Dear Amitangshu  Acharya,

Mr. Prabhjot Sodhi, the National Coordinator of UNDP-GEF-Small Grants
Program of CEE India has passed on your e-mail recently. I would suggest you
to please contact Mr. Jim Enright who is currently coordinating Mangrove
Action Project [MAP] with a base in Thailand. Ecological Mangrove
Restoration is their core thrust area and I am part of their EMR group in
Yahoo. emr_group@yahoogroups.com

I am confident you will be able to generate more info from Mr. Jim Enright.
He can be contacted via mapasia@...

Best.
With Warm Regards,

Prabhjot Sodhi,
National Coordinator
UNDP Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program
Centre for Environment Education,
D-35, 1st Floor, South Extension II,
New Delhi 110049, India
Phone: 09811811996 (M)
(o) 011 2626 2878-79-81. (fax) 2626 2880
----- Original Message -----
From: "Amitangshu Acharya" <amitangshu_a@...>
To: <andamanicobar@...>
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 12:10 PM
Subject: [andamanicobar] Query on Mangroves


> Hi there,
>
>  This is Amitangshu Acharya from Winrock International India, an NGO based
> in New Delhi. I have been a member of this group and was quite intrigued
> by the recent debate that emanated over the environmentalism vs local
> development issue. However, my query pertains to a specific component of
> the debate. I remember that Mr. Ahmed had brought up the issue of
> mangroves. I am quite keen on knowing more on this issue since mangroves
> is a personal area of interest.
>
>  The queries are:
>  1. Are there documents available on the extent of mangrove damage after
> the tsunami and on magrove growth/degradation in general in A&N? can
> anyone provide information on this?
>  2. Can anyone enlighten me on the issue of magroves and livelihoods in
> A&N. Are there studies available that explores the relationship?
>  3. What are the major GO. NGO, CBO interventions that has taken place on
> the issue of mangroves?
>
>  Sorry to ask such questions which may be of common knowledge to most of
> the members here. However, my experience of mangroves and livelihood
> issues are more rooted in the Sunderbans and would appreciate if anyone
> could take the pain to help me increase my understanding and knowledge
> base on mangroves.
>
>  I had read Pankaj's book "troubled islands" earlier. Its was amazingly
> informative.
>
>  Looking forward to the response from the group .
>
>  Warm regards
>  Amitangshu Acharya
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Find out what India is talking about on Yahoo! Answers India.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

Hey

I just read a mail about someone from the group asking for documents on the
extent of mangrove
damage after the tsunami and on magrove growth/degradation in general in
A&N?

Well, we have some land and aerial footage and images of A&N post the
tsunami. We took them a week after the tsunami for our disaster series.

Do let me know if it helps you in your research.

--
Regards

Akanksha Sood

DC Nicobars visits Teressa, takes stock of rehab. works
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS, July 29, 2006
Car Nicobar, July 28
    Deputy Commissioner, Nicobars along with Superintendent of Police visited
Teressa on 26th and 27th July to take stock of the progress on the ongoing
relief & rehabilitation works in the area. The DC visited the construction
site of Permanent Shelters at Bengali where the work was found to be
progressing at a satisfactory pace. She also visited the temporary Primary
Health Centre (PHC). However, the Deputy Commissioner on her visit to
Secondary School at Bengali, expressed serious concern over the absence of
teachers in the school.
    The DC reviewed the construction works of PHC and Health Sub Centres by
the BJS in Teressa island and exhorted them to complete the works in any
case by next month. She also visited the villages of Alurong Khalasi,
Khanaminot where the construction of permanent shelters has already started.
The team also visited Minyuk village and the nearby construction site of
Safed Balu Jetty where the progress of work was found to be slow. On her way
back, the Deputy Commissioner inspected the Mobile Exchange being set up by
BSNL and the Cashew plantation taken up by the Agriculture Department.
    Later, a meeting was held with the captains of all the villages and
representatives of different departments to sort out various pending issues.
The Deputy Commissioner requested APWD to immediately complete the long
pending work of construction of prefabricated accommodation in the wake of
the extreme problems being faced by the government employees.
    During the discussion, the Tribal Council Teressa demanded resumption of
pre-tsunami schedule of sailing of ships from Port Blair to Nancowry via
Chowra and Teressa in the wake of the inconveniences faced by the people.
The Council has also requested for the appointment of teachers and ANMs and
setting up of Door Darshan Relay centre in Teressa. The DC assured to take
up the issues with the Administration and resolve the same at the earliest.

Application of artificial recharge technique for ground water availability
stressed
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS, July 30, 2006
Staff Reporter
  Port Blair, July 29
   The A & N Islands are the best geological area to apply artificial
recharge of ground water. Even the Prime Minister of India, in a recent
statement, stressed on the need to apply the techniques of artificial
recharge for ground water availability in the entire country and these
islands are the best place for applying it. The studies made by the Central
Ground Water Board throughout the islands have revealed that it is the most
suitable mechanism to mitigate the problem of water supply in the rural
areas in the islands.
   Already such projects have been taken up in Guptapara, Birdline, Manjery,
Lal Pahad Nallah, Stewartgunj, Panighat, Karmatang (in Mayabunder) and also
in few other locations which have yielded plenty of fresh water to mitigate
the water supply crises. After the tsunami, the Birdline project has solved
the water supply problem of Brichgunj settlement in tsunami shelters.
   The strategic plans carried out by Shri A Kar, Scientist 'D' of CGWB is
being implemented in a big way under the Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation project
for Agriculture for construction of 500 checkdams and 1000 wells.
   In A & N Islands, artificial recharge project involves the construction of
sub-surface dams, check dams, recharge shafts and harvesting wells with
infiltration galleries. One such big project is being undertaken near
Burmanallah which was badly affected by December 26 earthquake, where
villagers and farmers are facing shortage of drinking water. If all these
projects are implemented, this will be the most spectacular success in the
country, which was never recorded in the country, Shri Kar opined adding
that the application of Artificial Recharge Technology in the North and
Middle Andaman will solve the water supply problem entirely, if the
recommended sources are implemented

Training on mud-crab farming imparted to fishers
THE DAILY TELEGRAMS, July 30, 2006
Port Blair, July 29
    The local unit of National Institute of Ocean Technology (Ministry of
Ocean Development) and Community Enterprise Forum International (CEFI)
jointly conducted a training programme on mud crab farming technologies to
entrepreneurs and members of Self Help Groups on 28th July 2006 at NIOT
campus, Dollygunj. Altogether 20 participants from Diglipur, Port Blair, Hut
Bay and Campbell Bay attended the training programme. Methodologies on
eco-friendly and cost-effective farming techniques were taught to the
participants.
    The participants were clarified of their doubts and provided with
training manuals. NIOT assured all possible assistances, namely site
selection, pond preparation, stocking, farming, feeding, health management,
harvesting technology, etc., to the entrepreneurs. All participants were
advised to contact the NIOT Office, Port Blair, at the time of their
requirements. The organizers from CEFI and Scientists of NIOT were present
in the training programme, a communication from the Officer In-charge, NIOT
here said

----- Original Message -----
From: TRINet
To: TRINet
Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2006 9:02 PM
Subject: Weekly News July 31, 2006


TRINET

Weekly News July 31, 2006
This week's news round up is organized under various headings as follows.
Click on the item to go directly to the section you would like to read.
General
Tsunami Warning
Livelihoods
Housing and Infrastructure
Health
Children
Other Countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Maldives

GENERAL
Studies Of Tsunami Aftermath Reveals Contaminated Groundwater In India:
Kerala, India - Researchers at the Cochin University of Science and
Technology (CUSAT) have found that water resources in the tsunami-affected
areas in Kerala have been severely affected even almost after two years of
the disaster in December 2004. A study team from the School of Environmental
Sciences looked at the quality of drinking water in 60 wells in the coastal
areas affected by the tsunami for one year after the tsunami hit the Kerala
coast. They found that the wells contained an unusual saline character and
taste. The low oxygen content dissolved in the ground water collected from
wells indicated the slow deterioration of quality as a result of
contamination. In the group's recommendations, researchers have pointed out
the need to demarcate tsunami affected coastal areas as vulnerable to
tsunamis and similar disasters in the future.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004325650


Training in raising mangrove forests: Nagercoil: A two-day orientation
training programme and management of mangrove bio-shield was organised by
the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation on Tuesday for members of fishermen
community and non-governmental organisations of Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and
Tuticorin districts. They were explained the ways and means to raise
mangrove forests in coastal areas which would help to minimise the impact of
nature's fury.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/27/stories/2006072709860200.htm


Too many cooks, too little broth; study raps NGOs: A one-year study on
processes and effects of tsunami relief and rehabilitation done by a south
Indian NGO has praised the quick relief work and criticised the slow,
largely uncoordinated, but hugely-publicised, rehabilitation work,
especially the housing projects. "There were too many agencies to serve, but
too little rehabilitation," the study reported. The main findings of the
study by Rural Education and Development Society (REDS), done in 57 villages
with 1500 respondents in Kanyakaumari and Thirunelveli, districts of Tamil
Nadu were revealed at a workshop in Kanyakumari on July 22. However the
study noted contrary trends. Often there was large-scale spending at one go,
without having much long-term impact. "Local agencies were largely
unprepared to face such huge demands. This proved the need that the
investments have to be foreseen to cover the needs for more preparedness and
training of local capacities in future." The study also probed into issues
of quality of aid, safety of boats supplied and recommended a set of
practices to follow. The main recommendations are to sustain the momentum of
rehabilitation, to build local strengths and capacities and to provide
disaster preparedness and safe livelihood options for the disaster-hit
communities, especially the fisherfolk.
http://www.tsunamiresponsewatch.org/trw/2006/07/27/too-many-cooks-too-little-bro\
th-study-raps-ngos-2/#more-750

top
TSUNAMI WARNING
Indonesia to put tsunami sirens on phone towers: Indonesia will place sirens
on cellular phone towers in a bid to warn coastal residents of a tsunami, a
minister said on Wednesday, more than a week after huge waves killed
hundreds of people on the south coast of Java. Officials in Indonesia have
come under fire for the lack of any warning ahead of the July 17 tsunami,
despite regional efforts to set up an early alert system after the massive
2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. "We will accelerate information to the people to
below 20 minutes when there is a potential tsunami by using sirens in the
coastal areas," Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman told
reporters after a cabinet meeting. "We will equip cellular phone towers in
the coastal areas with sirens. They will work when the meteorological office
hits the button to warn of a possible tsunami," Kadiman said. He also said
metereological offices would upgrade their equipment so that information on
a tsunami could be relayed quicker to the police, broadcasting networks and
local government officials assigned to turn on the sirens.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK19997.htm


