MAP News Issue # 587 – Dec 15, 2023

Why mangroves are critical in climate change fight, and how Indonesia and Tanzania are using eco-tourism to protect them

GLOBAL – Mangroves and other coastal ecosystems are gaining attention in the international agenda, including as part of the UNFCCC COP28 presidency priorities, where a coalition of parties and non-state actors are building momentum to direct increased action for mangroves in support of the Mangrove Breakthrough. As of 2023, 97 countries have included coastal and marine ecosystems, including mangroves, in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, and 61 countries have included conservation or restoration of blue carbon ecosystems as mitigation and/or adaptation measures. Mangroves are highly relevant to the implementation of multiple goals and targets across the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) (Targets 1, 2, 3, 8, for instance), and Parties are expected to update their National Biodiversity Strategy and Adaptation Plans to align with the GBF goals by COP16 in 2024. Globally, 305 Ramsar sites contain mangrove ecosystems, and Parties under the Ramsar Convention are to pursue policies and regional initiatives to conserve and restoral coastal wetlands, including mangroves.

TANZANIA – On the coast of Tanzania’s Mafia Island lies a blue lagoon – a dream-like pool of bright turquoise water, filtered and cooled by the mangroves which surround it. Ailars David, a marine conservation warden at the reserve, said the plan is to build a boardwalk for tourists to reach the lagoon so they can swim surrounded by nature and the freshest of air. David hopes this nascent “eco-tourism” project can help fund work to patrol the Marine Protected Area’s more than 5,000 hectares of mangrove forest on the island in the Indian Ocean off the east African coast, south of Zanzibar. Some locals on Mafia Island want to cut down the coastal vegetation as wood for cooking and fires, David said, while the area – popular with divers – is also under threat from tourist developments looking to clear trees to open access to the beach..

GLOBAL – A  report which offers a practical roadmap to scale up capital flow into mangrove protection and restoration has been launched at COP28. Developed by The Global Mangrove Alliance and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions (HLCs), in partnership with Systemiq the Mangrove Breakthrough: Financial Roadmap provides a pathway to achieve the financial goals of the Mangrove Breakthrough which was launched at COP27 and will be highlighted at a COP28 Ministerial on 9 December organized by the COP28 Presidency, the HLCs, the Mangrove Alliance for Climate, and the Global Mangrove Alliance. “Unlocking capital at scale for mangroves will be critical. Long term flows of public, private and philanthropic capital are needed to keep healthy mangroves standing, create nature and people-positive businesses and livelihoods, and to regenerate and restore degraded mangroves”.

USA – Mangroves and coastal dunes serve as a natural defense against storms. Despite the sheer magnitude of the wind, waves, and water that Hurricane Ian introduced to Southwest Florida, SCCF heard from many residents who believed things would have significantly been worse if they hadn’t had a dune or mangroves protecting their properties. SCCF’s Pfeifer Fellow, Professor Emeritus Thomas T. Ankersen from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, and SCCF Coastal Resilience Manager Carrie Schuman, Ph.D., created the mangrove and dune survey to obtain this qualitative data. “The scientific literature contains a lot of analyses suggesting the importance of mangroves and dunes in protecting property, but very little of it focuses on individual properties,” Ankersen said.

USA – The owner of Sandpiper Bay Resort in Port St Lucie, Florida — and the tenant who currently leases the property — face more than $110,000 in fines after approximately 944 protected mangrove trees were cut down across the property’s boundary earlier this year. Once home to a Club Med resort, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a warning to the current owner, Store Capital Acquisitions LLC, following an inspection that revealed 17,789 square feet of mangroves along the property’s shoreline were destroyed — without a valid permit. According to an inspection report, a representative for the owner claimed the mangroves were cut down following tornado damage. However, inspectors noted healthy mangroves “full of foliage” stacked in nearby dumpsters. Further assessments uncovered that fill had been placed over the remaining mangrove roots — resulting in the discharge of fill material into the North Fork St. Lucie River Aquatic Preserve.

MYANMAR – In the mangrove forests of central Myanmar a “cryptic” creature moved through the trees. Something about the scaly animal caught the attention of scientists. It turned out to be a new species. Researchers first encountered the green snakes during wildlife surveys in 2000 and 2001, according to a study published Dec. 13 in the journal ZooKeys. Initially, these snakes were misidentified as known species of pit viper. A DNA analysis of the “cryptic” snakes later revealed that the animals belonged to a “distinct species,” the study said.Intrigued, researchers took a closer look at 19 of these misidentified green snakes and realized they’d discovered a new species: Trimeresurus ayeyarwadyensis, or the Ayeyarwady pit viper. Ayeyarwady pit vipers can reach over 3 feet in length, the study said. They have “sharply” textured scales with an overall green coloring that varies in hue and pattern. Photos show several Ayeyarwady pit vipers. One snake has an ombré body, with its mossy green back fading to lime green and an almost yellow-white coloring on its belly.

FIJI – Mangroves, vital in protecting villages from environmental disasters, have been destroyed to build luxury hotels. In the crook of a river near the west coast of Fiji sits Yavusania village. One day soon, if nothing is done to help, residents fear it will disappear. The threat is most obvious along the water’s edge, where successive flash floods have surged up a river once sheltered by mangrove forests, chewing away metres of soil and sand so trees left behind are held up by only a handful of roots. Epeli Turuva, a 48-year-old community leader in Yavusania, sits near the weathered concrete foundations of an old home, half of which appears to have collapsed into the water below. It is not the only house to have done so: four other buildings have also collapsed during floods over the last few years, the most recent of which hit in March. Turuva worries his home will be next. “I don’t want to move,” he says. “Our land is rich, and our community is very close-knit. It’s hard to imagine life without this village.”

MAP is proud to release a report of our annual accomplishments and financial health for the past year. Check out a global map of the places we’re working, and highlights from all of our programs. Thank you to our many supporters who made this work possible, and to all of our friends and partners working to protect mangrove forests, worldwide.

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