It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.
 
—Mahatma Gandhi

FEATURED STORY

JULY 26 IS INTERNATIONAL MANGROVE ACTION DAY

USA – Graphic Artist Carly Hoover of Colorado is MAPs featured artist to celebrate July 26 Mangrove Action Day. Her art clearly shows the positive side of mangrove protection. She writes “Mangrove Action Project is dedicated to reversing the degradation and loss of mangrove forest ecosystems worldwide. This organization has a positive outlook and they work hard for the future instead looking at all the damage that has been done. I wanted to reflect that by creating a series of advocacy posters that would communicate their message without being too negative. I also created a motion video in Adobe After Effects to raise awareness that was based on one of the posters, and made a flip book of the video.” READ MORE

 

AFRICA
 
Gambia Trains Beneficiaries On Mangrove Regeneration
GAMBIA – Global Unification The Gambia, a youth-led environmental civil society organisation, trained 40 participants from the beneficiary communities of its Global Environment Facility Small Grant Programme (GEF SGP) supported Coastal Communities' Resilience to Climate Change (Coastal CARE) project, at Sanyang village in Kombo South, West Coast Region. The 2-day capacity building was meant to equip the beneficiaries from the project's three intervention sites of Gunjur, Sanyang and Tanji on mangrove regeneration techniques and environmental conservation. The participants comprise youth and women's group representatives, kanyellanghos (traditional communicators) and Village Development Committees of the three villages. As a result of their intricately entangled aboveground root systems, mangrove communities protect shorelines during storm events by absorbing wave energy and reducing the velocity of water passing through the root barrier. Wave energy may be reduced by 75 per cent in the wave's passage through 200 metres of mangrove, but other factors also have an influence, including coastal profile, water depth and bottom configuration. READ MORE
 
ASIA
 
Ronaldo Visits Indonesia, Plants Mangroves

INDONESIA – Christiano Ronaldo, world famous footballer of Portugal and Real Madrid, was invited as an ambassador of mangroves June 26th, to participate in a mangrove planting event alongside Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono (SBY), and the Indonesian Minister of Forests. The Indonesian Mangrove Management Agency (BPHM) was in charge of the technical aspects of the planting.  The head of BPHM, Ir. Murdoko, called Ben Brown of Mangrove Action Project – Indonesia to visit the planting site several days before the event for technical recommendations.  The planting site at Tanjung Benoa, had been planted on 4 previous occasions, but had experienced total mortality in all those occasions. READ MORE
 
CAP & SAM URGE GOVERNMENT TO CANCEL PROPOSED  AQUACULTURE PROJECT IN PENAGA
MALAYSIA – The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) urge the state government of Penang to cancel the proposed implementation of an aquaculture project in Penaga, Seberang Perai Utara (SPU) because of its potential impacts to the environment and local livelihoods.  The aquaculture project would destroy mangrove forests, pollute the sea, threaten fisheries resources and livelihood of coastal fishers, besides exposing the people and paddy fields here to the threat of storms, effects of tsunami and saltwater intrusion. The shrimp farming project to be undertaken by the Aquaculture Operators Association of Penang (Persatuan Pengusaha Akuakultur Pulau Pinang – PENKUA) would cover an area of 204 hectares including mangrove forest from Kuala Bekah River in the south to Kuala Muda River in the north. We understand that the proposed project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is yet to be approved. We believe that if this project is given the go ahead, there would be detrimental effects on the environment and the lives of people in the area. READ MORE
 
Bangladesh's coastal fisheries at risk due to fry netting

BANGLADESH – Indiscriminate netting of fry in the coastal region despite a government ban has led to a sharp depletion of shrimp and other fish of the rivers in the area, putting over 138 species of aquatic fauna at risk. Local fishermen of the Barguna district – which is enclosed by Bishkhali River to the West, Payra River to the East and the Bay of Bengal to the South –  are catching the fry using mosquito nets without knowing about its harmful effects on the ecosystem, UNB reports.  A large amount of fry of lobsters, prawns and other fish are swept into the two rivers during high tide, and are caught by the fishermen. A study by the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute from 1991-97 found that such fry netting is causing harm to 38 species of prawn, six other species of fish and 100 species of aquatic fauna in their drives to catch lobster and prawn fry. It was found that in one single drive, innumerable fry of tengra, poa and taposhi were caught with only seven or eight fry of prawns. READ MORE

