MAP News, 167th Ed., 2 0f 2NOTE ESPECIALLY THE ITEM ON MALDIVES HOTEL
DEVELOPMENT--MM

MAP News, 167th Edition, Part 2 of 2, Feb. 5, 2006


S. ASIA

India
Tsunami takes toll on India's seafood exports
Andaman Islands--Post-tsunami catastrophe: A&N Islands facing tourism projects
galore
PM PROMISES ALL HELP TO TSUNAMI-HIT SURVIVORS IN A&N ISLANDS

Bangladesh
Restoration of Degraded Mangrove by Participatory Approach: A Pilot Initiative
Mangrove forests, far more generous than the shrimp industry

Maldives
Maldives Under Threat From Hilton Hotel Development

STORIES/ISSUES
Shoreline protection and other ecosystem services
from mangroves and coral reefs
Corals and mangroves in the front line
Tsunami rehab should adopt broader coastal development approach, improve life
quality of coastal communities, says ICSF meet
Tsunami warning atlas prepared
Coral Reefs Cheaper to Protect than Neglect - UN
Under threat: Asian mangrove replanting schemes

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Paper Published on Natural Reseeding of Mangroves

CALL FOR PAPERS
'INTERNATIONATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH MANAGEMENT:
AQUACULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT'.


S. ASIA

India

Tsunami takes toll on India's seafood exports
[2006-01-23]

Seafood exports from India were badly hit by the December 2004 tsunami, which
ruined many shrimp aquaculture farms along the country's southern coast.

Figures released by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) for
the first eight months of the current fiscal (2005-06) indicate that India
exported 287,984 tonnes of seafood against 298,339 tonnes in the same period in
the last fiscal.

The only reason for cheer is that in value terms the current fiscal fares better
than the previous year. While in the last fiscal the total value was Rs 44.71
billion (about $1 billion), this fiscal it rose to Rs 45.36 billion.

The tsunami waves spoilt the shrimp seeds that farmers were banking on for a
rich harvest later in the year.

Anwar Hashim, Kerala's leading exporter of seafood, said the main reason for the
drop in export figures in the current fiscal was the effect of the tsunami
December 26, 2004.

"Shrimp aquaculture farms in southern India were badly affected. Of the total
export of shrimps, aquaculture provides close to 65 percent. Many incurred huge
losses and this is one reason for the drop in export figures," Hashim, who heads
Abad Fisheries, saidS.

From: "Elaine Corets" <manglar@...>

================================================

Andaman Islands

Post-tsunami catastrophe: A&N Islands facing tourism projects galore

When India and Thailand signed an agreement in July 2005 to jointly boost
post-tsunami tourism and increase tourist numbers from Phuket to the Andaman
Islands, leading Indian environmentalists released a strong statement, warning
that copying Thailand's tourism model would be disastrous for the Andaman and
Nicobar islands. They also argued the government was obliged to protect the A&N
islands' fragile ecosystem and Indigenous communities under orders of India's
Supreme Court in a ruling made in 2002.

On 7 May 2002, the Supreme Court accepted the recommendations of a commission it
had appointed and passed a set of landmark orders to protect the A&N islands.
The commission had made 25 major recommendations, including a ban on all
tree-felling in the islands, except for the bona fide use of local islander
populations; a ban on transport of timber to any part of India; removal of
encroachments; steps to reduce immigration from the mainland; shutting down of
the Andaman Forest Plantation and Development Corporation (ANFPDC) that had
logged the forests of Little Andaman Island for years; phasing out of existing
monoculture plantations of red oil palm, rubber and teak; closing down of the
Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) in the Jarawa Tribal Reserve areas and a stop to sand
mining from the island's beaches (for details, see, for example, the book by
Pankaj Sekhsaria, `Troubled Islands', published by Kalpavriksh and LEAD-India,
Pune 2003).

