PORT ANGELES, WA: 19 November 2015: Mangrove Action Project (MAP) has been awarded a $19,800 grant from the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF). The conservation grant recognizes Mangrove Action Project’s efforts to educate young people throughout the world on the vital importance of mangrove wetlands, in this instance the focus is on introducing MAP’s ‘Marvellous Mangroves’ curriculum to Suriname’s schools.
“Suriname is the thirteenth country throughout the world where MAP has begun the process of translating, adapting, researching and introducing ‘Marvellous Mangroves’ – a 300-page curriculum linked teaching resource guide,” said MAP Global Education Director Martin Keeley. “The Disney grant will enable us to complete this exciting program and inspire local people to protect the mangrove forests of Suriname.”
In the past fourteen years, thousands of teachers and over 250,000 students in twelve countries worldwide have learned through exciting hands-on science the wonders of tropical mangrove wetlands through the Mangrove Action Project. The expansion and adaptation of MAP’s innovative education program into Suriname will include recent additions focusing on restoration, ecotourism and research. The Marvelous Mangroves Teachers’ Resource Guide will become the core of community understanding of mangrove ecology.
In Suriname, MAP is teaming with the Foundation for Development Through Radio & Television (SORTS) which has several years of successes behind it and concentrates its efforts on the coastal zone of Suriname. With a special focus on the county’s mangroves, SORTS has a strong track record of working with local communities in the country’s mangrove forests. SORTS has already worked with MAP on its program “Youth Action in Mangroves” and has focused much of its recent efforts on its education programs. This most recently included the opening of a special Mangrove Education Centre in Coronie, Suriname. While focusing specifically on the Mangrove Curriculum, it is essential to recognize that MAP’s principals of conservation and restoration have many years of successful implementation in the communities the group serves.
The Disney funding will allow the production and publication of Marvelous Mangroves in Suriname as well as enable the facilitation of several teachers’ workshops incorporating Marvelous Mangroves into the existing schools curriculum.
The Disney Conservation Fund focuses on protecting wildlife and connecting kids and families with nature. Since its founding in 1995, DCF has provided more than $30 million to support conservation programs in 115 countries. Projects were selected to receive awards based upon their efforts to study wildlife, protect habitats and develop community conservation and education programs in critical ecosystems.
For information on Disney’s commitment to conserve nature and a complete list of 2015 grant recipients, visit ww.disney.com/conservation.
About Mangrove Action Project: Witnessing firsthand the rapid devastation of the world’s mangrove forest wetlands and their associated coastal ecosystems, the founders of the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) decided in 1992 that it was time to form a global network to address the problems of mangrove loss worldwide. MAP has grown steadily during the last 20 + years to become a respected member of the global environmental movement. MAP’s international network has grown to include over 500 NGOs and 350 scientists and academics from over 60 nations. In recent years, MAP has transformed from a network-and advocacy focused organization into one still involved in advocacy, but with programs and activities on the ground, supported through local offices in Thailand and Indonesia, as well as close partner groups in Asia, Australia, Latin America and Africa. MAP’s pro-active approach to long-term mangrove conservation involves: education, advocacy, collaboration, conservation and restoration, as well as sustainable community-based development.
