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Late Friday News, 139th Ed., 27 May 2004
Dear Friends,
This is the 139th Edition of the Late Friday News.
This newsletter is brought to you for free, but PLEASE help MAP stay in this fight for the future by becoming a donating subscriber today! Contact: mangroveap@olympus.net
Also, Please Donate Your Frequent Flyer Miles To MAP!
Please consider helping MAP meet those demands for our presence at certain conferences and workshops whereby our greatest cost to attend important events is airfare, which too often holds us back from attending important fora where MAP's presence should be felt.
Please donate your frequent flyer miles to MAP so we can be in the right place at the right time to present MAP's needed voice at such fora where too often the grassroots voice for the local communities and for the mangroves is not heard.
If you wish to donate your frequent flyer miles, pleas contact Alfredo Quarto at mangroveap@olympus.net.
Your help in this important matter will be much appreciated!
Salud,
Alfredo Quarto,
Mangrove Action Project
Partnering with mangrove forest communities, grassroots NGOs, researchers and local governments to conserve and restore mangrove forests and related coastal ecosystems, while promoting community-based, sustainable management of coastal resources.
Contents for LATE FRIDAY NEWS, 139th Edition, 27 May 2004
FEATURE STORY
A CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTION ON JULY 26th, THE DAY OF THE MANGROVES!
MAP WORKS
IHOF #10 Successfully Held In Medan, Sumatra
New Website On Mangrove Restoration Launched
Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training workshop
MAP's Art Gallery Website
Please Donate Your Frequent Flyer Miles To MAP!
Work-Study Tour In Yucatan's Mangroves
John Gray Sea Canoe Eco-Tours
Nigeria
Coordinator and 6 others members arrested by Nigerian Army Personnel in Bakassi
S.E. ASIA
Indonesia
Indonesian Oil Palm Destroys Rainforests, Intimidates Communities
Burma
Burma: Forests for Export to China
S. ASIA
Bangladesh
The Sundarbans and coastal fisheries
Tree felling banned in Sundarban
Shrimp Seal of Quality news service
E. Asia
China
Soy beans Bolster China's aquazculture Industry and US Growers
STORIES/ISSUES
Genetically modified trees cause memory loss
FAO Support for agricultural biotechnology in its State of Food and Agriculture 2003-2004 report Questioned
U.S. Ocean Commission Publishes Preliminary Report
ANNOUNCEMENTS
World Ocean Day, June 8th
AQUACULTURE CORNER
Hatchery Salmon & Trout Health Risks
A CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTION ON JULY 26th, THE DAY OF THE MANGROVES!: MAP wishes to lend our full support to the plans and actions presented here by FUNDECOL in their recent call for Global Action on July 26th, 2004. We ask that you and/ or your organizations please join us all in a global protest against the ongoing incarceration of the mangrove forest ecosystems and the local communities that depend upon the mangroves for their lives and livelihoods. Please send us your regional or local plans for actions that are meant to commemorate this international Day for the Mangroves! We would like to again share your plans and ideas with our international network. We look forward to hearing from you soon in this regards! (The Editor)
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Campaign 26th of July,
Day of the Defense of the Mangroves
"FREEDOM FOR THE MANGROVES"
Kidnapped mangroves by shrimp farms
Partners,
We are about to celebrate once more the 26th of July, Day of the Defense of the Mangrove Ecosystem. As last year, we wish that this day will be commemorated in the international, regional and national levels.
* "Freedom for the Mangroves"
Freedom for the mangroves is a symbolic name that urges to "liberate" the mangroves that are illegally destroyed and suffocated by the dams of the shrimp ponds that forbid the natural exchange of brackish and fresh waters.
Freedom for the mangroves jailed by industrial shrimp infrastructure that bans their normal development and exchange of energy, and finally
Freedom for the areas that have been destroyed and need to be reestablished to their original ecosystem.
Under the slogan "Freedom for the Mangroves", this year 2004's campaign that commemorates the 26th of July, is committed to strengthen the local organizational processes and to generate favorable public opinion for the defense and community management of the mangroves. It is also dedicated to the development of alliances with organizations and institutions in the regional and international level to accomplish the mission of recovery, protection and conservation of this very valuable natural resource, especially through the reversion of the illegal and abandoned shrimp ponds to their original mangrove ecosystem.
Actions that will take place
In Ecuador the following activities will take place during the campaign "Freedom for the Mangroves":
On the 26th of July, a national event will take place in the city of Bahia de Caraquez. A massive demonstration of the traditional users of the mangrove ecosystem of the entire Ecuadorian coast will happen in support to this province, which is the most devastated region of the country because of the effects of the indiscriminate destruction of the mangroves due to the construction of infrastructure for the industrial shrimp aquaculture and other industrial activities such as industrial tourism.
The big celebration during the Day of the Mangroves will gather ancestral users of the mangroves of the entire Ecuadorian coast in Bahia de Caraquez as well as the local and national mass media. During this day, the following activities will take place:
* A national festival for the mangroves with:
o A mangrove forum
o Artistic and cultural presentations from each province
o Stands from the different organizations
o Promotion of the community management of the mangroves
* Reforestation of mangroves in an abandoned shrimp pond located near Bahia de Caraquez. This will count with the community participation of the traditional users of the mangrove ecosystem from the entire Ecuadorian coast and the attendance of the local, regional and national mass media.