The Court's orders constituted a very promising first step to save the Andamans'
rich and unique biodiversity and vulnerable Indigenous communities. But
following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the islands a couple of weeks
ago to inspect post-tsunami reconstruction, plans for grandiose tourism projects
have surfaced again. The articles in this Clearinghouse issue inform about
post-tsunami development in the A&N islands, with a focus on the project galore
in tourism which is likely to trigger new controversy from environmental and
Indigenous Peoples rights activists.

Anita Pleumarom
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team)

-----------------------------------------
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200601042101.htm
The Hindu, 4 January 2006

PM PROMISES ALL HELP TO TSUNAMI-HIT SURVIVORS IN A&N ISLANDS

Port Blair, Jan. 4 (PTI): Promising to wipe every tear from the eyes of tsunami-
hit survivors of Andaman and Nicobar islands, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
today announced recruitment to 650 posts and proposed a legislative framework to
help survivors of the disaster get compensation.

Wrapping up his two-day visit to the islands, Singh told a press conference here
that he would examine the possibility of making Port Blair an international
airport to promote tourism which has immense potential in the islands.

He said that to restore livelihoods of the people here the government would
conduct a survey of the employment needs of the youth to identify areas where
employment generation required a boost.

"I have come to the conclusion that action needs to be taken on many fronts so
that people's livelihoods are completely restored and the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands grow in tandem with the rest of the country", the Prime Minister, who
reviewed rehabilitation work in the archipelago, said.

"You have suffered a great deal. But you have my assurance that the central
government stands behind you. We will make every effort to wipe every tear from
the eyes of the people," Singh, who was on a three-day visit here, said while
reviewing rehabilitation work being undertaken in the archipelago.

"There are still many families whose breadwinners are missing. Ex-gratia
payments have to be made to families where persons are dead or considered
missing. Their survivors are facing problems in accessing bank accounts," Singh
told reporters.

"It requires legislative action on the part of the Central government to
facilitate that process. We will provide an appropriate legislative framework to
ensure that the survivors problems in this regard are solved.", he said.

The Prime Minister said tourism has immense potential in the islands and he
would examine the possibility of making Port Blair an international airport
which could help in promoting tourism.

Observing that the pace of rehabilitation work has not matched the devastation
caused by the giant tidal waves, he said there was a need for more coordination
in rehabilitation workS.

From: "timteam02" <timteam02@...>

===========================================

Bangladesh


Absract
Restoration of Degraded Mangrove by Participatory Approach: A Pilot Initiative
Arif Mohammad Faisal.,Junaid.Kabir Choudhury, SHekhar Ranjan Biswas, and Ainun
Nishat
IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Bangladesh Country Office
House 11, Road 138, Gulshan-1, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
E-mail: arif@...
Chokoria Sundarbans - one of the oldest mangrove forests in the Southeast Asia
have been degraded and converted due to anthropogenic factor particularly for
shrimp culture. Under the prevailing condition, IUCN Bangladesh has taken
initiatives to motivate the local community particularly the shrimp farmer and
to restore the degraded forest at a pilot scale. UNEP/GPA funded the pilot
activity to initiate some sort of restoration activity of the critically
degraded ecosystem at Chokoria Sundarban. The overall objective of this program
was to restore and rehabilitate the degraded mangrove ecosystem of Chokoria
Sundarban on a pilot scale with community initiatives and to initiate a
sustainable management regime. Community based approach was followed in the
implementation of the programme that integrates restoration of natural forest
and restoration of human needs to strengthen the fundamental connection between
economic prosperity and environmental well being of the people. This approach
provides a framework drawing together all relevant stakeholders. Considering the
experience of others success stories and failure in rehabilitation, it was tried
to involve the community as much as possible, so that the community realize
their ownership on the programme and the whole system become transparent to all.
Area specific rehabilitation plan has been prepared with the involvement of
local community considering the existing biophysical and socio-economic
conditions of the site. The entire activity was planned and implemented on a
participatory basis, and involve all local resource users and stakeholders
through transparent community-based planning, implementation and monitoring.
Through this pilot initiative, 21 hectares of degraded and newly accreted land
have been restored with mangrove species. For sustainable management of the
restored site a rehabilitation and advisory committee was formed with
representatives from community, shrimp farmers, local govt. body, civil society,
etc. Neighboring peoples within the Chokoria Sundarban are eager to replicate
this in their respective localities. However, for sustainability of the efforts,
continuous observation and some sorts of livelihood promotion package will be
incorporated within the programme framework in next phase. It is expected that
the success of these community-based interventions will lead to the replication
of this approach in other areas across earlier Chokoria Sundarbans.

