FEATURE Cameras Reveal Secret Lives of Mangrove Stingrays
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USA – James Cook University scientists have filmed stingray activity in mangroves for the first time, revealing how different species use the underwater forests and how important the environment is for the animal’s survival. JCU PhD candidate Shiori Kanno led the study, which placed three cameras on mangrove beds at Orpheus Island and produced more than 400 hours of video featuring more than 600 stingrays. She said habitat use and behavioural patterns of stingrays within mangrove areas are poorly understood and the reason why some stingrays favour them is unclear. “We urgently need this knowledge, especially for juvenile animals that are dependent on mangroves because habitat loss may have significant consequences for population survival,” said Ms Kanno. The research team monitored mangrove use by juvenile mangrove whiprays and cowtail stingrays. It was the first time the video technique had been applied. It revealed mangrove whiprays lived up to their name and spent a lot more time in the mangrove forests than cowtail stingrays. She said the movement of sharks capable of preying on juvenile stingrays was also recorded and the scientists found the predators rarely swam amongst the mangrove roots. “We saw no sharks amongst the mangroves over summer and only four in winter. So, predator avoidance is one possible driver of why whiprays use mangroves – sharks big enough to eat them just can’t get into the root system and it offers effective protection. READ MORE GLOBAL Celebrating Mangroves – the super ecosystem of the tropics
GLOBAL – These forests have a special place in my heart, making the work I have done on this ecosystem very personal and rewarding. Between university years, I did fieldwork in the so- called “mosquito-ridden and muddy” mangroves of northern Madagascar and absolutely loved it. The soothing scent of rich silt is the prevailing aroma of the mangroves, and the mud provides an excellent and free spa treatment. Furthermore, numerous marine species, including fish and shrimp are known to use the shelter provided by mangroves as nurseries while they mature. They feed on leaf scraps and microorganisms, all while hiding from predators in the thick tangles of roots. Due to the alien and unusual characteristics of the mangroves, I found my attention constantly divided between appreciating the trees and their intertwined roots and marveling at the vibrant world of crabs and mudskippers living under and above the surface. Knowing that mangrove populations are dwindling, I recall feeling bittersweet as I ventured through the beautiful ecosystem that could be so much more. I am not the only one who finds these forests amazing and valuable. According to UN estimates, over 100 million people live in proximity to mangroves. These dynamic ecosystems provide approximately US$33-57,000 per hectare per year of income to national economies in services like coastal protection, food and medicines. READ MORE Mangrove conservation more valuable than ever thanks to carbon trading
GLOBAL – The UN Environment Programme, the Kenya Forest Service, the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute and partners recently launched the Vanga Blue Forests Project on the Kenyan coast through the Global Environment Facility Blue Forests Project and the International Coral Reef Initiative/UN Environment coral reefs small grants programme, a groundbreaking initiative to trade carbon credits from mangrove conservation and restoration. It will restore over 4,000 hectares of mangroves in Kwale County and support the livelihoods of over 8,000 people in fishing communities. The management plan includes the sale of carbon credits on the voluntary carbon market. The initiative builds on the success of a similar project in Gazi, a community just a few kilometers north, which has been trading mangrove carbon credits on the Voluntary Carbon Market since 2012. READ MORE AFRICA Foni-Community Benefits From Massive Mangrove Rehabilitation
GAMBIA – All Gambia Forestry Platform in partnership with the community of Jomo Kunda village in the Foni Kansala District, over the weekend embarked on massive mangrove restoration on the river Bank. The 'Alkalo' of Jomo Kunda, Yaya Jarju, expressed appreciation of the bold restoration initiatives; that the exercise is a big boost for the development of his village at a time when he is the village head. He said the restoration of the mangrove has been a concern for his villagers in the sense that when the riverside was full of mangrove, fish was abundant; but that due to human activities and climate change, the environment has faced serious degradation. He used the opportunity to commend his community for their active participation during the exercise and challenged them to continue the hard work and plant more trees especially mangrove plants which is vital in fish breeding. He commended the NEMA- Chosso project under the Ministry of Agriculture for the support rendered toward the realizing of the project. He described the exercise as a step in the right direction towards the restoration of their environment. He appealed to the Nema-Chosso project to extend their support toward such projects in their community and acknowledge the effort of Ebrima Camara for initiating the exercise. READ MORE Ethiopia plants over 350 million trees in a day, setting new world record