ASEAN stresses need for disaster warning systems after Indonesia tsunami:
Southeast Asian foreign ministers plan to issue an urgent call to set up
disaster alert systems in the region, shaken by Indonesia's failure to give
advance warning of a tsunami last week that killed at least 600 people. The
ministers emphasize "the importance of developing effective multi-modal and
multi-hazard early warning systems to save lives and minimize damages,"
according to the statement. According to the ASEAN statement, the foreign
ministers will reaffirm their commitment to strengthen disaster relief and
emergency response in the region by speeding up the installation of disaster
early warning systems, sharing resources and conducting joint exercises on
search and rescue. The ministers will also seek financial contributions and
encourage the use of a trust fund to improve early warning systems and
monitoring capabilities of member countries.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060725162835&irec=2


Plans shared for tsunami detection and early warning system: Washington will
assist Thailand and other countries bordering the Indian Ocean with the
installation of a Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART)
system, a tsunami detection and early warning system, by providing the
region with two deep ocean buoys developed by NOAA. The initiative is going
to be part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Thailand's National
Disaster Warning Centre (NDWC) and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), an operating unit of the US Department of Commerce.
http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=9309_0_1_0_M



LIVELIHOODS
Floored by the variety: Of carpets made by tsunami victims. The Pondicherry
based AuroSupreme Women Welfare Society, a 20-year-old organisation, was one
of the many doing their bit to help tsunami victims move on with their
lives. They have trained 12 women in the art of carpet weaving, providing
them with a stipend during the year and new skill sets that open up new
opportunities. Currently, these women have been absorbed into the
organisations, but with some experience and financial support says Chaitanya
Swain, coordinator of the Society, they could even start their own weaving
units. The project supported by Golden Chain Fraternity, a charitable trust,
took a year to complete. And now the works are up for display and sale, in
an exhibition titled Meaningful Weaves at Chamiers, Chennai. The range of
carpets woven both as floor rugs in the Tibetan style and as wall hangings
in a knotted German style of weaving is wide. There are small, conveniently
sized carpets just perfect for today's drawing rooms, in both contemporary
as well as traditional designs.
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/07/29/stories/2006072902490800.htm


Rs.12.54 crore aid for 13 coastal villages: Pudukottai: A sum of Rs.12.54
crore has been sanctioned under the Asian Development Bank-assisted Tsunami
Emergency Assistance Programme (TEAP) to be launched in 13 coastal villages
affected by the tsunami in the district, said Collector S. J. Chiru.
Addressing presspersons here on Monday, Mr. Chiru said focus would be on
sustained livelihood of the fisherwomen for which a sum of Rs. 6.05 crore
would be spent. Under this programme, a total of 150 women self-help groups
(SHG), which were newly formed during the post-tsunami period, would get a
revolving fund of Rs.30,000 each. A target of 50 women had been fixed for
sanctioning individual loans with a subsidy totalling to Rs. 12.50 lakh, he
said.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/26/stories/2006072608060300.htm


Cold store opened at tsunami-hit village: Kancheepuram: Infrastructure
facilities worth Rs.19 lakh, set up with funds generated by the Catalyst
Trust, Chennai, at the tsunami-hit Chinnandikuppam village on the outskirts
of Chennai were inaugurated by District Collector Pradeep Yadav on
Wednesday. The Collector declared open a dispensary building, a 10-ton
capacity cold storage, and a fish drying and cleaning yard at the fishing
hamlet in Injambakkam panchayat. He also handed over two houses, constructed
by the Trust, to the beneficiaries. Apart from this, a van, donated by an
NGO, Bhoomika Trust, Chennai, for transportation of sea-food to markets in
Chennai was handed over to the fishermen's representatives by the Officer on
Special Duty, Disaster Management, C.V. Sankar.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/27/stories/2006072719280400.htm


Fisherfolk urged to go for seaweed cultivation: Nagercoil: A three-day
workshop on seaweed cultivation for the benefit of tsunami-affected
fisherfolk was conducted at Leepuram in Kanyakumari recently. Speaking on
the occasion, Collector Sunil Paliwal said seaweed cultivation had proved to
be a remunerative occupation for the coastal communities. Project officer of
District Rural Development Agency, Mayilerum Perumal, said seaweed farmers
could earn between Rs.4,500 to Rs.6,000 a month. As many as 250 seaweed
extracts were widely used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries,
he said and added that the rope method was found to have a higher yield than
the bamboo-float method.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/26/stories/2006072603830300.htm


HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
10,000 houses for tsunami-hit families in two months: Nagapattinam: About
10,000 permanent houses are now in various stages of construction in various
parts of the tsunami-hit Nagapattinam district. These houses will be ready
in two months and steps are being taken to hand over them to the tsunami-hit
families in the district before the onset of the northeast monsoon, said
Tenkasi S. Jawahar, Nagapattinam Collector, here on Tuesday. The Collector
said all the NGOs were instructed to speed up the construction of the
permanent houses and warned the NGOs, which were delaying construction in
several areas. He said he had cancelled the agreement of one of the NGOs for
its lethargic attitude in taking up the construction of 795 permanent houses
in Vanagiri, Poompuhar, Melavanjur and Veppancheri coastal hamlets despite
repeated reminders.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/26/stories/2006072608950400.htm


Hospital block for fishing families: Chennai: The foundation stone laying
ceremony of a 25-bed unit in the Voluntary Health Services (VHS) hospital in
Taramani was held on VHS premises on Thursday. The new block would be
exclusively utilised for the treatment of fishing families. The new unit is
funded by Terra Tech, Germany, through the Catalyst Trust, as an extension
of their post-tsunami rehabilitation programme. The cost of the hospital was
1.25 crore and it would share its infrastructure with the VHS, which would
also provide medical and para medical personnel. A further sum would also be
deposited with Catalyst Trust as an endowment fund and the interest so
generated would be used for the maintenance of the unit.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/28/stories/2006072819770800.htm


Tsunami rehabilitation projects reviewed: Tuticorin: An emergency
closed-door meeting convened by the district administration on Thursday
evening evaluated the status quo of various tsunami rehabilitation projects.
Official sources said S.Vijayakumar, Tsunami Project Implementation Officer,
reviewed the progress in the construction of permanent shelters for the
victims. He checked construction parameters pertaining to site selection,
plan aspects such as level of path with respect to plinth, cantilever
projection, type of foundation (shallow/deep), soil investigation, thickness
of walls, flooring, roofing and drainage. Mr. Vijayakumar received feedback
from self-help groups and non-governmental organisations, which worked for
the rehabilitation of the tsunami affected. He discussed the possibilities
of augmenting sanitation and other basic amenities in the coastal villages.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/28/stories/2006072812030300.htm


GoI assures to speed up reconstruction of shipping infrastructure in isles:
Port Blair, July 23. The reconstruction of shipping infrastructure will be
speeded up and the best of modern facilities will be made available to the
people of the islands including shipping ticketing facilities. This was
assured by the Union Shipping Secretary, Shri A K Mahapatra, when the Member
of Parliament, Shri Manoranjan Bhakta met him in New Delhi on Friday in
connection with the matters relating to the development of shipping and port
infrastructure in the islands.
http://www.and.nic.in/monday.htm

HEALTH
GoI urged to adopt a national policy on mental health care of disaster
survivors: Port Blair, July 25. The workshop on Disaster Psychiatry, jointly
organized by the Indian Psychiatric Society, Directorate of Health Services
and SEVAC Kolkata and participated by doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and
NGOs working in the A & N Islands today unanimously resolved to appeal to
Government of India to adopt a national policy in order to consider the
issue of emotional first aid as well as long time mental health care for the
disaster survivors as an indispensable component of the disaster management
programme. Delivering his keynote address, Dr A B Ghosh, Hony. President of
IPS dwelt at length on the post tsunami stress disorders which are prevalent
among the people at many places in the islands. Later, Dr Arnab Banerjee,
Chief Psychiatrist and Hony. President, SEVAC dwelt at length on the post
tsunami mental health problem management in A & N Islands, while Dr R R
Ghosh Roy, spoke on the significance of the workshop.
http://www.and.nic.in/wednesday.htm


CHILDREN
Empowering kids through short films:    Who can know and express the
grievances and pain of children better than the children themselves? To
prove it, a series of short films was released under the banner of 'East
Side Story' here recently by a Chennai- based NGO Nalanda Way, with the
support of UNICEF. The three short films Kalvettu, Mezhuguvathee and Mug up
Mungamma, produced by a group of children who were earlier child labourers,
were screened. Speaking on the occasion, Sriram V Ayer, founder and director
of Nalanda Way, said the movies were all based on real-life incidents which
the child crew members had encountered in their own life. He said that as
part of this development programme, the organisation had been involved in
identifying promising children from marginalised and disadvantaged
communities and make them successful. Sriram further said the project would
be expanded to the tsunami- affected districts and the short films screened
on channels, festivals and public function were done to promote awareness on
children's concern.
http://newstodaynet.com/27jul/rf14.htm


OTHER COUNTRIES:
INDONESIA
Fishermen return to sea along West Java's tsunami-battered coast: Fishermen
along West Java's tsunami-battered coast returned to sea for the first time
Tuesday since the massive waves crashed to shore just over a week ago,
killing 600 people and leaving 70 others missing. "Yes, I'm afraid, but it's
something I have to overcome," said Ade Uri, 49, one of 18 fisherman to set
sail in six boats. "I have to make a living."
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060725165140&irec=1