During this happening the slogan of this year's campaign "Freedom for the mangroves" will guide strictly the activities by giving back the life to an incarcerated mangrove forest jailed by the disordered industrial shrimp aquaculture.
In the previous days, in each of the provinces will take place community celebrations that will involve: cultural, artistic and sport activities, local festivals and forums around the mangroves. Moreover, with the community participation and the support of students from schools and universities massive reforestations of mangroves will occur.
At the same time, during the 25th and 30th of July, we will attend the Social Forum of the Americas that will take place in the city of Quito, and we will insert the issue of the mangroves during this event.
We invite you to incorporate to this year's festival of the 26th of July by proposing activities and actions in the different counties for the "Freeedom of the Mangroves".
Yours truly,
Lider Gongora F.
President C-Condem
costamanglar@hotmail.com
Executive Secretary Redmanglar
redmanglar@redmanglar.org
IHOF #10 Successfully Held In Medan, Sumatra
I arrived back here about 1:30 am this morning from Medan ...... a very long tiring trip all in one day, but all Thai participants arrived in Trang safely and will be travelling back to their communities today. IHOF #10 generally went off very well with no major mishaps or problems. The new centre in village Kuala Indah is very well build and appropriate for a village IHOF meeting. Everyone sat on the floor which made the fishers feel at ease. Content & variety of the workshop was very good. Homestay was bit rough for participants as there were lots of mosquitoes & some houses had no washrooms so people did not sleep well. I was always totally exhausted so despite a thin woven mat on a concrete floor my sleep was not too bad. I'm sure Ben will give a full report once he is back.....today he was traveling to Penang by ferry for a few days break. This IHOF does show that an IHOF in the village is possible! Both JALA & P3MN did a great job in preparations & support throughout the workshop. Ben really put a lot of work into this workshop and did a great job facilitating. The 3 translators were excellent & made it all possible. With only two languages, things seemed to move much better without the long delays normally experienced with 3 or more languages.
More on IHOF #10 later.
From: "MAP / S.E. Asia"
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New Website On Mangrove Restoration Launched
Robin Lewis would like to announce the opening of the web page www.mangroverestoration.com and the availability of the paper:
Stevenson, N. J., R. R. Lewis and P. R. Burbridge. 1999. Disused shrimp ponds and mangrove rehabilitation. Pages 277-297 in "An International Perspective on Wetland Rehabilitation", W. J. Streever (Ed.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands. 338 pp.
at: WEBSITE
Hard copies may be reqested from: SherryCapaz@aol.com
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ANNOUNCEMENT: Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training workshop
The third "Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training workshop will be held at the Anne Kolb Nature Center, in Hollywood, Florida, USA, 21-24 February 2005. The training site is within a 500 ha mangrove restoration project at West Lake Park operated by Broward County. The award-winning project was designed by Roy R. "Robin" Lewis III, who will be teaching the course.
The workshop includes an introduction to mangrove forest ecology, management options and problems, and restoration design issues. The class programs are all given in a PowerPoint format, and each student is provided with a print out of the presentation and additional handouts including monitoring reports for typical restoration projects. Case studies of 5 successful mangrove restoration projects, and several unsuccessful projects, are discussed. Field trips are taken within the 500 ha West Lake Park mangrove restoration project (now 16 years old) and a new project just two years old, for a comparison.
The emphasis is on cost-effective successful mangrove management and restoration, and cost figures for typical projects are discussed and explained. The hydrologic restoration of mangroves is emphasized as the best approach to successful restoration at minimal cost (see Erftemeijer andLewis 2000, Lewis 1999, 2000a, 2000b, Lewis and Marshall 1998, Lewis and Streever 2000, Stevenson et. al 1999, and Turner and Lewis 1997, for further discussion about hydrologic restoration of mangroves). Planting of mangroves is discussed in light of the many failures of this alone to successfully restore mangroves.
Cost for the course not including travel to Ft. Lauderdale, lodging or food is $650, due by January 1, 2005. Two qualified students will be allowed to attend for free. This course is taught in conjunction with the Mangrove Action Project.
More information can be provided by Sherry Capaz at
and www.mangroverestoration.com.
Literature Citations:
Erftemeijer, P. L. A., and R. R. Lewis III. 2000. Planting mangroves on intertidal mudflats: habitat restoration or habitat conversion? Pages 156-165 in Proceedings of the ECOTONE VIII Seminar "Enhancing Coastal Ecosystems Restoration for the 21st Century, Ranong, Thailand, 23-28 May 1999. Royal Forest Department of Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand.
Lewis, R. R. 1999. Key concepts in successful ecological restoration of mangrove forests. Pages 12-32 in Proceedings of the TCE-Workshop No. II, Coastal Environmental Improvement in Mangrove/Wetland Ecosystems, 18-23 August 1998, Ranong, Thailand. Danish-SE Asian Collaboration in Tropical Coastal Ecosystems (TCE) Research and Training. NACA, P.O. Box 1040, Bangkok, Thailand 10903
Lewis, R. R. 2000a. Don't forget wetland habitat protection and restoration for Florida's fisheries. National Wetlands Newsletter 22(6): 9-10 + 20.
Lewis, R. R. 2000b. Ecologically based goal setting in mangrove forest and tidal marsh restoration in Florida. Ecological Engineering 15(3-4): 191-198.