Report on Capacity Strengthening for Local Communities in Coastal Areas available
CAMBODIA – Cambodia, a least developed country, is highly vulnerable to increased climate variability due to it being primarily agrarian. Its vulnerability (Adger 2006) is also increased by a lack adaptive capacity. This lack of adaptive capacity consists of ineffective institutional responses, inadequate "capitals" for implementing wide ranging development policies and programs and a national policy process which does not adequately include local concerns   and ideas regarding diverse methods of adaptation (Folke et al. 2002).  At the same time, there is an   increasing interest and growing activity relating to climate change, both nationally and internationally.  Therefore, it is both necessary and timely for Cambodia to initiate a regular forum for information sharing, mainstreaming climate change into sectoral policy and development plans and enhancing cooperation and coordination among Government institutions, development partners, NGOs and civil society, and especially to engage local community to participate in this issues. READ MORE
 
Editor’s Note: We’ve known for years that commercial shrimp farming is bad for mangroves. It is becoming abundantly clear that it is also bad for the shrimp, as the following stories highlight.
Shrimp farmers join effort to stop threat of Early Mortality Syndrome
TAHILAND – The Thai Department of Fisheries has invited shrimp breeders, specialists and related business entrepreneurs to a meeting to learn about the infectious early mortality syndrome (EMS) in shrimp farms, which has spread from southern China to Southeast Asia. The meeting was also participated by the 5 main organizations in the Thai shrimp industry which took this opportunity to announce their determination to jointly fight the viral disease which has devastated crustacean populations in other countries. Those associations said their goal was to establish a strong foundation for the Thai shrimp industry and to build confidence for shrimp farmers and importers. The meeting was held on the 10th of July 2013 at Centara Hotel located in the Government Complex and Convention Center, on Chaeng Wattana Road. READ MORE
 
Disease killing off shrimp in East Asia
THAILAND – Shrimp prices continue to rise in the United States, but the reason behind the jump lies far from home. A new disease in East Asia has cut Thailand’s shrimp output by as much as 40 percent, the Wall Street Journal reports. Now Western restaurants and retailers are scrambling to make up the difference by raising prices and looking to new sources. The disease arrived in Thailand late last year after sweeping through China and Vietnam, severely reducing shrimp production in those countries. Now that the disease is affecting the world’s largest shrimp exporter, shrimp prices have been rising worldwide. The United States relies on Thailand for a quarter of its shrimp imports, which dropped 27 percent last year and another 23 percent between January and April. In recent months, the United States has witnessed a 20 percent jump in prices, which some restaurant owners see as only the beginning of a larger increase. READ MORE
 
AMERICAS
 
Manatees Are Dying With Suspicious Seaweed in Their Mouths

USA – Manatees have been categorized as endangered since 1973. Thanks to restrictions on motorboats in areas where they live and programs to rescue, treat and release them, their numbers have surged back, from 1,000 about 30 years ago to about 5,000 today. A couple of years ago, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials even talked about changing the manatee’s status from endangered to threatened. Budget constraints and other projects took precedence and such efforts were tabled. As it turns out, this has been for the better: in the past few years, manatees have been dying in alarming numbers. In 2010, 282 succumbed to unusually cold temperatures. Starting this past September, toxins from red tide — the recurring algae bloom that was worse than usual in southwest Florida, covering 130,000 acres — took the lives of 272 manatees. In addition, restrictions on motorboats do not mean that manatees are entirely safe. About 80 to 100 die every year after being hit by boats. READ MORE

Darville advises Rotarians about the devastation in Bimini & The Bahamas
BAHAMAS- Passionate human rights activist and Save The Bays Director Joseph Darville engaged the members of Rotary’s Grand Bahama Sunrise Club recently as he spoke about “Rape, Pillage & Wanton Destruction of Our Patrimony Heritage of Land & Sea.” Having just returned from Bimini, Darville shared his findings and educated the Rotarians about Save The Bays, the rapidly-growing group seeking legislative, judicial and behavioural change to protect the Bahamas environment. The group (originally named The Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay) was established to fight the desecration of important marine environments in Nassau, particularly by private landowners and industry. READ MORE
 