Tsunami relief continues for aquaculture sector: The Fund for Rebuilding
Aquaculture in Tsunami-Affected Areas is administered by Aquaculture without
Frontiers, which works in conjunction with local citizens and the country's
Directorate General of Aquaculture. Donations from YSI, given through the
World Aquaculture Society, have thus far funded three aquaculture-related
recovery projects over the past 18 months. The first project restored
tambaks (coastal ponds) and water supplies for fish farmers in Banda Aceh;
the second project is developing seaweed cultures in the village of Kareung,
where 127 people survived the tsunami. Getting underway now is a project to
develop wild shrimp broodstock in Province Nangroe Aceh Darussalam.
http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/4998/Tsunami_relief_continues_f\
or_aquaculture_sector.html


Welcomes and thank yous exchanged as new houses are handed over to tsunami
survivors: Festivities marked the day earlier this month in Lampu Kawat,
where villagers were left homeless by the December 26, 2004, tsunami, when
124 new houses were handed over to tsunami survivors. The houses were built
by Church World Service (CWS), one of three members of the global alliance
Action by Churches Together (ACT) in Indonesia, which has been providing
relief and rehabilitation since the tsunami. A group of Acehnese children
performed Ranpu Lampuan, a traditional dance, to welcome visiting local
government officials and staff from ACT and CWS in a two-hour ceremony on
July 12. Residents of the new houses as well as carpenters who had built
them were in the audience.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YAOI-6S32XB?OpenDocument


Indonesia navy arrests tsunami aid pirates in Aceh: The Indonesian navy has
arrested three former separatist rebels for pirating ships carrying aid for
tsunami survivors in the country's far-west Aceh province, a senior
commanding officer said on Wednesday. The three men, from two different
groups, were caught in the north Aceh city of Lhokseumawe on July 18, two
days after their latest operation, Rear Admiral Moekhlas Sidik, chief of the
Indonesian Navy's Western Fleet, told reporters. "We are still on alert for
more action from their groups because they use weapons like rifles and
grenade launchers in their operations," Sidik said.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=tsunamiNews&storyID=2006-07-\
26T100531Z_01_JAK21731_RTRUKOC_0_UK-INDONESIA-ACEH.xml


Shelters planned for displaced W. Java families: West Java's Ciamis and
Tasikmalaya regencies will soon begin the process of reconstruction by
building temporary accommodation for thousands left homeless by the July 17
tsunami. The head of West Java's spatial planning and housing office, Jan
Mulyana, said Wednesday the shelters, able to accommodate up to 2,000
people, would be built in the regencies at a cost of Rp 11.35 billion
(US$1.19 million) sourced from both the regional and state budgets. Mulyana
said 160 of the blocks would be built in Ciamis, which was hardest hit by
the tsunami along Java's southern coast, and the remainder in Tasikmalaya.
They would be used as accommodation for up to two years.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060727.A05&irec=4


New Housing for Tsunami victims: On 21 July Save the Children announced
today a new contract with a Canadian supplier, Britco Structures, to provide
pre-cut, panelized houses to Indonesian families who remain without
permanent housing 19 months later. Save the Children US is to build 708
homes. 300 of the new pre-cut, panelized houses in Aceh province are
expected to arrive in Indonesia as a first batch in mid-September.  This
initiative is part of the agency s continuing efforts to address serious
housing issues that have delayed construction of permanent homes.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/SaveChAlli/d29e06666c9b2dd62bd7c2ac\
23654ea0.htm


Indonesia to build safe zones on tsunami-prone coasts: Indonesia plans to
construct elevated safe zones near low-lying coastal resorts across the
country as anticipatory measures against tsunami, a newspaper said Friday.
The sites will consist of elevated land areas about four to five meters high
and located about 500 meters from the shoreline to speed up evacuations
during tsunamis, The Jakarta Post reported, quoting a senior official. "The
construction of the facilities will be in one package withthe installation
of the tsunami warning system devices," said Culture and Tourism Minister
Jero Wacik.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-07/28/content_4888519.htm

SRI LANKA
Sri Lankan agency builds new shelters in Jaffna despite security problems:
Despite the deteriorating security situation in northern and eastern Sri
Lanka, a UNHCR-funded organisation in Jaffna is pushing ahead with
construction of new shelters for people displaced or made homeless during
almost two decades of civil war. The Jaffna Social Action Centre (JSAC) is
building or upgrading more than 450 shelters across the Jaffna peninsula in
northern Sri Lanka for families living in makeshift shelters on their own
land or still displaced since the 2002 ceasefire between the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the central government. JSAC is building 300 brick
and wood shelters for displaced families, many of whom have been living in
structures made of earth and palm leaves. The new homes will keep them dry
and do not need regular, costly maintenance. The remaining 150 shelters -
two-room brick structures, which can later be extended - are being built for
people who have returned to their land.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EGUA-6S2KTW?OpenDocument


ELCA Gift Funds Five Lutheran World Relief Tsunami Recovery Projects in Sri
Lanka: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has provided more than
$700,000 to Lutheran World Relief in support of tsunami recovery projects in
Sri Lanka, one of the nations hardest hit by the 2004 natural disaster. This
grant is the first installment of a $2 million pledge for LWR's tsunami
response in Sri Lanka. The gift of $706,557 from the ELCA will support five
projects, covering the districts of Hambantota, Matara, Galle, Kalutara,
Ampara and Batticaloa and assisting tsunami survivors with building
sustainable livelihoods, furnishing newly built homes, establishing
emergency warning systems, and increasing civic awareness and participation.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/220361/55a2ef0922a90b2da86ff445696d\
8e8c.htm


Strengthening the Role of Sri Lankan Community Organizations: The project,
Sustaining Tsunami Recovery by Organizations Networking at the Grassroots
level through Promoting Local Accountability and Capacity Enhancement
Systems" (Strong Places), which is implemented by the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) is funded by the German government. It aims to
strengthen the capacities of some 700 community-based organizations (CBOs)
and district-based NGOs in Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Amparam Batticaloa,
Trincomalee, Mullaitivu and Jaffna. Implementation is based on a partnership
with a National Advisory Committee and eight District Advisory Committees
(DACs). The latter make funding decisions at the district level, based on
specific needs. Capacity building workshops to date include book-keeping,
governance, monitoring and evaluations as well as report and proposal
writing. The project, now in its second phase, is targeting 290
organizations in seven districts
http://www.tsunamispecialenvoy.org/presscenter/default.asp


THAILAND
Tourism enterprises bring hope to the street children of Phuket: A new
shelter for homeless children was officially opened in Patong, Phuket
district, in a ceremony presided over by Vice Governor of Phuket, Mr.
Vorapot Ratasima on behalf of  Phuket Governor, Mr. Udomsak Uswarangkura.
The "Children's Happy Home" project is a joint initiative funded by Holiday
Inn Resort Phuket, AIG Private Bank and OVB Holding AG, Germany and operated
by World Vision Foundation Thailand. The aim of the new shelter is to
provide a safe environment for homeless children as they commence a new life
away from the streets. It houses up to 30 street children between the ages
of 11 - 16 in dormitory style accommodation as well as housing the staff on
site. The Home is accessible 24 hours a day to innocent victims of abuse,
neglect, abandonment and homelessness, as well as runaways and those facing
family crisis. Equipped with modern facilities and run by staff trained in
the rehabilitation and counseling of street children, the home will offer a
happy environment for children to play, learn and relax in safety. The
Children's Happy Home project was initiated by The Holiday Inn Resort Phuket
which donated 9.7 million Baht to sponsor the building of the home from
charitable funds raised by the resort in the aftermath of the Tsunami
tragedy in 2004. An additional 500,000 Baht, provided by AIG Private Bank
enabled the acquisition of a new building for the project's expansion. A
further sponsor, OVB Holding AG, Germany, will ensure the necessary funds to
pay for the day-to-day running of the home.
http://www.traveldailynews.com/new.asp?newid=31339&subcategory_id=98

MALDIVES
Lending a Helping Hand: Given the salination of land and the destruction of
crops, fishing boats, essential tools and stores, restoring the livelihoods
of the many tsunami-affected people is a major long-term challenge in the
Maldives. UNDP and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) are
supporting the government's efforts to meet this challenge by providing the
Maldivians with the necessary tools and skills to rebuild their lives. On
islands where farmers lost crops and equipment in the tsunami, FAO and UNDP
are providing replacement seeds and tools. Where fishing is a major
activities, FAO and the Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Marine
Resources have provided training in modern boat building techniques,
enabling communities to build more cost-effective, sea-worthy, and
environmentally-sound bokkuras (reef fishing boats).
http://www.tsunamispecialenvoy.org/progressreports/undp21.asp

top
Disclaimer:
This news update is provided by TRINet for the benefit of those working in
tsunami rehabilitation
purely for information purposes only.
Please send your comments to info.trinet@...
Visit us at: www.trinet.in

*The Light of Andamans, Issue 32 - 29 July 2006*
**
*Letter to the Editor:*
**
*Close ATR to protect Jarawas*

Dear Editor,

While agreeing wholeheartedly with the call in your editorial ('Jarawas
Battle for Survival', 15 July) for immediate action to be taken to end the
exploitation of the Jarawa and to keep outsiders off their land, Survival is
very alarmed at the suggestion that young Jarawa should be 'picked up' from
the Andaman Trunk Road and raised in homes. The now-defunct policy of taking
Australian Aboriginal children away from their communities and raising them
outside their culture caused untold misery to the children and their
families, and is widely considered to have been a terrible mistake.

We are also alarmed at the suggestion of using coercive measures to keep the
Jarawa off the road. The solution to the problem of the Andaman Trunk Road -
closure of the sections running through the Jarawa reserve - was ordered by
India's Supreme Court in 2002. Its implementation is long-overdue.
The most urgent first step is to end incursions into Jarawa territory,
especially for poaching.

Stephen Corry
Director
Survival International
www.survival-international.org


--
Zubair Ahmed
Tel: +91-3192-246191
Mb: +919932081771


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

The article by Gaurav Gupta raises very interesting issues,  Sheila Barse had
also raised some similar concerns in the Inidan context. There are the following
issues to be seen

   1. I do agree that partcipation in the economic mainstream may be a desire of
some, but is there a choice at the moment in the context of declining job
creation ?
   2. In the case of the PTGs is the economic mainstream an option at the moment
? I don't know enough so I would welcome comments on this .

   regards

   Viren


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

*The Light of Andamans::Issue 32, 29 July 2006
*
*Editorial*

*Shift Focus to Nicobar*

"I am sorry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands did not exist in the collective
conscience of the nation" cine star Rahul Bose had said in a public function
soon after tsunami. In a different context it can safely be said that
Nicobar district does not exist in the collective conscience of the people
of Andamans, more so in the radar of politicians, bureaucrats and the
planners. That includes the numerous NGOs found active in the islands after
tsunami.