Lewis, R.. R., and M. J. Marshall. 1998. Principles of successful restoration of shrimp aquaculture ponds back to mangrove forests. Page 327 in World Aquaculture Society Book of Abstracts, Aquaculture '98, Las Vegas, Nevada. (Abstract)
Lewis, R.. R., and W. Streever. 2000. Restoration of mangrove habitat. Tech Note ERDC TN-WRP-VN-RS-3.2 U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. 7 pp. (WEBSITE PDF)
Stevenson, N. J., R. R. Lewis and P. R. Burbridge. 1999. Disused shrimp ponds and mangrove rehabilitation. Pages 277-297 in "An International Perspective on Wetland Rehabilitation", W.. J. Streever (Ed.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands. 338 pp.
Turner, R. E., and R. R. Lewis. 1997. Hydrologic restoration of coastal wetlands. Wetlands Ecol. Manage. 4(2):65-72.
From: LESrrl3@aol.com
=====
ENJOYABLE WAYS TO HELP SUPPORT MAP
MAP's Art Gallery Website
Visit the Website of Chilean artist Monica Gutierrez-Quarto to view her gallery café of beautiful prints and paintings.
"I'm happy to introduce my gallery web site. www.gutierrez-Quartogallery.com
Please pass on to others to help increase the visibility A percentage of all sales generated via my website will go towards supporting the good work of Mangrove Action Project."
For More Information, Please Contact: "monica gutierrez-quarto"
-------------------------------
Please Donate Your Frequent Flyer Miles To MAP!
Please consider helping MAP meet those demands for our presence at certain conferences and workshops whereby our greatest cost to attend important events is airfare, which too often holds us back from attending important fora where MAP's presence should be felt.
Please donate your frequent flyer miles to MAP so we can be in the right place at the right time to present MAP's needed voice at such fora where too often the grassroots voice for the local communities and for the mangroves is not heard.
If you wish to donate your frequent flyer miles, pleas contact Alfredo Quarto at mangroveap@olympus.net.
Your help in this important matter will be much appreciated!
-------------------------------
Take A Coffee Break For the Mangroves!
Mangrove Action Project
and Grounds for Change
Help support the Mangrove Action Project through the purchase of Grounds for Change triple-certified coffee! Grounds for Change will donate 10% of purchase price to the Mangrove Action Project each time you make a purchase at the Grounds for Change web site. It's a great way to support socially and environmentally-conscious coffee and healthy mangrove forests across the globe.
You can participate in one of two ways:
1. Visit the Mangrove Action Project web site and click on the DONATE TO MAP THROUGH YOUR NEXT CUP OF COFFEE link.
Or, Click on
2. THIS WEBSITE
You will then be directed to the Grounds for Change web site.
Grounds for Change sells only Fair Trade, Organic, Shade-Grown coffee which is roasted by hand, to-order at their family owned facility on Bainbridge Island in Washington State. Grounds for Change is a member of TransFair USA, the Songbird Foundation and the Fair TradeFederation. Grounds for Change further supports fair trade economics by donating 1% of profits to the Fair Trade Federation.
Please note that in order for the 10% donation to be made to MAP, supporters must follow one of the two options outlined above.
From mangroveap@olympus.net
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Work-Study Tour In Yucatan's Mangroves
MAP Volunteer Work Study/Eco-Tour for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula
A short mangrove-replanting project on the Caribbean coast of Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico is being considered for Aug. 20-29, 2004. Depending upon interest and numbers of volunteers, this tour will help restore degraded mangroves and help rescue or care for threatened baby sea turtles. MAP will be co-sponsoring this tour with the local NGO, SAVE in Mexico. At least 10 volunteers are needed to firm up plans for this tour.
For more information, please contact Alfredo Quarto at mangroveap@olympus.net
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Note: This year's Spirit of Thailand tour has been postponed for lack of full enrollment. We will try again next year!
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John Gray Sea Canoe Eco-Tours
MAP voted "Best of the Best"
MAP encourages anyone who wishes to sea kayak in Thailand to use environmentally responsible guides, and supports JGSC as the best of the best. we are being offered a 20% contribution. the customer booking a tour must indicate that they saw the ad on MAP's website in order for MAP to receive a commission from "JOHN GRAY'S SEACANOE".
John Gray's SeaCanoe delivers high-quality tropical eco-tourism adventures guaranteed to expand your awareness. Lifelong waterman, wildlife rehabber and environmentalist John "Caveman" Gray started tropical kayaking in 1983, bringing ancient Hawaiian natural harmony to modern times. Lava sea caves highlighted Gray's Hawai'i trips, and the 1985 "Moloka'i's Forgotten Frontier" documentary won an Emmy, the first of many Awards. In 1999, National Geographic Adventure named Caveman's SeaCanoe Vietnam itineraries a World Top 25 Adventure.
Phuket Weather
Apr 09, 2003 - 14:50 GMT
partly cloudy 32°C
Humid.: 70 %
(c) asianhotelsdirect
Spreading the seeds of conservation to South-East Asia, Gray explored Phang Nga's limestone islands in January 1989. Caveman shared his discoveries with Phuket Thai's, created an experimental Ecotourism laboratory called SeaCanoeT and Phuket's "Low Volume, High Quality" legend was born. Today, 1,000s visit Phang Nga caves daily with so many "SeaCanoe" companies that Caveman formed John Gray's Sea CanoeT to clear market confusion. John hates the name, but it's obvious where Caveman's creative Labor of Love brings Magic to just a few.