Keywords: Chokoria Sundarban, Mangrove, Shrimp farming, Participatory approach,
Community based restoration.

From: "Arif Mohammad Faisal" arif@...

=========================================

Mangrove forests, far more generous than the shrimp industry

Mangroves, the coastal equivalent of tropical forests on land, and also called
"salt
water forests", have provided livelihood for a lot of local people (see WRM
Bulletin Nº
51). The Sundarbans, the world's largest coastal mangrove forest, stretches for
almost 6,000 square miles across India and Bangladesh, a natural barrier against
tsunamis and frequent cyclones that blow in from the Bay of Bengal. With roots
that
tolerate salt water, the forest's mangrove trees grow 70 feet or more above
islands of
layered sand and gray clay, deposited by rivers that flow more than a thousand
miles
from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.

Over the last 20 years, shrimp and tiger prawn exporters have taken over
thousands
of rice paddies and other farms and flooded them with salt water to raise the
crustaceans.

Squeezed between the jungle and thousands of expanding shrimp and tiger prawn
farms, at least 100,000 villagers in Bangladesh risk Bengal tiger attacks to
fish, cut
trees and gather honey in the Sundarbans forest. "For thousands of families who
refuse to leave, the only choice left is the hazardous work of gathering honey,
fishing
or cutting trees in the mangrove forest", said Abdul Haque, a teacher at a
village in
Gabura island, which lies in a region with one of Bangladesh's heaviest
concentrations of shrimp and tiger prawn farms, extending almost 50 miles
inland.

"By leasing out our land to the rich shrimp businessmen, we have been the worst
victims," he said. "They give us a one-shot payment for the land, and we spend
it
fast." "Now, when everything is said and done, we are not able to grow any
vegetables or trees here. There's no doubt that people are scared to go into the
jungle. But when they start going hungry, they are forced to."

Many villagers enter the forest to cut trees for fishing boats or to supply
factories that
make hardboard for furniture and buildings, and additional wood products. Honey
hunters often have the most risky job, searching for bees' nests in vegetation
so
dense that the only way through is on hands and knees. Each spring, the honey
hunters go deeply into debt to rent boats for their journey through a vast
warren of
muddy saltwater rivers and channels that meander around thousands of jungle
islands. They have to stock up on food and supplies for trips that last up to
three
months. And they have to grease the palms of corrupt forestry officials.

Thrust into the deep mangrove forest by shrimp farming, village honey hunters
have
to struggle for the liquid gold, closely preserved by forest animals like
pythons, king
cobras, crocodiles and the man-eating Bengal tigers. However, the mangrove
forest
is far more generous than the shrimp industry.

Article based on information from: "The Lure of Liquid Gold", Paul Watson, Los
Angeles Times, disseminated by Mangrove Action Project (MAP),
http://www.earthisland.org/map/ltfrn_166.htm

wrmfriends@...

==========================================

Maldives Under Threat From Hilton Hotel Development

Full-grown coconut palms, mangroves and tons of irreplaceable topsoil and sand
are being removed from the inhabited island of Mandhoo for Hilton Maldives
Resort & Spa complex in Rangali and Rangalifinolhu islands on Alifu (south Ari)
atoll.