The general impression here is that the tribals are a pampered lot what with
the Member of Parliament, the Lt. Governor and the senior bureaucrats making
a beeline for Nicobars at the drop of a hat. But as our knowledge and
understanding of that part of the territory grow with every issue of The
Light Andamans, it is revealed that all that they get is lip service.

The tribes do not exactly welcome the outsiders with an open arm. But their
predicament is such that they can't do without them either. The modern
civilization, the amenities and facilities of a modern life has not left
them untouched. But they are ill equipped to do things by themselves. They
don't have carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, painters, plumbers,
electricians, caterers, professional cooks and even barbers in the tribal
society. They are forced to turn to outsiders for these small services.

During a discussion a government servant working in a Nicobar island sans
his family had said that without outsiders, people like him who live there
alone, starve without food. There is not a single eating place run by a
Nicobari.

All the livelihood restoration, training programme or capacity building
efforts are concentrated at Port Blair; whether by government departments or
NGOS. Industries Department, Industrial Training Institute, Community
Polytechnic run by Dr. BR Ambedkar Polytechnic, ANCO, all are concentrated
at Port Blair.

Instead of training people in such mundane items like toy making, computer
class etc. well meaning NGOs could take such low end works as mentioned
above.

Secondly, there are threshold qualifications for learning black-smithy too.
It is surprising why such conditions are forced on those who really want to
learn simple trades, whether at Port Blair or at Kondul Island. A
blacksmith, a carpenter, a mason or a barber don't need any educational
qualification. They just need the aptitude and a mindset. More than a
college, they need these small facilities right now.

Another impression is carried by us all that after tsunami every tribal in
Nicobar district has become a millionaire. That again is a myth. There is
poverty and dire poverty among the Nicobarese even now. It's not that each
one of them got lakhs and lakhs in compensation. They need all the
encouragement, support and wherewithal to earn their livelihood and lead a
decent life.

The tribal society needs to be made self-sufficient and self sustaining to
ensure that they would not depend on outsiders for their day to day needs.
That is what will empower them and infuse self confidence in them to meet
any challenge.

We must shift our focus to Nicobar district. It is the need of the hour.


--
Zubair Ahmed
Tel: +91-3192-246191
Mb: +919932081771


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

*The Light of Andamans - Issue - 32, 29 July 2006*
**
*ATI Workers left in the Lurch*

By *Staff Reporter*

*Port Blair:* Andaman Timber Industries closed down in October 2000
rendering over 860 workers jobless without any compensation or settlement.
The workers took up the matter with the Management several times in vain.
Finally, with the intervention of the Lt. Governor and the Member of
Parliament, it was agreed between the Management and the workers union that
the permanent employees of the company would opt for Voluntary Retirement
Scheme.

It was decided that the benefit admissible under the VRS will be paid in
three instalments along with all other legal dues. The first instalment was
to be paid by September 30, 2001, the second instalment by October 31, 2001
and the final instalment by March 31, 2002. The first two instalments were
paid on time but the third instalment amounting roughly to Rs. 3..00 crores
is yet to be paid even after almost three and a half years.

The company had agreed to these arrangement on specific condition that the
entire amount to be paid to the workers would come from the Andaman and
Nicobar Administration in one form or the other. For the payment of first
instalment it was transport subsidy and for second instalment it was the
compensation towards the acquisition of company's land at Haddo. The third
instalment was to be paid after the administration paid the compensation for
acquisition of its immovable property at Bambooflat factory site.

The Administration on its part had expedited the payment of transport
subsidy and compensation against acquisition of land at Haddo and hence the
ATI Management was able to honour its commitment.

The Port Management Board had offered to buy the immovable property of ATI
Limited at Shore Point, Bambooflat for creating infrastructure for ship
repair etc. But the valuation of the property was caught into rough weather
allegedly because of over estimation of the value of assets at Bambooflat.
It had resulted in serious allegations and CBI raids were conducted against
Mr. Candavel former Deputy Commissioner and others. The entire acquisition
process got stalled and hence the third instalment is yet to be paid.

In a recent order the Circuit Bench of Calcutta High Court at Port Blair has
directed in the administration to expedite the process of acquisition and
payment of the third instalment of dues to the workers as per agreement.

However, the Port Management Board is not interested in purchasing the
immovable assets of ATI at Bambooflat any more. If the administration
decides to appeal in the Supreme Court the payment of final instalment of
VRS to the workers of ATI will go back to the cold store for an infinite
period.

*ATI land acquisition scam*

By *Staff Reporter*

Port Blair: Andaman Timber Industries commenced production sometime in
1963-64 at its factory complex in Bambooflat later called Shore Point. The
land was acquired from the government for setting up plywood industry on
lease as is the case with any large private industry in the islands. The ATI
Limited set up the modern plywood industry with state-of-the-art imported
and indigenous plants and machinery. It had its own captive power plant to
maintain uninterrupted production. The factory was allotted a huge plot of
land; a very large chunk of it remained unutilised or used for purposes
other than production of plywood.

The same was the case with WIMCO Limited that had started during the British
era. The ATI Limited acquired the entire immovable properties of WIMCO
Limited. But it did not set up any secondary or subsidiary unit of ATI at
Haddo.

Cheap timber became hard to get day by day. The cost of transportation of
logs from other islands to ATI was prohibited. This, coupled with other
Administrative and commercial reasons, the company decided to close down its
operations in Bambooflat. However, the smart management ensured that every
single piece of plywood, logs and other commercial products were exported to
mainland before announcing the precipitate action to close down the unit.

With its close links with political set up, the trade union leadership and
the bureaucracy right from Port Blair to New Delhi, the management succeeded
in wriggling out of its commitment to give a fair deal to the workers and
employees of the company. After much quibble an agreement was thrashed out
with the intervention of Lt. Governor and the Member of Parliament. But the
shrewd management made the payment of all the three instalments conditional
upon the Administrations payment of transport subsidy, compensation of
immovable property at Haddo and compensation of the same at Bambooflat. In
other words, it was the administration that was made responsible to pay the
workers and not the company. If the Administration refuses to buy the
immovable properties at Haddo and Bambooflat the workers would not get any
compensation.

However, all the land in Andaman and Nicobar Islands vests in the state. The
piece of land at Bambooflat was leased out to ATI whereas that at Haddo too
was initially leased out to WIMCO Limited. Nobody's livelihood depended on
the land leased out to ATI or the WIMCO. Inspite of that, the process of
acquisition of immovable property at Haddo is over. Only that at Bambooflat
remains to be acquired.

In the name of immovable property at Bambooflat, a few dilapidated
structures are standing at the factory site. All the plant and machinery
have been removed and exported to mainland. The shells and a few structures
in a state of utter disrepair would hardly fetch a couple of lakhs whereas
it has been valued at Rs. 14,20,97,426/-. This is not the price of
'immovable property' but the prime land that goes with it. And that land
belongs to the Andaman and Nicobar Administration. Since it was leased out
to ATI Limited for setting up a plywood industry and since the company
decided to close down the plywood unit and shifted the plant and machinery
to some other place the Administration is well within its rights to acquire
the land paying just a fair value for whatever the ramshackle structures are
worth.

At a stage, the administration seemed to be bending over backward to acquire
the ATI land at such an astronomical sum of almost Rs 14.21 crore. But it
seems the Port Management Board has developed cold feet and backing out.
The administration is now trapped in its own web.


--
Zubair Ahmed
Tel: +91-3192-246191
Mb: +919932081771


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

*The Light of Andamans - Issue 32, 29 July 2006*
**
*Campbell Bay: Angry Mob Threaten Ferry Master*

By *Staff Reporter*
*Port Blair:* The inter island and intra island ferry services in Central
and Great Nicobar are in shambles. The problems faced by the people of
Central Nicobar in getting a ferry service from Kamorta to Teressa and
Chowra islands, was highlighted in detail in our issue dated July 15, 2006.
The Assistant Commissioner, Nancowry had taken serious view of the situation
and he had reported the matter to the Principal Director of Shipping and
Marine Services during the second week of July.
The situation in Great Nicobar is no better. MV Katchal is stationed at
Campbell Bay to connect Gandhi Nagar (30 kms), the roads to which have been
totally destroyed by the tsunami in 2004. Those living in Gandhi Nagar are
solely dependent on the ferry service for their day-to-day requirements.
Moreover, Campbell Bay being the Headquarters and the main market for the
entire Great Nicobar, people have to visit the place very frequently.
Speaking to this reporter, Mr. Kiran, Panchayat Samity Member said that the
Master of the vessel behaves whimsically ignoring the difficulties of the
commuters. They alleged that the vessel needs hardly a depth of 2 meters
where as the Master anchors the vessel at a depth of 60 meters. In a choppy
sea it becomes very difficult for men, women and children to disembark in a
small country boat to reach the shore.