Every trip is your own documentary combining kayaking, nature, culture, great food and re-creation. The new
"Hongs by Starlight" trip avoids daytime crowds and amplifies the serenity of early years. "The Nature Game"T is an exciting new Ecotourism concept enhancing your perspectives, adding trip value, offering new personal insights and highlighting our guides' English, training and experience.
For More Details: John Gray Sea Canoe Eco-Tours
MAP voted "Best of the Best"
Thailand's government promotes shrimp farming, seriously threatening mangroves. Combined with over-fishing and unplanned tourism, many marine ecosystems are in crisis. Thailand and MAP need all the help they can get, so John Gray's SeaCanoe celebrates 20 years of "Natural History by Sea Kayak" by donating 20% of your JGSC booking to MAP.
Expect real adventure. Started in Hawai'i in (1983) and Thailand (1989), John's concept received immediate recognition. "Moloka'i's Forgotten Frontier" won 1985 EMMY and TEDDY awards as best environmental production. Travel Channel ran his 1988-89 "Inside Hawai'i" shows threetimes. In Asia, exotic sea kayaking includes limestone tidal sea caves with cliff-lined lagoons behind them, and Gray invented the Tidal Technology to enter these ecosystems - see it on "Globetrekker", "Passport to Adventure" and Canada's "Beyond Borders". Gray's Ecotourism demonstration project won six environmental awards with trips receiving regular National Geographic "World's Best" mentions.
In January a MAP group tried a Phang Nga trip and the creative sparks flew. JGSC guides gained significant and ongoing mangrove knowledge, and this fundraising concept was born. If you seek an exotic and unique adventure, contact info@johngray-seacanoe.com . Make your 20% donation directly to MAP and JGSC credits the contribution to your Tropical Kayaking adventure.
From: "John Gray's SeaCanoe"
Nigeria
Date: 23rd May,2004
PRESS RELEASE( ABGREMO Programme
Coordinator and 6
others members arrested by Nigerian Army Personnel in
Bakassi
Am Environmental/ Human Rights activist Comrade Edem
Okom Edem who is also the Programme Coordinator/Founder of a non-governmental
organization; AKPABUYO BAKASSI GREEM (ABGREMO) and
six(6) other ABGREMO staff have been arrested and
detained by Nigerian Army personnel operating in
BAKASSI local government area of Cross River State,
Nigeria.
They were arrested in the morning hours of
Saturday(22/May/2004) while carrying out Community
Resource mapping and Time lime as a result of
Community need assessment of Archibong community of
Bakassi local government area in order to document the
needs of the community as well as strategising with
the community on ways of solving some of the
problems.
The Army personnel claimed Bakassi is a Nigerian Army
occupied territory as such maps of any kind should not
be drawn or brought in by any person or groups of
persons, in addition no cameras any kind should be
used within the territory.
Other members arrested/detained alongside with the
Coordinator were Efiom Duke(Secretary), Efiom
Emmanuel, Atim Effiomg, Christiana Okom, Teren
Effiomg, Archibomg Eso. Although, they have been transferred from the underground cell in Archibong(Bakassi) to Ikang military camp in Akpabuyo.
Plans are on advance stage for their release.
Sign;
Comrade Ekpenyong Edet
(Director of Information, ABGREMO)
=====
*Update: I was elated to speak with Edem this morning confirming that he and the others who were arrested and detained have now been released. The fact of the release does not, however, wipe away the ominuos clouds that are gathering in our landscape.
On behalf of the Environmental Rights Action/FoE Nigeria, I wish to assure you that we will continue to stand with you in solidarity as we all strugle for a Nigeria where freedom of movement as well as othe human, environmental and comunity rights are respected.
Nnimmo Bassey
From: Ekpenyong Effiong abgremo@yahoo.com
=======
Dear friends at ABGREMO,
We are happy to hear through Nnimmo Bassey that you guys have been released.
We believe that the arrest is against your foundamental human rights and offends democratic tenents. It is the same that is happening all over the Niger Delta. It is either that we are arrested, maimed or killed. It is time to let the international community know about all these atrocities in the aid of multinational oil/gas companies- let us come together to act now.
Akie Hart. President (MFCSN).
From: AKIE HART
S.E. ASIA
Indonesia
Indonesian Oil Palm Destroys Rainforests, Intimidates Communities
Protest Deutsche Bank's Funding of PT London Sumatra
By Forests.org,
May 29, 2004
-------------------------------
Burma
World Rainforest Movement Buletin #82
Burma: Forests for Export to China
Asia's forests are being destroyed at a staggering rate. China, which has become, virtually overnight, the second largest importer of logs in the world, trailing only the United States, has a lot to do with it. (The volume of uncut logs arriving in China has more than tripled since 1998 to
over 15 million cubic meters.).
Domestic consumption is growing fast, as China's burgeoning middle class buys new homes and Beijing undertakes huge civil-construction projects. China's entry into the World Trade Organization has also driven tariffs
for most timber imports down to zero, fueling imports as well as a rapidly expanding export industry in everything from pulp and paper to furniture and decorations, most of it destined for the United States and Europe.
In 1998, after the People's Republic was hit by devastating floods caused by deforestation, Beijing banned logging along the upperreaches of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers and called for a drastic reduction in other provinces. But there is growing evidence that it has merely exported this
problem. To make up for the shortfall in timber, and to meet the consumption needs of its booming economy, China is devouring the forests of neighbouring countries, much of it in the form of illegal logging leading to the destruction of huge swathes of pristine old-growth forests.