The photos show coconut palms being taken from Mandhoo, just north of the resort
complex, less than two months after a tsunami that killed almost 100 Maldivians
and left 15,000 homeless. The Hilton company and its Maldivian partners were
racing to meet a mid-year 2005 deadline to re-open the upgraded resort.

In early 2003, Hilton Maldives leased a large portion of Mandhoo, locally known
as Mandhoo Thundi, through its local sponsor Crown Company Pvt. Ltd of the
Maldives.

Crown Company Pvt. Ltd also leased the Rangali and Rangalifinolhu islands to
Hilton for their Resort & Spa complex. The Crown Company is controlled by Champa
Hussein Afeef. In the 1980s, Champa spent time under house arrest for
criticising President Maumoon Gayyoom, but since then he has been an outspoken
supporter of the Gayyoom dictatorship. Technically, Champa is now a silent
partner in the company, and one of its major shareholders is Ahmed Saleem, the
New Zealand consul for Maldives.

Since the commencement of Hilton Maldives Upgrading Project, the following
events have occurred and are still taking place:
- Hundreds of palm trees uprooted from Mandhoo Thundi.
- Hundreds of mangrove trees removed from Mandhoo Thundi.
- Tons of black soil taken from Mandhoo Thundi.
- Tons of sand taken from the beach area of Mandhoo Thundi.
- Without a viable plan, acres of land covered with coconut palms and other
trees and shrubs have been cleared with bulldozers, destroying everything to
build large warehouses.
- All the palms and other vegetation, along with the black soil and sand are
being shipped to the Hilton Maldives luxury resorts in Rangali and
Rangalifinolhu islands.

Island leases, particularly inhabited islands, do not allow wholesale
destruction of the environment, and Hilton-Crown's actions in Mandhoo not only
offend ancient traditions, but are also likely to be contrary to environmental
regulations in Maldives and contrary to the code of ethics that the Hilton
company requires from its managers, employees and partners.

Hilton Hotels Corporation's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, published in
January 2004 is clear about the standards it expects. Hilton wants to promote
'honest and ethical conduct, including fair dealing and the ethical handling of
conflicts of interest.., compliance with applicable laws and governmental rules
and regulations.., prompt internal reporting of violations of this Code', and to
'deter wrongdoing'.

Hilton's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is backed by the operations of its
Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. 'Any director, officer or
employee who becomes aware of any existing or potential violation of this Code
is required to notify the General Counsel promptly,' according to documents
published on the Hilton company website. 'Failure to do so is itself a violation
of this Code... The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee shall take all
action it considers appropriate to investigate any violations reported to it. If
a violation has occurred, the Company will take such disciplinary or preventive
action as it deems appropriate, after consultation with the Corporate Governance
and Nominating Committee in the case of a director or executive officer, or the
General Counsel in the case of any other employee...'

Mandhoo islanders can justifiably claim the Hilton and Crown companies have
violated this Code. There is little economic benefit from tourism for Maldivians
who live near resorts. Women are excluded from resort employment and the tourism
industry has shown a strong preference for cheap compliant expatriate male staff
from Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. In Maldives, tourists are discouraged from
visiting inhabited islands and prevented from staying overnight, and any
business between inhabited islands and resorts is tightly controlled.

It is reasonable for the Mandhoo islanders to ask why Hilton and Crown believe
they have a right to ship away valuable soils and vegetation from leased land.
How will future generations of Mandhoo people feed themselves when the basis of
any agriculture is destroyed by these companies? Vegetation also protects
islands from tidal storm swells and tsunamis. Mandhoo is being left defenseless
by the destruction of its thundi area. Its people are asking who will compensate
them for the destruction they are suffering.

In the past, Mandhoo islanders have complained about Hilton and Crown's actions,
and were subjected to a total boycott by the resorts. To quell the complaints,
Hilton stopped sending tourists on day excursions to Mandhoo (see map), and
souvenir sales to tourists ceased. This affected many needy people who relied on
the sales for income. There is no social security system in Maldives.


