We are taking a look back of some of our top stories from 2022. Over the past 12 months, we have seen some major breakthroughs and witnessed some catastrophic setbacks in mangrove conservation and protection. Since its inception 31 years ago, MAP has watched global awareness of these important habitats change dramatically. No longer do we argue for their simple conservation but rather the best method of conservation. Where we once fought to dispell the myth that these were undesireable mosquito-infested scrub-brush, we now debate which species should be reintroduced and where. Our understanding of the critical role these forests play in carbon sequestration, storm abatement and coral and seagrass protection continues to grow exponentially. The question of the value of these essential forest and the worth of some of the most biodiverse habitats is no longer in question. And yet we cannot hope the battle to save mangroves has been won. We still see vast tracts of these tropical forests sacrificed for the construction of coal-powered energy plants. Vast swaths of forest cut down and replaced with palm-oil plantations. Bullet trains, ocean reorts, shrimp supply demands , all continue to threaten the remaining mangroves. And each year, MAP will continue to be a voice of reason and hope for magrove forests and the communites that depand on them. 

Here are our picks for the top stories of 2022

MAP News Issue #537 – Jan 08, 2022

An Appeal from our Executive Director for the Mangroves
Maybe world leaders are finally reading the writing on the wall? Maybe they finally understand that the recent frightening weather, massive forest fires, droughts and floods are not just chance occurrences but due to our planet-level experiment of increasing CO2 levels from the pre-industrial 280ppm to 415ppm today. There’s no argument about these numbers or the greenhouse gas effect – it’s just straight physics. We can debate the link between CO2 levels and climate change. Or we can take practical action now. Please support MAP to do what the world should be doing, climate change or not – conserving existing mangroves and restoring degraded forests, as fast as possible. Why mangroves in particular? Because they form an amazing intertidal ecosystem that provides all sorts of benefits, local and global, but are under threat from shrimp farming, urban development, road building, sea walls, oil palm expansion, sea level rise and other challenges.
 

 

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MAP News Issue #540 – Feb 19, 2022

Man of the moment for dwindling mangrove
INDIA – Several varieties of mangroves, spread over vast tracts of land, have been cut down in Kannur in the recent years to facilitate Kaipad and shrimp farming. All through, 58-year-old Parayil Rajan, a resident of Thavam, near Pazhayangadi, has been fighting a lone battle against the trend. Besides creating awareness among the people, he is on a mission to cultivate mangroves, especially the varieties that have dwindled due to deforestation, in his nursery on the premises of his house. Rajan, a fisherman, has been planting mangroves right from his childhood, and their massive destruction of late has been disheartening to him.  Mangroves are being cleared from private land for shrimp and Kaipad farming, for which huge funds are made available by various agencies, he said. “People have little concern for mangroves, which they now see as a hindrance to profit-making. 
 

MAP News Issue #541 – Mar 05, 2022

Living with Bees in Thailand
THAILAND – At least half of all mangrove forests in Thailand have been destroyed, leading to many negative impacts to the coastal environment and people. As sea levels continue to rise with an increase in extreme weather events, coastal communities have become extremely vulnerable. But there is hope….At the edge of the sea on the Andaman Coast in Southern Thailand, villagers are nurturing bees and adapting their relationship with forests to fight the changing climate.  Living with Bees will shine a light on an incredible connection one village has developed with pollinators, as we follow one woman’s journey of discovery; that introducing bees into the mangroves could be the key to saving her and her village. Help us to spread the word to everyone you know. 

MAP News Issue #542 – Mar 19, 2022

Mangrove Restoration Project in Kenya

KENYA – The MAP team has arrived in Kenya! We are here with Wetlands International East Africa to teach a mangrove restoration workshop for community members in Lamu County. The workshop aims to enhance understanding of mangrove ecology and stakeholder needs to improve project outcomes for coastlines and communities⁠. Lamu County is home to over 60% of Kenya’s mangroves which are vital ecosystems for the community. They protect against coastal erosion, provide a buffer against storm surges, and are home to many of fish species that are important to local fisheries. Mangroves are directly tied to the culture and heritage of the region with many structures, boats and other amenities being built with mangrove wood. As well as harvesting, Lamu is also losing hundreds of hectares of mangrove forest to make way for the establishment of national projects such as the Lamu Port at Kililana. Mangrove forests have gained a newfound spotlight in the global conservation movement over the past decade, mainly due to the huge amounts of carbon they can sequester. 
 

MAP News Issue #544 – April 16, 2022

Learning How To Restore Mangrove Population

BAHAMAS – MANGROVE education and training is underway on Grand Bahama for some 30 participants at the Rand Nature Centre as part of a major Mangrove Restoration Project by Waterkeepers Bahamas and Earthcare Bahamas. The project – which is aimed at restoring the mangrove forests at Dover Sound – is being funded through a grant from the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund. The goal is to harvest and plant 30,000 mangrove propagules. The Mangrove Action Project (MAP), a well-known international mangrove conservation group, was brought in to conduct education and proper training for a week, which began on Monday. This is to ensure the successful mangrove restoration. According to Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Waterkeepers Bahamas, the mangrove restoration project with Earthcare Bahamas will be carried out in a phased approach.She said: “The first phase of this project is for 12 months, and it is funded under the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund, and that’s where we are looking at the collecting 30,000 (mangrove propagules).