As its extraordinary economic boom gains momentum, China is now the world's fastest-growing market for tropical timber. Its forest-product imports soared by 75 per cent last year, reaching $11.2 billion (U.S.). Its furniture factories are expanding by as much as 40 per cent a year.
The timber trade to China is so massive that it is provoking remorse even among those who are doing the selling. "It's the biggest mistake we've made," said Bao Youxiang, head of the United Wa State Army, a former
guerrilla army that has become a regional authority in northeastern Burma. "We've destroyed our environment," he said. "Because of a lack of income, the local authorities were forced to sell this resource to China. It's the
only resource they had."
Until recently, Burma was one of the most thickly forested countries in the world. Its vast ancient forests were among the richest and most biodiverse in the world. It still contains more than 80 per cent of the world's teak trees, along with many other rare hardwoods. But its
old-growth forests, which used to cover 60 per cent of the country as recently as 1960, now cover less than 30 per cent. And the percentage is falling fast.
When economic sanctions were imposed on Burma's military dictatorship in the 1990s, the regime responded with a dramatic increase in logging concessions and timber exports to bolster its revenue and maintain its
power. Today it has one of the world's highest rates of deforestation.
More than 9 per cent of Burma's legal foreign earnings came from logging in 2002, according to official data. But the actual amount of timber revenue is believed to be more than twice the official figure, with huge
amounts of the logging trade illegal or unrecorded.
Even as a ban was supposedly being imposed in the Wa territory, Burma's forestry ministry was giving new logging concessions to the Wa and other regional authorities on its northern and eastern borders. According to local media reports, the Burma authorities are aiming to double their earnings from timber exports.
The problem is compounded by the heavy involvement of Burma's drug lords and military authorities in the timber business. Drug traffickers have often invested in logging companies as a way of laundering their profits. And the military regime has awarded valuable logging concessions to its business cronies and political allies in exchange for their support.
According to a detailed report on the booming trade published by Global Witness, "The local population has benefited little in economic terms, but the powerful have enriched themselves."
Article based on information from:
"Myanmar mired in a deforestation crisis", Geoffrey York, Globe and Mail, ;
"A Conflict of Interest: The uncertain future of Burma's forests", Global Witness (October 2003),;
"A reckless harvest", Geoffrey York, Newsweek,
From: Teresa Perez teresap@wrm.org.uy
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S. ASIA
Bangladesh
The Sundarbans and coastal fisheries
Md Emdadul Haque
The Sundarbans is considered to be the single tract largest mangrove forest in the world that covers an area of 6017 km2, out of which 4143 km2 is the landmass. The remaining 1874 km2 are water bodies in the form of numerous rivers, canals and creeks of widths varying from a few metres to several kilometres. Most are tidal in nature and are connected to the larger rivers and estuaries. Despite these, the Sundarbans is a potential tourist attraction, renowned for its beauty and unique ecosystem important for study and research. The Sundarbans also plays an important role as a buffer in protecting the agricultural hinterlands from the onslaught of frequently occurring cyclones and tidal surges. The Sundarban mangrove forest constitutes about 51 percent of total forest area and 4.2 percent of the total land area of the country. These mangrove resources play an important role in the national economy of Bangladesh and can be divided into forestry, fisheries and aesthetic components.
Mangrove forests are considered a source of primary productivity in the form of litter: reproductive products, twigs and the whole dead tree which directly or indirectly contribute energy to the ecosystem. The mangroves improve soil salinity because they can prevent hypersaline conditions by removing salt from the soil through secretion by glands and leaves that then create a favouable environment for many other organisms.
The mangroves produce prop roots (as in the Rhizophoraceae) and pneumatophores with breathing pores for diffusion of oxygen into the plants. The mangroves can propagate by means of viviparity i.e. germination commences in the fruits while attached to the tree with the seedlings dropping from the tree to be dispersed by water some distance from the parent tree. The mud, suspended particles and other sediments are an important component of mangrove ecosystems. Unicellular algae and blue green bacteria utilise the mud surface for photosynthesis. The mud surface offers both food and shelter for many filter feeders, detritivores, herbivores and predators, including fish and crabs. The mangrove pneumatophores, aerial roots and lower branches often provide shelter for algae, barnacles and oysters that are, in turn, consumed by higher predators.
A network of rivers, canals and creeks intersect this forest, thus creating a different set of habitats to that provided by other forest types in the country. It is also a habitat, nursery ground and refuge for many species of marine and coastal fishes, shrimps, crabs, molluscs and mammals (e.g. dolphin), several species of marine turtles, reptiles such as the estuarine crocodile and different species of monitor lizard. Shrimps and crabs are the most important crustacean and are abundant in mangroves worldwide.
Sundarbans supports total 291 species of fishery resources and constitutes an important commercial and artisanal fishery industry that produces fresh fish, iced fish, sun dried fish, smoked fish, salted fish, fish meal and sharks oil. Thus, Sundarban provides a considerable harvest of whitefish, shrimps, prawns, mud crabs, snails/oysters and billions of shrimp/prawn post-larvae for shrimp aquaculture farms. These industries support about 155,000 fishermen throughout the year.
Mangroves are located in estuarine areas and provide important habitats for fish e.g. nursery functions, shelter for juveniles and food for piscivorous species. The extent of dependence may differ between different species e.g. most species of Mugilidae found in sheltered estuaries or mangroves seldom occur in coastal waters. In addition, tropical clupeoids are estuarine dependent as juveniles. Others such as Asian Tenualosa (ilish) are estuarine dependent with reference to spawning grounds. It is noted that predatory action of some larger fish are hampered due to mangrove structure although some individuals did penetrate these systems in search for food.