STORIES/ISSUES

n the front line
(<http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/resources/publications/UNEP_WCMC_bio_series/24/releas\
e.cfm>Press release)

Shoreline protection and other ecosystem services
from mangroves and coral reefs

UNEP-WCMC Biodiversity Series No. 24


<http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/resources/PDFs/In_the_front_line_LR.pdf>In_the_front_l\
ine_LR.pdf <>[855k]
<http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/resources/PDFs/In_the_front_line_LR.pdf>

<http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/resources/PDFs/In_the_front_line.pdf>In_the_front_line\
.pdf <>[1051k] <http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/resources/PDFs/In_the_front_line.pdf>
The tragic and devastating consequences of the Asian tsunami, December 2004 ,
and the hurricanes and cyclones of 2005 were a wake up call for the global
community, dramatically drawing attention to the dangers of undermining the
services that coastal ecosystems provide to humankind.

This report has gathered lessons that have been learned since these events that
will be relevant to future management of the coasts in the context of severe
weather events and other potential consequences of global warming. More than
ever it is essential to consider the full value of ecosystem services that is
the benefits that people derive from ecosystems when making decisions about
coastal development.

The publication aims to help decision and policy makers around the world
understand the importance of coastal habitats to humans, focusing on the role of
coral reefs and mangroves. As well as coastal protection, it also addresses the
huge range of other benefits provided by these ecosystems and the role that they
can play in coastal development and in restoring livelihoods for those suffering
from the effects of extreme events.

From: "Elaine Corets" <manglar@...>

==================================

25 Jan 2006

Corals and mangroves in the front line

The economic value and life saving functions of coral reefs and mangroves are
brought into sharp focus in a new report by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP). __Reefs and mangroves are fast disappearing across the globe,
with a 60 per cent reduction in coral predicted by 2030. __The report encourages
decision makers to recognise this urgent situation, and protect coastal habitats
of importance to humans. It underlines the vital role these natural features
play in tourism, stemming coastal erosion and acting as nurseries for fish and
other species._
The publication presents a sound case for reef and mangrove conservation in
light of the costs of their removal or substitution with man-made structures.
New studies triggered by the tsunami and tropical storms are taken into account,
as well as the benefits of these ecosystems for those impacted by extreme
events.__Recent research has valued coral reefs at between US$100,000 and
US$600,000 per square kilometre per year, and mangroves at more than $900,000
per square kilometre per year. The estimated cost of protecting these resources,
through the management costs of a marine protected area, is just US$775 per
square kilometre per annum. __Notes:__In the Front Line: Shoreline Protection
and other Ecosystem Services from Mangroves and Coral Reefs has been produced by
UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), in collaboration with
the International Coral Reef Action Network and IUCN - the World Conservation
Union. __The full report is available for download online (PDF, 1MB). It is also
available through IUCN and Earthprint, priced at US$25. __For more information
please contact Nick Nuttall, UNEP __Source: UNEP

From: Marine Photobank <marinephotobank@...>

===================================

<http://www.icsf.net/jsp/english/stmt_area/statements/1138343597238***Tsunami_re\
commendations.pdf>

Tsunami rehab should adopt broader coastal development approach, improve life
quality of coastal communities, says ICSF meet

Tsunami rehabilitation programmes should adopt a broader coastal development
approach, and should aim to improve the quality of life and livelihoods of
coastal communities, including those not directly affected by the 26 December
2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, according to participants at the "Regional Workshop
on Post-tsunami Rehabilitation of Fishing Communities and Fisheries-based
Livelihoods", organized by the International Collective in Support of
Fishworkers (ICSF) in Chennai, India on 18 and 19 January 2006.

These recommendations came from the NGO meeting on the same theme, organized by
ICSF at Chennai on 17 January 2006. The participants included organizations that
have been working with fishing communities for a considerable period of time in
Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and India.

The recommendations dealt with issues relating to land and shelter, quality of
rehabilitation assistance, the role of local institutions, protection and
restoration of coastal habitats, fisheries management, safety at sea, disaster
preparedness, post-harvest operations in fisheries, insurance, compensation and
social security, as well as the critical role of women in fisheries.