ETHIOPIA – In a record-breaking day, at the Gulele Botanical Garden in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia launched an historic tree planting campaign. Over 350 million trees were planted in an ambitious move to counter the effects of deforestation and climate change. The event is part of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Green Legacy Initiative. It aimed at planting 200 million trees in a single day in 1,000 sites across the country. Prime Minister Ahmed congratulated the country for not only meeting its collective Green Legacy goal but also exceeding it. Ethiopia's Minister of Innovation and Technology Getahun Mekuria was quoted saying that more than 350 million trees were planted in 12 hours, breaking the world record held by India since 2016, for the most trees planted in one day and which stood at 50 million trees. The tree planting event was attended by a representative of the UN Environment Programme’s Liaison Office to Africa Union Commission, UN Economic Commission for Africa and representative to Ethiopia, and whose support for this ambitious action was crucial, as well as other United Nations Agencies and various international organizations. READ MORE AMERICAS Rising Sea Levels Could Accelerate Florida Bay Mangrove Loss
USA – Florida has lost much of the mangrove forests that once bordered its coasts and estuaries to development and sea-level rise. Current rates of sea-level rise combined with increasing climate variability could accelerate the loss of mangrove-lined coastlines, according to new USGS research published in the journal Nature Communications. These findings will help resource managers understand whether mangrove-forested islands and shorelines can be maintained as the climate changes and sea levels rise and how water management may help mitigate these changes.“From previous studies, we know that the mangrove zone in South Florida shifted inland as sea level rose and estuaries covered what was previously mangrove forest during the late Holocene,” said USGS research geologist Miriam Jones, the study’s lead author. “This new research is one of the most detailed studies to pinpoint how fast the transition from mangrove forest to estuary happened during that time.” The USGS research comes at a time when state and federal government agencies and many other partners are undertaking one of the world’s largest and most ambitious ecosystem restoration efforts: to help recover the health and natural productivity of the Greater Everglades ecosystem, which includes Florida Bay.READ MORE DEP sends Cape Coral warning letter over destroyed mangroves
USA – Mangroves and vegetation is ripped from the ground along a Cape Coral canal and neighbors are upset, but now, so is the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The City told people living along the canal that crews were just getting rid of invasive trees but last week neighbors said they weren’t buying that. In a two page warning letter, the DEP called out the City of Cape Coral over dredging and clearing along the Coral Point Canal. Joanne Payne is just one of the neighbors who immediately started searching for answers when she saw construction workers tearing out mangroves across from her house, in Cape Coral’s Four Mile Cove Preserve. In the letter sent Tuesday to the City and the property owner, Ripple Lake LLC, investigators list four possible violations. They include failure to install and utilize best management practices during in-water construction and unauthorized mangrove alteration. The DEP calls the violation serious and “Intends to pursue formal enforcement in this matter … Restoration of the shoreline and wetlands will be required, as well as civil penalties”. READ MORE EARTHCARE joins with Earth Successor, Qiantang River Waterkeeper, and Waterkeepers Bahamas to plant mangroves
BAHAMAS – Early on the morning of August 3rd, EARTHCARE Eco Kids and Volunteers joined with Earth Successor, Qiantang River Waterkeeper, and Waterkeepers Bahamas to plant mangroves in order to Drawdown Climate Change. It was a wonderful morning of caring for the earth and fellowship. Cultures joined together in a common cause, caring for our Mother Earth. Sustainable Development Goals 13 Climate Action, 15 Life on Land and 17 Partnerships for the Goals were achieved during this project. This visit and collaboration was sponsored by Save The Bays, who is an advocate for stronger environmental laws and enforcement of those laws in The Bahamas. The contingent from China was made up of 25 persons, which resulted in a total of 45 Volunteers who planted 300 Mangroves. Hao Xin, Executive Director of Qiantang River Waterkeeper and Wu Yiwen, Beijing National Day School presented an elated EARTHCARE Founder, Gail Woon, with a beautiful, genuine silk scarf from China in appreciation for the Mangrove Planting partnership. READ MORE ASIA A common survival strategy for the Sunderbans
