MAP News Issue #584, Nov 4, 2023

GLOBAL – Soham Bhattacharyya has been named overall winner of this year’s Mangrove Photography Awards, for his image of an endangered tigress in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve, India. Mr Bhattacharyya’s winning image, called The Finest Flower of the Mangroves, shows a young Royal Bengal tigress in its natural mangrove habitat, peering at the photographer. “The solitary figure of the tiger, standing amidst the lush green mangrove forest vegetation, poignantly underscores the isolation it must endure in an ever-shrinking habitat,” said competition judge Daisy Gilardini. In 2021, West Bengal Forest Department estimated there were only 96 Royal Bengal tigers in the region. Run by the Mangrove Action Project, the photo competition – now in its ninth 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.

INDONESIA – For generations, the seafaring Duano Indigenous community in Indonesia’s Riau province has relied on paddles and basic nets for their livelihood, launching small boats into healthy fishing grounds off the eastern coast of Sumatra. In the past, a single Duano canoeist could haul 80 kilograms (176 pounds) of fish to shore every day, explained Samsuri, a fish trader who belongs to one of 33 families of the Duano community here in Kuala Selat village. Instead, many here now rely on poorly paid day labor to make ends meet. Young people are increasingly crewing long shifts at sea on larger fishing vessels or taking casual work hauling aggregates on land.

INDONESIA – One person died and more were seriously injured after Indigenous Bangkal community members protested against a Palm Oil company that has taken over their customary lands. On 7th October, Indonesian police violently repressed a demonstration of Indigenous People who were protesting the occupation of their traditional lands by a subsidiary of the large palm oil group, Best Agro. The action took place on the customary lands of the Dayak Banjar Indigenous people. They were objecting to the takeover of their customary lands by the oil palm company, PT Hamparan Massawit Bangun Persada (HMBP), without providing smallholdings. 

UGANDA – In Uganda, police again violently broke up a peaceful demonstration against the EACOP oil pipeline and arrested four students. One of them contracted tuberculosis in jail. Nine young men have been on trial for a year on similar charges. On September 15, about 50 students marched through Kampala to present a petition against the EACOP oil pipeline to the Ugandan parliament. However, police officers denied them access, kicked and punched a number of students and arrested four. They spent the weekend in jail and are out on bail. According to the Guardian, Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, condemned the arrests as “very disturbing”. Kajubi Maktum, one of the detainees, contracted tuberculosis in the notoriously overcrowded jail. “The government has threatened us and tried to scare us. We will not be intimidated.”

TANZANIA – Tanzania’s vice president, wearing sunglasses and a bright yellow hijab, leaned over the waist-high concrete sea wall along Barack Obama Drive and gazed upon an expanse of Indian Ocean. More than 11 years had passed since Tanzania adopted its National Adaptation Program of Action, which identified “the construction of artificial structures, e.g., sea walls” as a priority to offset projected sea-level rise of between 1.5 and 3 feet over the coming century. (Subsequent studies have estimated sea-level rise in Tanzania will be between 0.5 and 1.4 feet by 2050.) Without action, experts say, the Tanzanian coastline could become inundated with seawater by the end of the 21st century. Such an outcome would be devastating for East Africa, one of the world’s emerging commercial hubs.

OMAN – n a muddy wetland in Oman’s capital, environmental scientist Zakiya al-Afifi measures the bark of a mangrove tree, estimating its capacity to absorb the carbon dioxide that is slowly heating the planet. Standing in the leafy reserve, shielded from the fierce sun, she says the Al-Qurm forest’s 80 protected hectares (197 acres) of mangroves could lock away thousands of tons of CO2. “Mangroves are the richest carbon sink in the world,” says Afifi, wearing boots and a white lab coat as she leads a group of university students around the swamp. Inspired by the late ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said, a renowned conservationist who died in 2020, the country of 4.5 million people has become the Gulf’s centre for mangrove restoration and preservation.

THAILAND – From Khao Sok National Park in the southwest to Phu Chi Fa Forest Park in the north, forests cover around 30% of Thailand’s total area. Approximately 23 million people live near or in these lush green landscapes, depending on them for sustenance and livelihoods. But that’s now at risk, due to both climate change-related threats and the policies implemented to protect the forests. “If this land is coming under the ownership of the government, it means that it is illegal for the villagers to live in this area,” said Malee Sitthikriengkrai, a professor at the Center for Ethnic Studies and Development at Chiang Mai University. The Manushya report notes: “Instead of choosing to phase out fossil fuels, the government continues to fight against the most marginalized forest-dwelling communities and Indigenous peoples, leaving the big polluters to keep making money.”

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ACTION ALERTS
Ecuador: Stop land grabbing and racial discrimination for palm oil!  

UGANDA Stop criminalizing pipeline protesters!

Save Endangered Species From SpaceX

Do not sacrifice Congo’s rainforests to the oil industry!