Gulf shrimp prices soar on disease scare
USA – Prices on Gulf of Mexico brown shrimp are rising after overseas shrimp producers report problems with disease and the U.S. government set preliminary countervailing duty (CVD) rates for shrimp imports. “The pricing is the highest I have seen in six years. You are paying twice as much for product after the BP oil spill,” said Randy Pearce, owner of processing company Doran Seafood in Independence, La. As a result of higher ex-vessel prices on domestic shrimp — as much as USD 1 (EUR 0.77) per pound higher than last season — many buyers are switching to smaller sizes to save money, according to Pearce. Domestic shrimp prices have risen “dramatically,” agrees C. David Veal, president of the Biloxi, Miss.-based American Shrimp Processors Association. READ MORE
 
Tropical Forests Sensitive to Global Warming: A Study
USA – Tropical forests are intensely sensitive to climate change, causing them to produce more flowers in response to only slight increases in temperature, according to a new study conducted by the University of California, Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). Published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the study, which used a new globally gridded satellite dataset, examined how changes in temperature, clouds and rainfall affect the number of flowers tropical forests produce. "This study is an inspired example of integrating diverse existing data to do something never imagined when the data were originally collected," explained Stephanie Hampton, deputy director of NCEAS. "Flowers were probably not what NASA scientists were thinking of when they archived these cloud data." A forest's flower productivity is a measure of its reproductive health and overall growth, the researchers explained, which in turn can have a direct effect on the overall environment. READ MORE

 
LAST WORD
 
MANGROVE ACTION DAY TO BE OBSERVED IN BANGLADESH
 
Greetings from Bangladesh!
 
On the way of our proactive involvement with Mangrove Action Project (MAP), Humanitywatch and AOSED is going to organize Mangrove Action Day 2013 on 26th July 2013, Friday in Khulna, Bangladesh.
 
We have already started a discussion and going to organize a meeting today (16 July 2013) afternoon at AOSED Training Room with different organizations including BELA, CDP, IRV, Nabolok, Paribartan, Prodipan, Rupantar, Shushilan and others who are interested to join us.
 
Shamim Arfeen from AOSED and I from Humanitywatch is coordinating the program.
 
We will finalize the design of programs and contributions of different organizations to observe the day. Hope Martin can join us on the day.
 
Sincerely yours
HASAN MEHEDI | Chief Executive |Humanitywatch
Nuri Manjil | 39 Farukia Mosque Cross Road | Azizer Moor | Boyra | Khulna 9000 | Bangladesh
+8801716702006 | hwforg@gmail.com | info@humanitybd.org
Skype: mehedi.humanity | Twitter: @humanitywatch
www.humanitybd.org | http://humanitybd.blogspot.com

 
MANGROVE ACTION DAY TO BE OBSERVED IN PERU
 
My name is Carlos Zavalaga and I am the director of Proyecto Fragatas in the mangroves of Tumbes-Peru. We are organizing different activities for the local community for the Dia Internacional del manglar on July 26th and would like to share of all this with different international institutions involved in the protection of the mangroves worldwide. We have a blog you can visit: avesfragatasperu.com where you can find information about the Project and our activities. We also have a live streaming platform where people everywhere around the world can watch the activities of the magnificent frigatebirds, a representative species of the mangrove of Tumbes. We will be very happy if you can spread the Word about our Project, blog and live streaming. Many schools watch us everyday. In ocassions (we have a cchedule posted in the blog), we explain our work in from of the camera when working in the mangroves (measuring of frigatebird chicks, capture of adults, description of the birds, etc), all with an educational purpose. By request we can give an explanation in English or Spanish.
 
I hope you find our Project interesting. Our main goal is to make the local community aware of the importance of the mangrove through the frigatebirds. Also we collect scientific information of the frigatebirds to transfer this info to the tourist guides and general people.
 
Thanks
 
Carlos Zavalaga, PhD
Director Proyecto Fragata

~ WE WELOCME YOUR LETTERS – If you’d like to have the last word on this or any other mangrove related topic, please send us your submission for upcoming newsletters. We’ll choose one per issue to have “the last word”. While we can’t promise to publish everyone’s letter, we do encourage anyone to post comments on our Blog at www. mangroveactionproject.blogspot.com

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