There is no jetty at Gandhi Nagar and hence the question of berthing did not
arise. Inspite of repeated pleadings the Master would not listen to the
plight of the people. Instead he would start talking of maritime rules and
regulations that the poor villagers are unable to understand.
It is a general statement of the people that earlier Masters of Marine
Department used to serve the people much better taking the vessel very near
to the shore, respecting the comfort and convenience of the passengers.
Zilla Parishad members complained that the Officers of the vessels were
keeping their families on board the ship and enjoying life. The vessel is
also supposed to go to Kondul and Katchal Island etc. But the Master always
decline to make those trips on some excuse or the other. The ship was making
trips only to Gandhi Nagar and that too with great reluctance.
On July 18, 2006 the Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Amit Kumar had gone to
Gandhi Nagar to inspect some ongoing survey work. To his surprise he found
that the vessel was anchored at about 60 meters depth whereas it could have
gone very near the shore since the vessel needed just 2 meters of depth. It
took some time for Mr. Amit Kumar to finish his job and hence the departure
of the vessel had to be postponed till 1745 hrs. While returning, the small
dinghy carrying the passengers from shore to ship was jam-packed with
passengers and the load on the dinghy was so heavy that the water level was
inches below the gunwale. With great difficulties the passengers boarded the
ship. She sailed at 1800 hrs reaching Campbell Bay at 1930 hrs. Here again
the Master asked the passengers to disembark into MV Juhi, a small boat
stationed at Campbell Bay since the Master would not berth the ship at the
jetty.
The Master on his part gave the excuse that there was no search light and
hence he was unable to berth the vessel. An altercation ensured between the
Master and the passengers that took an ugly shape. The people waiting at the
jetty also got wild at the behaviour of the Master and the pent up anger
against the Master was released in full flow. They threatened the Master and
the crew of dire consequences if they set foot at the jetty.
Since, tensions were running high and the general public was in a
belligerent mood, the Assistant Commissioner advised the Master and the crew
members not to venture on shore lest they were maltreated.
MV Katchal sailed for Port Blair on 19 July without bothering to inform the
Assistant Commissioner. The crew members of MV Katchal lodged a protest to
the Director of Shipping Services complaining against the high handedness of
the Assistant Commissioner, Campbell Bay. Speaking to the Light of Andaman
Mr. Amit Kumar confirmed that he had warned the Master and the crew members
not to land at jetty as it could create law and order problem in view of the
aggressive mood of the people. "It was for their own safety and to maintain
peace and tranquillity that I had to warn them", said Mr. Amit Kumar.
Both MV Onge and MV Katchal are under manning contract of ABS Marine, a
Chennai based Company that provides Officers for these vessels. Generally,
retired foreign going Masters are employed in these vessels who don't have
any knowledge of coastal waters, treacherous waves and the general
environment of the creeks, lanes and bi-lanes of islands like Nicobar. The
highly experienced andcapable Masters of foreign going Master do not have to
deal with this kind of situations. Berthing and un-berthing for their ships
are done by Harbour Masters while their job is to cruise along in the open
sea.
Masters of Marine Department who were managing the show till a few years
back had no such problem in negotiating narrow creeks, choppy sea and the
intricacies of creeks and backwaters. They have served the people well
without problem for over a century.
The second problem in maintaining a regular flow of ferry services in
Central and Great Nicobar is vessel chosen for the area. The 70/100
passengers air conditioned tin ka dibba is hardly capable of handling the
waves and rough sea that the vessels have to encounter in these southern
islands.
Speaking to this reporter Mr. Dharam Pal, Principal Director Shipping and
Marine Services admitted that there was a crisis in maintaining a regular
ferry service in Central and Great Nicobar. He however, said that the
Department was seized of the matter and a more effective system would be put
in place by the end of this month to ensure that the vessel operators don't
skip any scheduled trip. In exceptional circumstances, if sailing has to be
cancelled, the Master will have to seek the permission from the Director of
Shipping Services.

In the meantime, MV Chowra is making a trip to Kamorta-Teressa-Chowra
islands enroute Campbell Bay to provide some respite to the passengers
stranded in these islands.


--
Zubair Ahmed
Tel: +91-3192-246191
Mb: +919932081771


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

*The Light of Andamans - Issue 32, 29 July 2006*

*Plywood Industry's trail of destruction*

By *Govinda Raju*

There were three plywood industries in the islands; Jayshree Timbers at
Bakultala, Albion and later Asian Plywood at Long Island, Middle Andamans
and the Andaman Timber Industries at Bambooflat in South Andaman.
The administration and the forest department on its part extended all the
benefits that could possibly be extended under the rules and laws of the
land. They were allotted coups with exclusive right to exploit the
commercial timber. Transport subsidy that was meant for the small scale
industries were extended as a very special case, courtesy the
politico-bureaucratic benevolence, special wharfs and jetties were
constructed for their benefit under some pretext or the other. The list is
endless.

The arrival of these companies should have created a lot of employment for
the local people at all levels. But that did not happen. The industry was
insulated from the general public. The employment created for the local
people was at the lowest level of the ladder; the unskilled, semi skilled
and in rare cases, skilled. No middle cadre executive was appointed by these
companies from among the local people let alone the top level.

In contrast, the WIMCO limited had local employees at all levels, save the
General Manager.

On the credit side however, apart from a few select contractors, forest
officials and bureaucrats in the administration, the companies did not bring
any tangible benefit to the islanders or the islands. Even the prices for
their products were the same as that on the mainland.

On the debit side, these companies made the best use of the opportunities
offered by a greedy system. Scant regard was paid to the norms of
identification, marking and felling of mature trees. Finished plywood can
take veneers of immature trees too in the inner layers. Hence indiscriminate
felling was resorted to. The coups were plundered; the integrity of the
pristine forest was robbed and an all round destruction unleashed. In short,
the invaluable forest was ransacked without any let or hindrance.

Nobody could dare challenge the pillage. Such was the power of the plywood
lobby. No wonder, these industries have left a legacy of degraded forest in
their wake that would take decades nay, centuries to recover.

They should have been held responsible for the damages done to the state of
the forest under their exploitation as a whole. They should have been made
to pay the environmental cost for the destruction of forest.  There were
murmurs, complaints and sham inquiries too. But nothing ever came out of it.
Nothing was expected either.

There were serious allegations that the Andaman Trunk Road was taken right
through the middle of the South Andaman Island from Jirkatang to Middle
Strait, at the behest of plywood industries, so that they could lay their
hands on the most valuable timber protected by the Jarawas for centuries.
And that too, at throw away prices

There must be some substance in the allegation. The common practice
otherwise is to align the road with the coastline.
The ATR is directly responsible for the threat to the existence of the most
primitive tribe of Jarawas.
As if that was not enough, now ATI expects the administration to pay VRS to
its retrenched workers.


--
Zubair Ahmed
Tel: +91-3192-246191
Mb: +919932081771


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

*The Light of Andamans - Issue: 32 - 29 July 2006*
**
*Renew Tribal Pass or quit— SP Nicobar*

By *Staff Reporter*
*Port Blair:* The Police in Nicobar district have taken the violation of the
Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation 1956 very seriously following a
report in The Light of Andamans. They found that that a large number of
non-tribal people were staying in the area even though the validity of their
tribal pass had expired long back.
Mr. S.C. Tyagi, Assistant Commissioner, Nancowry has also warned the
outsiders either to get their tribal passes revalidated or quit before July
31, 2006.
Speaking to this reporter over phone, Mr. N.S. Bundela, Superintendent of
Police, Nicobar district said that the police did not concentrate on this
issue so far since, after tsunami, the priorities were different. But now,
the situations are fast returning to normalcy and hence these routine
matters too have to be paid due attention. Asked if the people without pass
have been asked to quit he replied "Not exactly! We have asked the people to
get their stay regularised by getting their passes revalidated. The
assistant commissioner is authorised to renew the passes in deserving
cases."
Asked if the operation was followed in Car Nicobar also, he said: "The
situation in Car Nicobar is more or less under control. People get the
passes revalidated in time or leave the island when the job is over"

Our Correspondent at Central Nicobar adds: It is an unprecedented drive
undertaken by the police. Never before such a concerted effort was made to
ensure that those without pass either got it revalidated or left the
islands. The assistant commissioner, Nancowry too was taking the matter very
seriously and not revalidating the passes in a mechanical way.
However, a few political activists, both from the ruling and the main
opposition parties, have left for Port Blair to ensure that the police and
the civil administration puts a stop to identify and send back the
violators.

A batch of those who had overstayed, have already left bag & baggage by M.V.
Chowra on Monday, July 24 according to him.


--
Zubair Ahmed
Tel: +91-3192-246191
Mb: +919932081771


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

Dear Friends,
I am sorry, I forgot to mention that this article below by Gaurav Gupta was
published in the Indian Express, on July 28, 2006.
pankaj

C/o Kalpavriksh
Apt. 5, Sri Dutta Krupa,
908 Deccan Gymkhana
Pune 411004, India
Tel: 020 - 25654239
Web: www.kalpavriksh.org

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Pankaj
   To: andamanicobar@...
   Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 12:38 PM
   Subject: [andamanicobar] This land is their land





   This land is their land
   Gaurav Gupta
   Posted online: Friday, July 28, 2006 at 0000 hrs IST