Mangroves play a nursery role for estuarine fishes. The mangrove forests are important for healthy coastal ecosystems because the forest detritus, consisting mainly of fallen leaves and branches from the mangroves, provides nutrients for the marine environment. These detritus support varieties of sea life in complex food webs associated directly through detritus or indirectly through the planktonic and epiphytic algal food chains. The plankton and the benthic algae are primary sources of carbon in the mangrove ecosystem, in addition to detritus. The shallow intertidal reaches where there is mangrove wetland provides refuge and nursery grounds for juvenile fish, crabs, shrimp and molluscs. The reasons for these dependencies may be described as follows:
(1) The trophic resources (e.g. convergence of riverine freshwater and tidal currents) produce large volumes of turbid water where organic particles and fragments are concentrated and subjected to strong microbial activity to release nutrients. The nutrient released is used by phytoplankton, at the base of a web including zooplankton and shrimps. Abundant food resources are thus made available to fish and shrimp post-larvae, with a range of planktonic food sizes matching their filtration and capture capabilities.
(2) Water turbidity and shade (e.g. turbidity and shade provided by the mangrove leaves and pneumatophores) reduce the perception distance of predators and increase the escape rate and consequently the survival rate of young fish and shrimps. Estuaries and mangroves are places where less fish predation occurs due to turbid water, absence of larger fish, shallow water and increased hiding places for juveniles in sea grasses or mangrove branch, roots, and pneumatophores.
(3) Structural diversity (e.g. diversity and structural complexity of mangroves and estuaries) offers trophic niches for different species and sizes. The higher concentration of food present in pneumatophore areas supports abundant fish species.
From the above discussion it is suggested that fish depend on mangroves and estuaries as nurseries (food and shelter) and that these habitats are important for juvenile and adult fish for their survival and growth. Hambrey, (1999) reported that economic valuation of the fisheries function of mangroves was estimated to range from US$ 66 to almost $3000/ha. Therefore, the worldwide estimates of the value of the mangroves to commercial fisheries have raised awareness about importance of mangroves. So the Sundarbans mangrove forest needs proper attention, management and political commitment for sustainable coastal fisheries development in the area.
Md Emdadul Haque is Divisional Forest Officer, Aquatic Resources Division, Sundarbans, Khulna.
rom: Zakir Kibria banglapraxis@yahoo.com
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Tree felling banned in Sundarban
NewAge, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Against the backdrop of high rate of forest depletion, a parliamentary committee has asked the authorities concerned to stop felling of all sorts of trees in Sundarban, the world�s largest mangrove forest.
The directive came at a Thursday meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Forest and Environment following reports of wholesale tree felling in the name of elimination of infected Sundari trees by a section of local timber traders in connivance with a section of employees in the forest department.
The government on Wednesday suspended 15 employees of Khulna Range � nine forest rangers, deputy forest rangers and foresters and six forest guards � for their alleged involvement in felling trees and selling them in the market.
Located in the south-western Bangladesh and part of India, a world heritage site Sundarban, also one of the world�s biggest wildlife sanctuaries, covers an area of 38,500 square kilometres (forest and wetland).
The meeting, presided over by committee chairman Nazimuddin Alam, also asked the forest experts to examine the reasons for the longstanding top-dying disease of Sundari trees and take steps to save the mangrove forest from depletion.
�Tree felling will remain stopped until the experts find out a way to check the top-dying disease,� the committee chairman told New Age over phone.
According to statistics, productivity of mangrove forest has declined by 25 per cent in a period of 25 years.
Forest resources in Bangladesh have declined in an alarming rate and the rate of deforestation in early 1990�s was 3.3 per cent, according to studies conducted by the World Resources Institute and Centre for International Development and Environment for USAID and Bangladesh agriculture census.
The committee also emphasised on social forestation as the forest forestry sector contributes over three per cent to the nation�s gross domestic product.
From: Zakir Kibria
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Shrimp Seal of Quality news service
Shrimp Seal of Quality (SSOQ) has launched "SSOQ-GrameenPhone Shrimp News" service on Tuesday.
URL: THE DAILY STAR
The Bengali news service will focus on local and international shrimp market prices, new technologies and event news.
The GrameenPhone subscribers will have access to the news service by dialling 2200 from mobile phones at a cost Tk 2 per minute, says a press release.
Besides the market news, the service will provide information on best practices, trouble shooting and international laws and acts pertaining to human and labour rights, food safety and environmental issues.
Agro-based Industries and Technology Development Project (ATDP) Chief of Party Ron Gillespie, Head of Market Research and Development of GrameenPhone Ltd (GP) Rubaba Dowla Matin, SSOQ Coordinator Cedric Randolph, SSOQ Communications Director Mamunur Rahman, SSOQ Communications and Market Research Officer Natasha Hayat, and GP Officer-MRD Tanveer Zaman, among others, were present at the launching ceremony.
From: Zakir Kibria
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E. ASIA
China
Note from Editor: Most US Soybeans are Genetically Modified, I believe. So is this really good for industrial aquaculture products to contain such GM feed ingredients?