The NGO meet also called for a periodic census of men and women involved in
fishing and fishery-related activities, including migrant fishers, to be
undertaken on a priority basis to facilitate proper enumeration and effective
compensation during natural calamities.

The full text of the recommendations can be read at
http://www.icsf.net/jsp/english/stmt_area/statements/1138341552178***Tsunami_rec\
ommendations_fin.doc

Source:
<http://www.icsf.net/jsp/english/stmt_area/statements/1138343597238***Tsunami_re\
commendations.pdf>ICSF

From: icsf@...

========================================

<http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/dec132005/update6343720051213.asp>

Tsunami warning atlas prepared

A team of Indian researchers have created a tsunami travel time atlas to assist
in predicting the time taken by a giant wave to travel in the Indian Ocean.

Tsunami expert T R Murthy, who was part of a team that prepared the atlas in
collaboration with IITs in Kharagpur and Delhi, said it would help centres in
India and abroad anticipate the tsunami striking the coasts. The project
received assistance from the Centre.

Talking to newspersons, he said the speed of a tsunami depended on the depth of
the ocean in the area where it was generated, but not on the intensity of the
earthquake.

He said it would also be possible to surmise the height of a tsunami. For
instance a giant wave in the Gulf of Kutch could rise up to 15 metres and in the
Gulf of Cambay up to 13 metres. A tsunami striking the Kerala coast could be
between 7 and 8 metres high and near Kudalur and Nagapattinam up to 9 metres.

The coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh are likely to get tidal waves between 2 and
6 metres high. He said the Visakhapatnam coast was relatively safe from a
tsunami hit, but may see 2-3 metres high surges if the waves are not in the
energy direction line.

Research on detecting an impending tsunami from animal behaviour is being
carried out in China and Japan, Mr Murthy added.

Source:
<http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/dec132005/update6343720051213.asp>UNI

From: icsf@...

========================

Coral Reefs Cheaper to Protect than Neglect - UN

Mail this story to a friend | Printer friendly version

NORWAY: January 25, 2006


OSLO - Costs of safeguarding the world's fast-disappearing coral reefs and
mangroves are small compared to the benefits they provide from tourism to
fisheries, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Tuesday.


The report, part of a recent trend trying to place a value on the natural world,
said that pollution, global warming and expanding human settlements along coasts
were among mounting threats to reefs and mangroves.
"Day in and day out and across the oceans and seas of the world nature is
working to generate incomes and livelihoods for millions if not billions of
people," UNEP executive director Klaus Toepfer said in a statement.
The report, to be issued at a conference in Paris, estimated that intact coral
reefs were worth $100,000-$600,000 per sq km (0.3861 sq mile) a year to
humankind and a sq km of mangroves $200,000-$900,000 a year.
"Most benefits from coral reefs and mangroves arise from fisheries, timber and
fuelwood, tourism and shore protection," it said.
Corals and mangroves protect coastlines from erosion caused by storms, for
instance. The report said it was unclear, however, if they had shielded Indian
Ocean coasts overall from the disastrous tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004.
By contrast, the cost of protecting a sq km of coral reef or mangroves in a
marine park was just $775 a year, it reckoned.
It said that all estimates were based on vague data and had to be treated with
caution but indicated that better protection made sense in a little-tested
branch of ecosystem economics.
_DAMAGE
It said that about 30 percent of reefs were severely damaged and that 60 percent
could be lost by 2030. About 35 percent of mangroves had already disappeared due
to logging, disease and conversion to fish farms.
UNEP's Toepfer said the report should make people "think twice about the
pollution, climate change, insensitive development and other damaging practices
that are undermining the economic basis for so many coastal communities
worldwide."
In trying to assess the value of reefs, for instance, the survey said that costs
of building a concrete breakwater in the Maldives to replace a damaged reef had
been $10 million per km.
Under another survey, coral reefs in the Caribbean were estimated to be worth
from $2,000 a year in remote areas to $1.0 million beside a tourist resort where
it drew scuba divers. In Egypt, about 11 percent of gross domestic product came
from tourism, with a quarter or tourist revenues from beaches and reefs in the
south Sinai.
And mangroves, for instance, were a source of prized building materials because
the wood was resistant to rot.
The report, produced by UNEP with the International Coral Reef Action Network
and the World Conservation Union, also estimated that reef fisheries were worth
between $15,000 and $150,000 per sq km a year.
Fish caught for aquariums were worth $500 a kilo (2.2 lbs) against $6 for fish
caught as food.
Story by Alister Doyle