   As someone who has spent several years working with aboriginal Australians, it
is with great sadness that I watch the great efforts being undertaken to pass
the tribal bill in India. Such measures have been tried before in Australia and
they have comprehensively failed. Aborigines now hold rights over more than 15
per cent of the Australian land mass, yet earn next to nothing from this. Why?
Because the granting of assets rarely comes with the transfer of knowledge and
skills necessary to sustainably use those assets. What we in Australia failed to
recognise, and what the current tribal bill does not address, is that
acquisition of "land" is neither a means nor an end in itself for today's
indigenous peoples.
   The Australian experience stands as a dire warning not only to the
conservationists who are up in arms over this legislation, but most importantly
to the Indian adivasis themselves. Experience shows that transfer of land by
itself leads to neither a reattainment of lost culture nor economic gains. In
fact quite the opposite has occurred - previously productive land has been left
desolate once placed in aboriginal hands. The problem has been a lack of
education, training and support for aboriginal people to conduct sustainable
development on the land coupled with a lack of proper incentives. Aboriginal
leaders point out that what aborigines really want as first priorities are
education and jobs. Transfer of land plays no role in this.
   Coming to this understanding has cost Australia dearly. The Australian people
and government have wasted tens of billions of dollars in trying to make up for
the disastrous historical treatment of aboriginal Australians through monetary
handouts and land rights. The aim has been both justice and economic
development. Our hope was that today's aboriginal people would somehow
miraculously return to their ancient way of life, which was stolen from them,
while enjoying the health and service benefits of a modern economy.
Depressingly, not only have these policies failed to deliver justice and
financial well-being, they are now widely held to have made matters worse. At a
time where Australia has risen to be one of the richest countries in the world,
aboriginal development indicators have steadily declined. Male life expectancy
in some communities has fallen to 55.
   A few years ago I helped a community of aborigines negotiate with a mining
company for the handover of farming land. I started out by asking the community
what exactly they hoped to achieve from getting their land back. Far from
wanting to revert to some "traditional living", they expressed a real desire
that the land would help create business opportunities, fund their children's
education and provide retirement income. However, this was not a community of
farmers. They did not have the skills to generate cash from the land. In
financial-speak they were in the wrong asset class. Our solution was a simple
one: the aboriginal community agreed to take ownership of the land and
immediately sell it to the highest bidding farmer. The deal included right of
access for hunting and fishing so that current and future generations could
maintain any cultural practices they desired. Additionally, the farmer would
employ aboriginal labour. Using external advisors from the private sector, money
raised from the sale was invested in trust funds for educational scholarships
and start-up business grants. Today, this trust has already spawned two
successful businesses.
   This contrasts sharply with the usual experience, where aboriginal people take
ownership of land that they are unprepared to handle; the vast majority quickly
turns into economic wastelands. Previously functional farms and cattle stations
lie unused and in ruin with machinery and other assets quickly sold off for
short-term gain, reducing the few long-term local jobs.
   The lessons are clear. Reversing a past wrong is not always the best way to
achieve justice because time has lapsed and the world around us has changed.
Instead, our starting position should be to understand what it is that the
adivasis of India want today, rather than what we think they need from
yesterday. My bet is that like all humans, their first priority is a secure
livelihood, and for their children to have even better opportunities than they
did. The tribal bill achieves none of this. As it stands, this short-sighted
measure is only promoting the permanent desecration of the land through mass
deforestation for what will be a temporary cash injection. In fact, without
education and proper advice on how to get a long-term sustainable outcome from
the land, selling it to the highest bidder seems to be the most rational thing
to do. But how exactly does this achieve justice?
   The Australian experience would instead suggest that we allow adivasis an
inalienable right of access to forest for cultural practices (which does not
require actual ownership), but look elsewhere for a solution to their economic
livelihood. In short, ownership of land is no longer part of the real concern
facing Adivasis and giving it back is certainly not part of the solution.
   Australians are waking up to our problematic policies and the tide is now
turning. aboriginal leaders are calling for an end to government handouts and
want instead to engage with the modern economy while strengthening their own
cultural practices. I hope that India can learn from our costly mistakes.
Otherwise I fear that the decades of injustice heaped on the adivasis will
surely just mount.
   The writer is a former deputy director of the Cape York Institute, an
aboriginal-led organisation which advises the Australian government on
aboriginal policy . Email:
   Gupta.gaurav@...





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

Marine Parks Failing to Protect Coral Reefs

June 29, 2006 - By Michael Casey, Associated Press
BANGKOK, Thailand - Marine parks are failing to protect the world's coral
reefs, a prominent New Zealand researcher said Wednesday, with fewer than 2
percent receiving adequate protection from these sanctuaries.

Many of the parks remain "vulnerable to risks that arise from beyond their
boundaries, such as sedimentation, pollution, coastal development," said
University of Auckland's Mark Costello, who oversaw a study of the parks
that appeared in Science magazine earlier this month.

"It's very disappointing that the management of most of the parks is not
aimed at fully protecting the species there," Costello told The Associated
Press. "They need to increase the level of protection in the parks."

Costello, whose team included researchers from Canada and the Britain, found
that about 19 percent of the world's coral reefs lie within 980 marine
parks -- with only 1.6 percent of reefs in parks that limit human activities
and only 0.1 percent that prohibit poaching.

Costello said some problems stem from a failure to follow-up the
establishment of a park with "good management and enforcement." Money also
played a role, Costello said, with developing countries such as the
Philippines or Indonesia lacking the finances to provide adequate levels of
protection.

"I think there is a responsibility on the global community to help these
countries protect their biodiversity," he said.

The size of the parks was also a problem, he said.

Forty percent of the protected marine areas are smaller than 2 square
kilometers (0.8 sq. miles) -- an insufficient size to protect large fish and
other animals, Costello said. These animals tend to move large distances,
spending significant time beyond the protected borders, he said.

Costello and his team recommended that marine parks be 10 kilometers to 20
kilometers (6 miles to 12 miles) in diameter to protect species that need
large areas of habitat, and spaced to ensure genetic exchange between areas.

This would require the protection of 25,590 square kilometers (9880.31 sq.
miles) or about 5 percent of the world's coral reefs, Costello said.

"Marine protected areas are the prime strategy for the conservation of coral
reefs and other marine habitats worldwide," Costello said. When no poaching
or fishing is allowed, more natural species flourish and fish and crayfish
get bigger, he said.
Note created Jun 30, 2006
ENN: Environmental News Network [[Today's News Full Story ]] -
www.enn.com/

This land is their land
Gaurav Gupta
Posted online: Friday, July 28, 2006 at 0000 hrs IST

As someone who has spent several years working with aboriginal Australians, it
is with great sadness that I watch the great efforts being undertaken to pass
the tribal bill in India. Such measures have been tried before in Australia and
they have comprehensively failed. Aborigines now hold rights over more than 15
per cent of the Australian land mass, yet earn next to nothing from this. Why?
Because the granting of assets rarely comes with the transfer of knowledge and
skills necessary to sustainably use those assets. What we in Australia failed to
recognise, and what the current tribal bill does not address, is that
acquisition of "land" is neither a means nor an end in itself for today's
indigenous peoples.
The Australian experience stands as a dire warning not only to the
conservationists who are up in arms over this legislation, but most importantly
to the Indian adivasis themselves. Experience shows that transfer of land by
itself leads to neither a reattainment of lost culture nor economic gains. In
fact quite the opposite has occurred - previously productive land has been left
desolate once placed in aboriginal hands. The problem has been a lack of
education, training and support for aboriginal people to conduct sustainable
development on the land coupled with a lack of proper incentives. Aboriginal
leaders point out that what aborigines really want as first priorities are
education and jobs. Transfer of land plays no role in this.
Coming to this understanding has cost Australia dearly. The Australian people
and government have wasted tens of billions of dollars in trying to make up for
the disastrous historical treatment of aboriginal Australians through monetary
handouts and land rights. The aim has been both justice and economic
development. Our hope was that today's aboriginal people would somehow
miraculously return to their ancient way of life, which was stolen from them,
while enjoying the health and service benefits of a modern economy.
Depressingly, not only have these policies failed to deliver justice and
financial well-being, they are now widely held to have made matters worse. At a
time where Australia has risen to be one of the richest countries in the world,
aboriginal development indicators have steadily declined. Male life expectancy
in some communities has fallen to 55.
A few years ago I helped a community of aborigines negotiate with a mining
company for the handover of farming land. I started out by asking the community
what exactly they hoped to achieve from getting their land back. Far from
wanting to revert to some "traditional living", they expressed a real desire
that the land would help create business opportunities, fund their children's
education and provide retirement income. However, this was not a community of
farmers. They did not have the skills to generate cash from the land. In
financial-speak they were in the wrong asset class. Our solution was a simple
one: the aboriginal community agreed to take ownership of the land and
immediately sell it to the highest bidding farmer. The deal included right of
access for hunting and fishing so that current and future generations could
maintain any cultural practices they desired. Additionally, the farmer would
employ aboriginal labour. Using external advisors from the private sector, money
raised from the sale was invested in trust funds for educational scholarships
and start-up business grants. Today, this trust has already spawned two
successful businesses.
This contrasts sharply with the usual experience, where aboriginal people take
ownership of land that they are unprepared to handle; the vast majority quickly
turns into economic wastelands. Previously functional farms and cattle stations
lie unused and in ruin with machinery and other assets quickly sold off for
short-term gain, reducing the few long-term local jobs.
The lessons are clear. Reversing a past wrong is not always the best way to
achieve justice because time has lapsed and the world around us has changed.
Instead, our starting position should be to understand what it is that the
adivasis of India want today, rather than what we think they need from
yesterday. My bet is that like all humans, their first priority is a secure
livelihood, and for their children to have even better opportunities than they
did. The tribal bill achieves none of this. As it stands, this short-sighted
measure is only promoting the permanent desecration of the land through mass
deforestation for what will be a temporary cash injection. In fact, without
education and proper advice on how to get a long-term sustainable outcome from
the land, selling it to the highest bidder seems to be the most rational thing
to do. But how exactly does this achieve justice?
The Australian experience would instead suggest that we allow adivasis an
inalienable right of access to forest for cultural practices (which does not
require actual ownership), but look elsewhere for a solution to their economic
livelihood. In short, ownership of land is no longer part of the real concern
facing Adivasis and giving it back is certainly not part of the solution.
Australians are waking up to our problematic policies and the tide is now
turning. aboriginal leaders are calling for an end to government handouts and
want instead to engage with the modern economy while strengthening their own
cultural practices. I hope that India can learn from our costly mistakes.
Otherwise I fear that the decades of injustice heaped on the adivasis will
surely just mount.
The writer is a former deputy director of the Cape York Institute, an
aboriginal-led organisation which advises the Australian government on
aboriginal policy . Email:
Gupta.gaurav@...





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

Hello Everyone:

I am a new member of this group and am interested to
know whether

a) alliances (if any) are being set up with other
indigenous movements--in South Asia and elswhere--and
the history of these;
b) there is any specific attention being paid to women
and gender issues in the Andamans and Nicobar Islands.
I know that Sita Venkateswar's fabulous book does
really engage this directly but I would be interested
in programs/actions around this as well.

Thanks for inviting me onboard. I live bi-nationally
and am in Kolkata a lot--have worked with tea
plantation women's organizing (a multi-ethnic,
adivasi-Nepali effort)  and so am really interested in
working WITH and supporting grassroots efforts for
indigenous human rights rights--especially indigenous
women's rights. I really excited about "joining up"!