Industrial FishFarming
Soy beans Bolster China's aquazculture Industry and US Growers
Date Posted: 5/21/2004
In 1992, the aquaculture industry in China was not using soybean meal in feed. Today, soybean meal use by this industry is estimated to exceed 185 million bushels of soybeans a year, thanks in part to soybean checkoff-funded programs, implemented by the American Soybean Association (ASA). These programs increased demand for U.S. soybean meal through feeding demonstrations showing the nutritional and economic advantages of feeding U.S. soybean meal to fish. As a result of the success experienced building demand for soybean meal in China's aquaculture industry, the soybean checkoff is now conducting similar demand-building activities in the
aquaculture industries in India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Phillipines. Checkoff-funded seminars, presented to fish farmers, feed mills, university professors and government and extension officials in these nations,
highlight data from previous feeding demonstrations held in China.
From: mskladany@iatp.org
Genetically modified trees cause memory loss
What about GM mangrove seedlings? Does MAP have a policy about this?
Ian Baird, MAP Steering Committee Member
=====
Genetically modified trees cause memory loss
By Chris Lang. Published in WRM Bulletin 82, May 2004. www.wrm.org.uy
Maybe it's something in the water in Geneva that causes temporary memory loss. Or maybe it's the coffee. Whatever, the participants at the fourth meeting of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF-4) held in Geneva in May seemed to be suffering from a form of collective amnesia.
Five months ago, the ninth Conference of the Parties (COP-9) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reached a decision that will promote industrial forestry projects and genetically modified (GM) tree plantations. COP-9 decided to allow the North to establish
plantations, including GM tree plantations, in the South under the Kyoto Protocol's "Clean Development Mechanism". The plantations are supposed to absorb carbon dioxide and store carbon.
This decision has major implications for forests and people around the world. It effectively provides a subsidy to corporations and Northern governments encouraging them to take over huge tracts of land in the South
and plant them with GM trees.
But delegates at the two week-long UNFF-4 were strangely reluctant to discuss the implications of this decision.
On the third day of the meeting, Henning Wuester of the UNFCCC talked for eleven minutes about COP-9. Wuester's presentation was fascinating, if you are fascinated by superficial references to modalities, procedures, reporting of emissions and that sort of thing. Unfortunately, Wuester forgot to mention that COP-9 decided to include GM tree plantations in the Clean Development Mechanism. That the delegates to UNFF-4 might want t discuss some of the implications of this decision must have simply slipped his mind.
Not everyone at UNFF-4 forgot about GM trees. Some of us turned up specifically to talk about them. I had the pleasure of chairing a side event organised by Hannu Hyv�nen of the Finnish Union of Ecoforestry. Hannu presented a petition to a representative of the UNFF Secretariat demanding that the UN bans GM trees. The petition was signed by more than 140 organisations and over 1,500 people.
Anne Petermann of the US-based Global Justice Ecology Project and Mikko Vartiainen from the People's Biosafety Organisation in Finland joined Hannu on the panel. In his presentation, Hannu described how GM trees are
the most recent and perhaps the most dangerous development of a model of industrial forestry that has had devastating impacts on the world's forests. Anne described the risks associated with GM trees. If GM trees
crossed with forest trees we would have "native forests that kill insects, ruin soil ecology, have no food for wildlife, distribute toxic pollen, exhaust the soil and deplete the ground water", she said. Mikko explained
how the introduction of GM trees contravenes the precautionary principle and is illegal under international law.
In the discussion following the presentations none of the 30 participants at the side event, including 12 government delegates, put forward any arguments in favour of continuing research into GM trees or establishing field trials of GM trees.
Macarthy Afolabi Oyebo from the Department of Forestry in Nigeria explained that the legislation that his government has put in place "makes it almost impossible to bring GMOs into the country".
Another case of memory loss, I'm afraid. Oyebo must have forgotten that a three day meeting on "Facilitating Biotechnology in West Africa" took place in Nigeria the previous week. At the opening ceremony the Nigerian
> government signed an agreement with the US government aimed at promoting biotechnology and GM products in Nigeria.
The Times of Nigeria reported the agreement under the headline "Nigeria poised for biotech take-off". The Times reported that Rick Roberts from the US Embassy "charged Nigeria to embrace biotechnology".
Back at the UNFF-4 side event, Safiya Samman from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service commented that in the US, "We do have a regulatory body and assessments are carried out of any GM plants."
The USDA is responsible for regulating biotechnology, through its Animal Plant Health Inspection Agency. However, as Anne Petermann pointed out, the regulatory system in the US leaves much to be desired.
US-based ArborGen is the world's biggest forestry biotechnology company. The company currently has 51 field trials of GM poplar, eucalyptus, pine, sweetgum and cottonwood trees in the US. ArborGen's scientists have
genetically manipulated the trees to have less lignin, to grow faster, to be sterile or to be resistant to herbicide.
ArborGen was formed in 1999 by three huge timber companies (Fletcher Challenge Forests, International Paper and Westvaco) and a New Zealand-based biotechnology research company (Genesis Research and Development). In 2000, Rubicon took over Fletcher Challenge Forests'
involvement in the company.
ArborGen, according to a 1999 press release, aims "to position itself to market new advances in forestry biotechnology to the world's tree growers in the shortest possible time".
If ever there was a company that needed to be carefully regulated, ArborGen is it. Yet the USDA has only turned down one of ArborGen's applications for GM tree field trials and that was on a technicality. ArborGen has not submitted an environmental impact assessment for any of
its GM tree field trials.
Of course USDA's Safiya Samman knew this. Sadly, in common with most of the delegates at UNFF-4 she was suffering from GM tree-induced amnesia and
she just forgot to mention it.