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

From: "Elaine Corets" manglar@...

=========================================

Under threat: Asian mangrove replanting schemes

16 December 2005 Source:

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 inspired governments in South-East Asia to
restore mangrove forests along their coasts as a natural 'bioshield' against
storm damage (see 'Bioshield' proposed to protect India's coast). But
significant challenges are threatening their progress.
In an article in Nature this week (15 December), Erika Check describes how
mangrove replanting programmes in India and Indonesia are struggling in the face
of pressure from developers wanting to build shrimp farms.
Despite massive government support for the programmes - Indonesia alone has
promised US$22 million - there are already signs that enthusiasm is flagging.
The Indonesian government has turned some newly damaged coastline over to shrimp
farmers, despite its official support for buffer zones.
Moreover, many of the 300,000 seedlings planted on the Aceh coast earlier this
year have died, destroyed by debris still washing up, and the contractors hired
there have no incentive to continue caring for the young plants.
Local communities need to be involved for such programmes to succeed, say the
Wetlands International Indonesia Programme. The programme provides financial
incentives for local villages to plant and ensure an agreed number of seedlings
survive after five years.
In India, such programmes have been running since 1993 with great success:
around three-quarters of seedlings have survived, protecting the local community
from the brunt of the tsunami's devastation last year.
Link to full article in Nature_
Related SciDev.Net articles: _'Bioshield' proposed to protect India's coast
_Fixing tsunami-damaged ecosystem 'should be priority' _Tsunami's ecological
impact 'likely to be long-lasting' _Mangrove forests 'can reduce impact of
tsunamis' _Making aquaculture mangrove-friendly _Mud and mangroves: farming
crabs in the Philippines
From: "Maurizio Ferrari" <maurizio@...>

===========================

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Paper Published on Natural Reseeding of Mangroves

Lewis, R.R., A.B. Hodgson and G.S. Mauseth. 2005. Project facilitates the
natural reseeding of mangrove forests (Florida). Ecol. Rest. 23(4):276-277

can now be downloaded from:

http://www.mangroverestoration.com/LEWISH_1.PDF

From: LESrrl3@...

==================================

CALL FOR PAPERS (none this issue)

'INTERNATIONATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH MANAGEMENT:
AQUACULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT'


From 7 - 9 December 2006, Prof. MH Wong <mhwong@...> at the Baptist
University of Hong Kong will be organising an iternational conference entitled
'INTERNATIONATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH MANAGEMENT:
AQUACULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT'.

The aim of the conference will be to discuss and exchange information on the
persistent behaviour, distribution and ecotoxicological effects of heavy metals,
POPs and other contaminants in the aquaculture pond environment and adjacent
aquatic ecosystems; the health risk due to the consumption of contaminated fish;
and the possible evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria due to the overuse
of antibiotics. It is envisaged that the information gathered in this conference
will serve as valuable references for developing the guidelines for "Good
Aquaculture Practices" or "Organic Fish Farming" for aquacultural industries in
South China (including Hong Kong), in order to safeguard public health in the
region.

For further information about the meeting, please check the website

http://www.cieshk.org/conf/first_announcement_2006.htm

From: "Lew Young" lyoung@...

-

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]