Piya Chatterjee
Associate Professor
Department of Women's STudies
University of California at Riverside



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

THE DAILY TELEGRAMS,
July 27, 2006

Importance of Mangrove protection in isles coastal belt highlighted
Port Blair, July 26
     Mangrove Action Day was observed today with a view to create awareness
amongst the masses about conservation of mangroves. A function was organized
to observe the day at Tamil Methodist Church hall, Bambooflat by the coastal
Poor development Action Network in which the Conservator of Forests,
Southern Circle, Shri R N Nayak was the chief guest.
    Addressing the gathering, the CCF gave a detailed account of mangrove
forest existing in these islands and its role in protection of the islands.
Mangrove not only works as a wall to save us from tidal waves but it also
works as habitat for wildlife, Shri Nayak said urging the students and
others present to further creating awareness about the importance and
conservation at their respective villages.
   Speaking as the special guest on the occasion, Shri Senthil Kumar, DFO,
South Andaman enlightened the gathering especially the students about the
need and importance of mangrove conservation in these islands.
   Painting and essay competition on the topic 'protect mangroves and save
islands' were held in which large number of students participated. The
Conservator of Forests, Shri R N Nayak gave prizes to the winners of the
competition.
   Dr Felix N Sugirtharaj, Hon. Secretary, Coastal Poor Development Action
Network, who emphasized upon the importance of conservation of mangroves
also highlighted the role and activities of Action Network in the
development of coastal poor.
   In the programme, which was participated by dignitaries from Panchayats,
schools, colleges and forest department, Shri Maria Rajan welcomed the chief
guest and others present on the occasion, while Shri Elisa, honorary
Coordinator proposed the vote of thanks

Dr Xaviers reading is correct! I do not recall in
Portman death being in the range of thousands as
reported by Mr Saxena. In fact we must be very
carefull about how certain myths have acquired
historicity and it must be kept in mind that the
internal relations between various Andamanese tribal
was set on a course of conflict while the British
colonialists were temporarily drawn from the islands
while trying to solve issue in mainland south Asia.
Vishvajit Pandya.

--- Francis Xavier Neelam <fxneelam1@...>
wrote:

>   
>
> Dear Mr Saxena,
>
> No Jarawas were involved in the Battle of Aberdeen.
>
> After the 'Battle' no bodies were ever recovered. In
> fact the convict staton was abandoned and left to
> the Andamanese to loot.  The British soldiers fired
> from a ship anchored between Atlanta Point and Ross
> Island. How accurate the muskets could be at that
> range at moving targets is anybody's guess. The
> painting of Andamanese being shot down is a highly
> romanticised one with no historic basis.
>
> Regards
>
> Francis
> On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 Ajai Saxena wrote :
> >Dear Rauf,
> >
> >Interesting question. Are we talking about the
> total
> >number of all the tribes or only Andamanese. The
> quote
> >says '....8000 of original 10 Tribes'. If we take
> the
> >account of 1857 Battle of Aberdeen, in which
> thousands
> >of Jarawas were killled and pushed to the western
> part
> >of the South Andamans, then surely the combined
> number
> >of all the tribes including the largest group of
> >Andamanese, which were inhabiting the North
> Andamans,
> >would have been more than 6000, which Portman
> reported
> >perhaps as the then existing numbers of tribals in
> the
> >Andamans.
> >
> >Regards,
> >
> >Ajai
> >
> >--- Rauf Ali <raufie05@...> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > Generally, most government sources say there
> were
> > > about 10,000 Andamanese when the British
> established
> > > their settlement there. Portman in his 1899
> classic
> > > gives a number of 6000 somewhere. In the posting
> > > cited
> > > below, a figure of 8000 is given.
> > >
> > > So, how many Andamanese were there?
> > >
> > > In puzzlement,
> > > Rauf
> > >
> > > --- Madhusree Mukerjee <lopchu@...> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Lost tribes face extinction
> > > > Madhusree Mukerjee
> > > >
> > > > Of the perhaps 8,000 members of the
> > > > original 10 tribes, only
> > > > 45 or so individuals still survive.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
>__________________________________________________________
> > > Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn
> > > something new
> > > http://in.answers.yahoo.com/
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>___________________________________________________________
> >The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free
> your email address from your Internet provider.
> http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html
> >
> >
> >
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Reinhard Christian Vogl <christian.vogl@...>
To: ISE-L@...
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 07:07:23 +0200
Subject: Local knowledge about natural disasters and climate change
Dear colleagues
I do invite you to distribute this mail
and/or to submit abstracts for this event:

Open Session:
Local knowledge about natural disasters and climate change
Christian R. Vogl (BOKU) and Rajindra Puri (KENT)

at the
Tenth International Congress of Ethnobiology (ICE2006)
www.ice2006.org
Hosted by: The International Society of Ethnobiology and
Khon Kaen University, Dusit Island Resort, Chiang Rai, Thailand
November 5 - 9, 2006

Local people worldwide have extensive knowledge about their
environment, ecosystems and their dynamics. Soil, water, weather and
climate are examples of complex systems with important functions for
the resilience of livelihood systems for millions of people worldwide,
but they may also be threats in the cases of erosion, avalanches,
floods, droughts, inundations or tsunamis.

This session will focus on the knowledge and practices of local people
about these eco-systemic processes and their dynamics, particularly in
crisis situations. We are interested in local classification systems
for such phenomena, local explanations for crises, traditional
knowledge for responding to and mitigating threats, new innovations
and inventions, and local versus state responses and policy, and
perceptions of responses to such crises.

The call for the submission of papers is open now. Accepted are
scientific research papers of completed research projects with an
explicit focus on local peoples' knowledge, behavior, world view,
social organization, practice and/or language. from an ethnobiological
point of view, related to:
+ weather, climate and climate change
+ soil and soil degradation
+ water, water management and disasters related to drought/inundations/tsunamis

Please submit your papers in the form requested by ICE to the ICE website
AND to christian.vogl@...

Please add in the submission to Christian R. Vogl an explicit and
unambiguous statement
+ that you will speak about your own research
+ that data collection has finished (we will not accept papers about
planned or ongoing research)


Christian R. VoglDr., Associate ProfessorWorking Group: Knowledge
Systems and InnovationsInstitute of Organic FarmingDepartment for
Sustainable Agricultural SystemsBOKU-University of Natural Resources
and Applied Life SciencesGregor Mendel Strasse 33, A-1180 ViennaTel.:
++43-(0)1-47654-3752; Fax: ++43-(0)1-47654-3792Mail:
christian.vogl@... Web:
http://www.nas.boku.ac.at/christian-vogl.html

Rajindra K. PuriPh.D., Lecturer in Environmental
AnthropologyAnthropology DepartmentUniversity of Kent at
CanterburyCanterbury, Kent   CT2 7NSUnited KingdomT: (+44)-1227-
823148F: (+44)-1227- 827289E: R.K.Puri@... W:
http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/department/staff/rajP.html



***********************
Christian R. Vogl
Ao. Univ. Prof. Dr., Associate Professor

Arbeitsgruppe Wissenssysteme und Innovationen
Working Group: Knowledge Systems and Innovations

Institut fuer Oekologischen Landbau
Institute of Organic Farming

am Department für nachhaltige Agrarsysteme
Department for Sustainable Agricultural Systems

Universitaet fuer Bodenkultur (BOKU)
BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences

Gregor Mendel Strasse 33, A-1180 Wien/Vienna
Tel.: ++43-(0)1-47654-3752; Fax: ++43-(0)1-47654-3792
Mail: christian.vogl@...

NEW URL!!!
Web: http://www.nas.boku.ac.at/christian-vogl.html
********************************************************************
PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT IMMEDIATE RESPONSE! - I DO NOT WANT TO BE ONLINE
24 h A DAY!
1. I do not use E-Mail for chatting and therefore I access my mail box
only once a day, usually in the morning !!
2. Response might need several days due to my duties and agenda.
In very urgent cases please call: ++43-(0)1-47654-3750 (secretary)
or -3752 (automatic answering machine gives No. of my cellular phone)




--
Dr. Aparna Watve
Agharkar Research Institute
G. G. Agarkar Rd.
Pune 411 004.
Tel. 020-25653680

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

THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
July 25, 2006
Natnl. seminar on Cellular jail in Delhi
Renowned historians to participate
Port Blair, July 24
    As a part of the centenary year  of the historic Cellular Jail, a
national seminar and a painting exhibition on the topic 'Cellular Jail in
Freedom Struggle' will be organized in association with the Indian Council
of Historical Research (ICHR), Ministry of Human Resource Development at New
Delhi on 9th August 2006.
    Simultaneously on the same evening, a cultural evening will be organized
jointly by the Song & Drama Division, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting and Andaman and Nicobar Administration at Siri Fort auditorium,
New Delhi to pay tribute to national heroes and martyrs.
    In the seminar to be organized at ICHR premises at Firoz Shah Road, New
Dehli, renowned historians such as Prof. Iqbal Hussain, Aligarh Muslim
University, Prof. Arjun Dev, ICHR, Prof. Mridula Mukherjee, Centre of
Historical Studies, JNU, Ms Benaseer, ICHR, Prof. J P Mishra, University of
Jabalpur and Prof. Promod Kumar Srivastava, Luchnow University will present
their papers.
    This seminar will be held from 10.30 am to 5 pm in the premises of ICHR,
while the cultural evening will be held at the Siri Fort auditorium at 6.30
pm on 9th August 2006. About 250 artistes of Song & Drama Division will
present a programme of Light & Sound Show based on the 90 glorious years of
history of freedom struggle titled 'Samar yatra', a communication from the
Secretary (SAC) said here today.

MAP News, 173rd Ed. 1 0f 3
Dear Friends,

This is the 173rd Edition of the Mangrove Action Project News.

Help MAP and our Friends and Associates at Red Manglar in Latin America
Celebrate A Day For The Mangroves on Mangrove Action Day, July 26th! Please plan
an event for the mangroves for this day in your area, and let us know what you
are doing for the mangroves at this time!

Note: This newsletter contains a special fundraising request to help support 
MAP's work. Your donations to MAP are both greatly appreciated and needed!
Please see our "Join MAP" section of our web site, and join today!

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.

---------------------------------------------------

Back Issues available!

Note: The latest issues of the MAP News are available on MAP's Website:  
http://www.earthisland.org/map/map.html


       Contents for MAP NEWS, 172nd Edition

FEATURE STORY
HELP CELEBRATE MANGROVE ACTION DAY ON JULY 26TH!!