BANGLADESH – A memorandum of understanding on conservation of the Sunderban is in place since September 2011; yet a common understanding of what constitutes the Sunderban is elusive. The MoU recognizes that the natural areas of the Sunderban are greatly influenced by human use and by the people living in tracts adjoining the forest. These tracts, cleared during colonial times, are now home to over 7.2 million people. Till date, while the Joint Working Group constituted under the MoU has met only once, thousands of hectares of land have been lost due to accelerating sea level rise and erosion. Consequently, people are being displaced both physically and occupationally. The processes are also reducing forestlands that sustain the Royal Bengal tiger. The pace of environmental change and that of conventional bilateral diplomacy are asynchronous. READ MORE The wolf of Bangladesh: A true story
BANGLADESH – For Muntasir Akash, it all started with a photo in a news report in early June. The photo showed a canine-like animal, beaten and dead, legs splayed, hanging from makeshift posts. It was killed by local people in the remote village of Taltoli in the Bangladeshi Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, straddling both Bangladesh and India. “Here the story begins,” says Akash, a wildlife biologist at the University of Dhaka. What first struck this expert on carnivorous mammals most was the dead animal’s “white patch around the cheek and throat.” Akash sent emails to his colleagues, Jan Kamler and William Duckworth, both of whom agreed with Akash’s initial suspicion: the animal was a wolf. The only problem? There are no wolves in Bangladesh.Not only are wolves not supposed to be in Bangladesh anymore, they aren’t supposed to be in the Sundarbans either. Indian wolves are creatures of the grasslands, scrub, deciduous forests and the areas between wilderness and agriculture. Still, this wasn’t the first wolf recently found among the dense, muddy, watery mangroves. In 2017, wildlife photographer Riddhi Mukherjee took a remarkable photo of a wolf on the Indian side of the Sundarbans, more than 300 kilometers (190 miles) from the nearest known wolf population in Purulia district. READ MORE OCEANA Sea levels threaten Australian mangroves
AUSTRALIA – Swampy, muddy and full of mosquitoes. Mangroves offer an environment not entirely pleasurable for many. But for a mangrove researcher at Charles Darwin University, it is worth a visit. For Madeline Goddard, ecosystems such as the one in northern Australia are essential to the survival of the planet. “I think historically, they’ve had a rough patch, but I think the more we learn about them, the more we discover their importance and how many ecosystem services they provide’‘, Goddard said. In addition to providing habitat for marine life, mangrove forests are a reservoir of carbon. “So they absorb all this sunlight, convert it into energy, grow the leaves and, yes, the carbon stays in the system. He falls off the tree, falls to the ground, buries himself, and the carbon stays in the mud”, she added. As the global climate warms, and polar ice caps melt, the “sea bed” is expected to rise around the world. Thus encompass many tropical mangroves by the end of the century, if they do not adapt. Expert say the solution lies in protect the surrounding land so that mangrove forests can extend inland. READ MORE
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Tanzania’s government is moving ahead with its plans for a hydroelectric dam in Selous Game Reserve. A huge swath of the UNESCO World Heritage site and habitat of iconic African wildlife would suffer irreparable damage. 1,500 km2 – an area the size of London – has just been opened to logging. Please help us protect Selous. SIGN PETITION Don't trash coral reefs for the cruise industry! – TAKE ACTION Sea turtles or condominiums?
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Community Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration in Rufiji Delta VIEW VIDEO Video: Mangroves for the Future – A look bacK. As the latest phase of Mangroves for the Future (MFF) draws to a close, this video highlights some of the project’s most successful initiatives – from local women supporting national park management in Viet Nam to an island in the Maldives that has become a model for waste management, and everything in between. View Here Making the case for Emergency Climate Change Action  
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Marvellous Mangroves Curriculum The Marvellous Mangroves Education Forum is an online hub for those utilizing the Marvellous Mangroves (MM) Curriculum. It gives students, teachers and anyone interested in mangroves, the opportunity to learn and share ideas themed around the curriculum, to connect and communicate with others around the globe whilst exploring mangroves from your computer or on the go. VISIT 
The award-winning Marvellous Mangroves (MM) curriculum educates children on the importance of mangroves and their ecological functions, teaching them about modern challenges and mechanisms for sustainability. VIEW VIDEO Marvellous Mangroves Curriculum in Bangladesh – WATCH VIDEO
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