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FAO Support for agricultural biotechnology in its State of Food and Agriculture 2003-2004 report Questioned
From: M. Taghi Farvar, Chair, IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy
To: Jacques Diouf, Director General, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation
Date: May 25, 2004
Subject: FAO State of Food and Agriculture, 2003-2004
Dear Sir,
The Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) of The World Conservation Union (IUCN) is extremely dismayed at the support expressed by the FAO for agricultural biotechnology in its State of Food and Agriculture 2003-2004 report.
CEESP is very skeptical of any technological "quick-fix" solution to the problem of hunger, which we maintain is primarily a problem of rights relating to control over means of agricultural production, food distribution systems, buying power, etc. rather than a problem of lack of technology.
The promises of agricultural biotechnology mentioned in the report must be assessed on the merit of whether or not they meet the needs and demands expressed by food producers. Direct citizen engagement and negotiations on the content, purpose and potential risks of scientific innovations are necessary, including with food producers such as farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, consumers and other groups who are usually marginalised in any debate on "scientific" issues. In fact, the FAO has established a mechanism for dialogue and cooperation with such groups, through the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty, but has totally excluded their call for GMO-free agricultural development from its SOFA report.
Furthermore, genetic engineering has to be weighed against an assessment of whether there are viable alternative solutions to the problems they are attempting to solve. Many, if not all, of the production problems which GM technologies are aiming to solve can be tackled in other ways by farmers - with much less risk and expense - using modern agroecological approaches that emphasise the multiple functions of agriculture. [NOTE; EVEN TRADITONAL/CLASSICAL METHODS SUCH AS SELECTIVE BREEDING REMAIN USEFUL] Furthermore, unlike the new biotechnologies, farmer-based approaches have withstood the test of time [THIS PHRASE MIGHT CONTRADICT THE WORD 'modern' IN THE PREVIOUS SENTENCE] and public acceptance in a variety of agroecosystems, regions and cultural contexts.
The crucial question is, Why should the world opt for a risky and expensive technology that is likely to remain out of reach of most of the world's marginal farmers, and whose long-term impacts are at best uncertain and at worst horrifying, which is geared towards food processing, consumer niche markets and uniformity, when there is a viable, already available alternative that is cheaper, more accessible to the poor, and ecologically sensitive? Most governments are simply not giving agroecological farming a chance because it is decentralised, involves empowering the poor, and does not depend on powerful chemical/biotech companies. Those governments that have chosen to give it a chance, such as Ethiopia, have shown its enormous potential.
We reiterate that hunger is not caused by a lack of food (today more food is produced per person than at any other time in history), but by social and political factors. By advocating for agricultural biotechnology FAO has greatly damaged its reputation as a source of objective information and analysis. We call on the FAO to direct its resources to building and promoting alternatives to agricultural biotechnology, such as agroecology, and thus to spend its energy supporting the world's poor, rather than working against them.
Best regards,
M. Taghi Farvar
Chair, IUCN/CEESP
From: "Maryam Rahmanian"
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U.S. Ocean Commission Publishes Preliminary Report
"Living ocean and coastal resources, once thought to be boundless, have revealed their limits. Coastal areas are essential spawning, feeding, and nursery areas for over three quarters of U.S. commercial fish catches, however about 40,000 acres of coastal wetlands disappear
yearly. Current projections indicate 50-60 percent of coral reefs may be lost during the next 30 years. Twelve billion tons of ballast water is shipped around the world each year, spreading alien and invasive species." So notes a press release announcing publication of the Preliminary Report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.
The Commission was established under the Oceans Act 2000, with a mandate to establish findings and develop recommendations for a new and comprehensive national ocean policy. It began its work in September 2001 with a series of 15 public meetings and 17 additional site visits
in every coastal region of the country and the Great Lakes.
The overarching theme of the Commission's preliminary recommendation is ecosystem based management. The Commission concluded that it is critical that ocean and coastal resources be managed to reflect the complex interrelationships among the ocean, land, air, and all living creatures, including humans, and consider the interactions among the multiple activities that affect entire systems. It identified a number of needed changes based upon three fundamental themes:
- Creating a new national ocean policy framework to improve decision-making;
- Strengthening science and generating high-quality accessible information to inform decision makers;
- Enhancing ocean education to instill future leaders and informed citizens with a stewardship ethic.
According to the report, a new national ocean policy framework must be established to improve federal leadership and coordination "to enable agencies to address the ocean, land and air as oneinter-connected
system." The Commission also calls for "new investment in the infrastructure to support data collection and research and the means to effectively translate scientific findings into useful, timely information for policy managers, educators, and the public."
From: Bill Mott
bmott@SEAWEB.ORG
World Ocean Day, June 8th
World Ocean Day on June 8th!
See www.WorldOceanDay.org for more information.
-From The Ocean Project
Bill Mott
bmott@SEAWEB.ORG
Hatchery Salmon & Trout Health Risks
Anglers should limit eating hatchery-raised salmon, trout. Atlantic salmon and trout raised in federal hatcheries in the Northeast have high enough levels of dioxin and other pollutants that anglers should eat no more than half a serving a month. Associated Press [related stories] WEBSITE
From: mritchie@iatp.org
Additional papers are available at this site, and we are soliciting other papers for inclusion on the site for general availability.
Please respond to LESRRL3@AOL.COM
ROBIN LEWIS