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MAP News Issue #546 – May 13, 2022

 
BAHAMAS – During the Bahamas CBEMR training that took place from April 8-14 in Freeport on Grand Bahama, Monica Gutierrez-Quarto collaborated with Waterkeepers and with the resident artist Marie Louis Hayward producing the Kids Art Mangrove workshop on April 13th. Two art projects were presented to the students: a Painting workshop about animals of the mangroves and a silk screen workshop producing prints of a mangrove tree.   Before the hands-on art projects, the students received an educative presentation by a scientist from Waterkeepers about mangroves in Grand Bahamas. The students also had the opportunity to see the mangrove nursery at the Rand Center, where both the CBEMR training workshop and the children’s art workshop took place. Twenty students from ages 7 to 13 years old participated in this project. The event lasted 3 hours, and the kids had a great time producing their varied creations.
 

MAP News Issue #549 – June 25, 2022

Co-existing mangrove-coral habitats have a new global classification system

GLOBAL – On any given day between 2016 and 2019, Heather Stewart could be found snorkeling in between mangroves in the Bocas del Toro archipelago along Panama’s Caribbean coast. For years she visited these forests at the interface between land and sea, trying to understand what drove corals to grow inside them. Corals and mangroves often grow near each other in tropical coastal environments, but finding them sharing the same habitat appeared to be an evolutionary trait that deserved an explanation. With this in mind, a group of researchers that included Stewart and other scientists from STRI, the University of Miami, Santa Fe College and the University of Florida set out to create a system to classify coexisting mangrove-coral (CMC) habitats around the world. They reviewed scientific studies and identified the main characteristics and conditions occurring in these ecosystems. “We believe it is important to have a global classification system for coexisting mangrove-coral habitats because for nearly a century these systems have been known to exist, but were largely ignored by the scientific community,” said Stewart.
 

 BRAZIL – Freshwater mangroves have been discovered in the Amazon Delta for the first time – suggesting ecosystem adaptability to the river flow. This study is the first scientific finding published as part of the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Amazon Expedition, a two-year exploration of the Amazon River Basin from the Andes to the Atlantic. Angelo Bernardino and Thiago Silva, both National Geographic Explorers, conducted the first exploration of 11 mangrove forests along the Amazon Delta in April this year (2022). The Explorers analyzed data from the soil pore water, salinity, composition and tree density and volume using 3-D laser scanning from the ground and from drones. Their findings have been published in the journal, Current Biology. Bernardino, a marine ecologist, told The Ecologist: “It was fascinating. At first, I was confused because we were not seeing the same forests we are used to seeing all over Brazil. In the Amazon Delta, the forests have this unique mixture of freshwater plants.”

MAP News Issue #552 – Aug 13, 2022

CAYMAN ISLANDS – The community of adults and youth in Cayman Islands has come together recently to release a series of educational videos. Each is geared towards presenting information about mangrove restoration in a light, educational way.  From children’s stories to raising a cold beer that supports mangrove conservation efforts, Cayman Islanders are helping the world find new ways to celebrate the biodiversity in their back Yard. MAP’s education Director, Martin Keeley has been busy recently helping groups participate in clean-ups and better understand the importance of tropical forests in their own back yard. And the videos do more than educate. They are fun, affirming snippets of the lives of many environmentally conscious citizens of these Caribbean islands. We invite you to watch these short films and share them with your family and friends. The future of our planet just may rely on it! 

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MAP News Issue #555 – Sept 24, 2022

Moon’s ‘wobbles’ mysteriously linked to mass mangrove tree deaths in Australia

AUSTRALIA – A wobble in the moon’s orbit around Earth affects mangrove cover across Australia and likely contributed to mass tree deaths in the Gulf of Carpentaria, new research suggests. A study published in the journal Science Advances has found that an 18.61-year cycle known as the lunar nodal cycle shapes the condition of tidal wetlands. The moon’s orbit around Earth does not occur in a flat plane. “Since the 1720s, people have known that it moves up and down by a few degrees,” said the study’s lead author, Prof Neil Saintilan of Macquarie University. He likened the motion to “when you’re spinning a coin – as it loses momentum, it kind of wobbles”. Changes in gravitational pull as a result of this lunar wobble are known to affect the Earth’s tides. Previous research conducted by Nasa scientists has predicted that in the mid-2030s, the lunar wobble will amplify rising sea levels caused by climate change, resulting in high-tide floods along coastlines.

 

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MAP News Issue #556 – Oct 08, 2022

21^st annual MAP’s Children’s International Art Calendars 2023 are here and ready to order!

USA – Every year, MAP conducts and international children’s art contest among students from various mangrove countries, whose artwork is then featured in our MAP Children’s Calendar. With beautiful artwork submitted by students from many countries around the world, these calendars both make a great gift, and are a helpful reminder for what we can do to assist in saving our world’s mangroves. It is an opportunity for the younger generation to learn about the vital role Mangroves play in the lives of coastal communities and marine life around the world while letting them explore their imagination and have fun when creating their art pieces. This colorful calendar has increased in popularity since its first publication in 2002. The artworks entered were incredibly stunning and expressive and have resulted in one of our most beautiful calendars to date. 
 

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MAP News Issue #558 – Nov 5, 2022

Crocodile close-up in Cuba wins photo awards

GLOBAL – Run by the Mangrove Action Project, the competition – now in its eighth year – aims to show the relationships between wildlife, coastal communities and mangrove forests, as well as the fragility of these unique ecosystems, both above and below the waterline. Gardens of the Queen is an archipelago off the coast of Cuba and has been strictly protected since 1996. It is one of the most untouched marine ecosystems in the world. “The healthy population of American crocodiles is down to the pristine condition of the mangroves, and I wanted to capture close-ups of this gentle giant in its natural habitat,” said Ms Houppermans. “I hope this image can illustrate that protecting areas like this is so critical.” Mangroves are an important protection against climate change, with one acre (4,000sq m) of mangrove forest absorbing nearly the same amount of carbon dioxide as an acre of Amazon rainforest.

 

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