery used to clear the mangrove forest and the muddy soil being leveled while being observed by several individuals there. READ MORE New Oil Spill Devastates Borneo Coastline  BORNEO – A state of emergency has been declared after a huge oil spill occurred near the port city of Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Borneo. Five people have died and an 80km oil slick now covers much of Balikpapan Bay as the cleanup operation begins to reduce the massive environmental damage that this has caused. But just how did something like this happen? Although originally denying it for five days, the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina finally came forward accepting responsibility. It’s believed that a pipeline in Balikpapan Bay owned by Pertamina was hit as a coal ship dropped its anchor on the pipeline and subsequently dragged it approximately 100m, tearing the pipeline apart. As oil spilt out of the pipeline, Pertamina continued to deny any responsibility for the spill instead insisting that it was marine oil released from ships visiting the port. However, as the slick grew in size, Pertamina was pressured to take responsibility and begin cleaning up the oil that had poured out of its pipeline. READ MORE Sri Lanka project wins climate award  SRI LANKA – Seacology’s program to protect all of the mangrove forests in Sri Lanka continues to receive international accolades. The project just won a United Nations-sponsored 2018 Momentum For Change award for its innovative solution to a changing climate. It is one of 15 winners worldwide, dubbed “Lighthouse Activities” spearheaded by NGOs, governments, public utilities, and business leaders from around the world. It was one of four winners in the “planetary health” category. “These activities shine a light on scalable climate action around the world,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, who presented Seacology’s Duane Silverstein with the award last month as part of Climate Week in New York City. “They are proof that climate action isn’t only possible, it’s innovative, it’s exciting and it makes a difference.” We’re honored to have our largest and most ambitious project recognized by the international community at such a high level. READ MORE AMERICAS Mangrove Restoration Potential: Mapping Ocean Wealth  USA – The Nature Conservancy has partnered with IUCN to develop a global model and map of mangrove restoration potential to help practitioners prioritize areas, and as a way to support and encourage mangrove restoration projects globally. The model incorporates information on both current and historic distribution of mangrove forests, as well as local drivers of mangrove loss and degradation (e.g., urbanization and industrial development, conversion to agriculture and aquaculture ponds, deforestation for fuelwood or timber, altered freshwater regimes, pollution and coastal erosion), which can vary in extent and severity depending on the region. Environmental (e.g., wave energy, tides) and social factors (e.g., population density, demographics), as well as future projections of sea level rise, urbanization, and weather events are other factors that can influence restoration suitability and will also be incorporated into the model where possible. READ MORE Rising Temperatures Are Causing Soil to Dump More Carbon Dioxide Into the Air  USA – Nature is breathing. Trees inhale carbon dioxide and store that carbon in their leaves and branches. After they die, microbes in the soil gobble up their carbon-rich leftovers and exhale carbon dioxide back into the air, a process known as respiration. Rising temperatures are causing both processes to go faster. But — in an unexpected new finding — the two aren’t speeding up at the same rate. The microbes are working harder than the plants. The Earth, essentially, is panting. “Soils around the globe are responding to a warming climate, which in turn converts more carbon into carbon dioxide, which enters the atmosphere,” said Ben Bond-Lamberty, a researcher with the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a partnership between the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland. “Climate change is nudging up the temperature under which soils and ecosystems operate, with effects that are both predictable — such as faster activity — and uncertain — that is, microbial and plant communities might change.” READ MORE Yucatan to coordinate efforts to take care of the mangrove  MEXICO – Having as main objective the care and preservation of the mangrove in the municipal head and police stations, the H. Ayuntamiento that presides over the Mayor Julián Zacarías Curi, through the Direction of Ecology, seeks to establish contact with the Federal Procurator for Environmental Protection in Yucatan to begin to perform actions. “There is a lot of work to be done, especially in Chicxulub, where residents are willing to create a voluntary surveillance group in order to sue those who invade these natural areas,” said Andrei Narváez Denis, Deputy Director of the Progreso Ayuntamiento. Also, the official said that the rapprochement between the federal agency and the municipal government has already been sought, however, the state authorities in charge have not been able to undertake the actions proposed by the City Council of Progreso. READ MORE LAST WORD Really sorry to hear the passing away news of Robin Lewis. We all together in Vijayawada in 2005 during the EMR training workshop and later to the field trip. His contributions to the coastal ecosystems, particularly cost effective restoration will be remembered for many more years. As you said correctly conserving the fragile ecosystem by our group is a great tribute to the departed soul. Heartfelt condolences to the near and dear to Lewis R. Ramasubramanian R.Ramasubramanian
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