MAP WORKS
MAP Joins Red Manglar In Announcing July 26th International Day For the
Mangroves!
MAP Indonesia Helps With Earthquake Relief Via Bamboo Construction

ANNOUNCEMENT: "Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training
workshop, March 5-8, 2007, Hollywood, Florida.
Volunteer Opportunities, Here and Abroad
MAP Announces New Membership Drive
MAP's Children's 2007 Calendar Mangrove Art Competition A Success in Bangladesh

AFRICA

Cameroon
Update From Cameroom Wildlife Conservation Society

Togo
Promotion of a participatory approach Sin Togo

ASIA

S.E. ASIA

Thailand
WTO should rule on Thai complaint against U.S. shrimp tax in one year: Thai
official
Thailand spearheads ASEAN shrimp alliance
La Nina hits Thai shrimp farmers

Indonesia
ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER AND INDUSTRIAL AQUACULTURE IN INDONESIA
Tsunami warning system questioned

The Philippines
High School Students Attempt To Undertake Mangrove Restoration
Bohol marks record in shrimp culture
Lifting of breeding ban on white shrimp sought


-------------------------------------------------

FEATURE STORIES

HELP CELEBRATE MANGROVE ACTION DAY ON JULY 26TH!!

(LETTER FROM RED MANGLAR (MANGROVE NETWORK) BASED IN ECUADOR

Dear friends"

Once again we find ourselves approaching the annual celebration of Mangrove
Action Day, which will occur on 26 July.

This year's selected theme, which we believe should be promoted to be
incorporated into the social awareness in all of our countries, is our right to
land and territory. Land and territory are natural resources, oxygen, and
possibility for the communities' self-governance. Therefore, we have decided to
call this year's campaign: "Mangroves, Our Natural Heritage."

It is essential that each one of us assume responsibility for the defense,
conservation and recuperation of this severely threatened ecosystem, as it is a
heritage of our nations and territory of traditional indigenous communities.

Even though international organizations forecasted in the last decades that the
devastation of the world's mangrove ecosystem  was a concluded fact, and that
from now on the history of these ecosystems will be written with new rising
figures, the reality in our region at this time is completely different.

From Mexico to Peru, we receive daily news of pollution, deforestation and
devastation of mangrove ecosystems promoted by hydroelectric, tourism and shrimp
aquaculture mega-projects. The contamination of estuaries, dredging of their
channels', civil engineering works planned in detriment of these ecosystems and
the indiscriminate felling of the forests are a constant.

In countries where the white spot syndrome arrested intensive shrimp production
for various years, alerting the population about the risks of inadequate
management of coastal marine ecosystems, we have witnessed again, since last
year, the emergence of this crustacean culture by pressure from  consumer
markets, the apathy of entrepreneurs and the governments' lethargy.

In those countries where the loss of  protective barriers to confront natural
phenomena was caused by the indiscriminate felling of mangroves, not even
floods, tropical hurricanes and cyclones have been able to decrease the
destructive spirit of industrial tourism, incapable of turning their eyes
towards what happened in Asia just a year and one-half ago, when the terrible
tsunami devastated  magnificent tourist facilities and, of course, entire towns.

Mangroves are our heritage, our source of life, our livelihood, our place of
work, our warehouse & our home.

We invite you to join us in this campaign "Mangroves, Our Natural Heritage," by
organizing activities in each one of your countries with the aim of influencing
public opinion on the need to protect a highly threatened ecosystem and promote
its community management, as well as the right to work for the traditional
communities of this ecosystem.

Together for our mangroves!

Lider Gongora F.
Executive Secretary
Redmanglar Internacional

redmanglar@...

<http://redmanglar.org/redmanglar.php?c=498>"Mangroves Our Natural Heritage" -
<http://redmanglar.org/redmanglar.php?c=495>http://redmanglar.org/redmanglar.php\
?c=495

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

MAP WORKS

MAP Joins Red Manglar In Announcing July 26th International Day For the
Mangroves!

Please join us all on July 26, 2006 for the Annual Call On Mangrove Action Day!
A Day For The Mangroves!

"A Day for the Mangroves!"--The 26th of July, A Global Call For Action:

PLEASE Join Us Wherever You Are For The 26th of July
We are now collecting news about other planned events for the global call for
action for the Mangroves on July 26th. Please write us to share your own plans
for this international day for the mangroves!
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 of all our network members for
Global Action on July 26th, 2006. We ask that you and/ or your organizations
please join us all in a global protest against the ongoing destruction 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)

From: World Watch Institute mailer@...

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

MAP Indonesia Helps With Earthquake Relief Via Bamboo Construction

Zoe Chafe - July 17, 2006 - 10:01am
For reconstruction, turn to bamboo to save tropical forests, writes the Mangrove
Action Project's Indonesia team. By using bamboo to construct buildings and
furniture, the demand for sensitive hardwoods decreases. Though it is considered
an invasive species in many environments, bamboo is a renewable resource that
grows rapidly and can be reharvested in quick succession. Use of renewable
materials is especially important after disasters-such as the Indian Ocean
tsunami or the recent Yogyakarta earthquake-when a vast amount of rebuilding
must be done quickly.
Via: The Mangrove Action Project News, 172nd Edition, June 24, 2006.
http://earthisland.org/map/

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

ANNOUNCEMENT: "Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training
workshop, March 5-8, 2007, Hollywood, Florida.

The fifth "Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training
workshop will be held at the Anne Kolb Nature Center, in Hollywood, Florida,
USA, March 3-8, 2007. 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 17
years old) and a new project just four 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 and Lewis 2000; Lewis
1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2005; Lewis and Marshall 1998; Lewis and Streever 2000;
Lewis et al. 2005, 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
$750, due by January 1, 2007. Two qualified students will be allowed to attend
for free, and can apply at any time for the two fee-waived positions. This
course is organized by the Coastal Resources Group, Inc., and will be taught in
conjunction with the Mangrove Action Project (www.earthisland.org/map).

More information can be provided by Robin Lewis at
<LESRRL3@...> and www.mangroverestoration.com.

From: LESrrl3@...

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

Volunteer Opportunities, Here and Abroad

MAP is looking for interns and volunteers who can cover their own expenses, such
as airfare and basic living expenses in country.   If you're interested please
send your CV to mangroveap@....

There are a number of tasks that qualified volunteers could help us with-- some
small, some larger, some not so interesting, and some things that could be quite
rewarding.   Anyway it would be a way to get your feet wet in the issues which
MAP deals with and we would try to be very flexible in matching your interests
with our needs.  Please do look at out web site:
http://www.earthisland.org/map/map.html for more information on MAP.
Though MAP office does not have the financial resources to provide room and
board, we would be happy to help find suitable inexpensive accommodation, places
to eat etc....   Often, sponsoring universities provide students with an
allowance for living expenses, but this depends on the arrangements interns make
with their schools.   The cost of living is fairly low in the Developing
countries, so this should not be too taxing on a limited budget.

Regarding work projects, we've several possible ideas that would be both very
challenging and would require the volunteer or intern to be very self-directed
and independent, while possibly involving fairly isolated locations, but which
can be very rewarding and interesting.    Language would be the greatest barrier
but with ingenuity and perseverance volunteers will find ways to deal with this.

Projects involve dealing with local communities to reduce environmental impacts
on coastal resources, and also involve building environmental education
awareness amongst them.   Sustainable livelihoods, eco-tourism, and waste
management could be work topics as well as.   In fact the possibilities are very
broad and there is a lot of flexibility.  Here is a very brief description of
three potential projects ideas:
1)  One of MAP's partners, Sandhan Foundation, located in Orissa, India is
building a Community Coastal Resource Centre (CCRC) on the boundary of
Bhitarkanika Conservation area, which is a  World Heritage Site and a UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve and will soon become a RAMSAR site as well.  The CCRC is being
built on the concept of other MAP partner CCRCs located in Nigeria, Senegal, Sri
Lanka, Indonesia, Honduras, and recently in the Andaman Islands.  Their purpose
is multi-faceted involving a place for community meetings, training, education
and a place for demonstration of sustainable concepts regarding coastal natural
resource management and conservation.  Sustainable livelihood is another aspect.
The centre is rather remote, located 5 hours from Bhubaneswar. There are
presently two Indian staff (one speaks English) at the centre to maintain the
facility and also doing limited community outreach, but soon they will be
looking for several staff persons to develop the resource centre and run
programs. Please see http://www.sandhanfoundation.info/  and
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sandhan

2) Another of MAP's partners in Thailand-- Naucrates, an Italian based NGO
working in Thailand for 8 years on sea turtle conservation-- has branched out to
mangrove conservation activities several years ago.  Their project site is on
Phra tong Island off Phangnga Province in Southern Thailand.   The island was
hit very hard by the tsunami and they lost all their facilities, equipment and
several staff.  One of the three villages was totally destroyed.   The island
has wildlife and has not been impacted by tourism like many other islands in
Thailand. The island still has a wild deer population and endangered stocks and
a few sea turtles still come to nest annually. The only resort was washed away
and there is a small group of Eco-houses on one beach owned mainly by
foreigners.  Many of these were also destroyed by the tsunami.  This year
Naucrates will continue their sea-turtle beach survey work with volunteers and
also do community environmental educational awareness raising.   Naucrates has
recently build a small environment centre beside the school with a tsunami
donation from Italy which they plan to use for children's programs and community
out reach so there would be any opportunity to do mangrove education activities
with several Thai staff who also speak English.
Naucrates is also doing a small mangrove restoration project in an area which
was tsunami damaged. Please see http://www.naucrates.org/

3.) One of MAP's recent new contacts "Organization for Marine Conservation
Awareness and Research" (OMAR) in Tamil Nadu, India has a Internship program and
they're involved in research, mangrove restoration and community outreach
through volunteers.  Please contact Balaji at <marine_balaji@...>  They're
just putting up a website http://www.omcar.org/  which already has good
information on their projects.

Organization for Marine Conservation Awareness and Research (OMCAR Inc)
56/2 Mannai Nagar Mattusanthai Road
Pattukkottai (post),Thanjavur (Dist),
Tamil Nadu   Telephone: +91 / 93 60 54 81 17
Vedharajan Balaji <marine_balaji@...>
Website: http://www.omcar.org/

From: "MAP / S.E. Asia" mapasia@...

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

MAP Announces New Membership Drive

Mangrove Action Project Needs Your Help! We have not had much support generated
via our internet  news service, and so I am hoping that this special appeal for
membership or donor support will fall upon receptive ears! Please donate to MAP
today. Our continuing efforts to conserve and restore the mangrove forests
depends upon our membership's generosity in giving to this cause.

MAP's new Children's Mangrove Art 2007 Calendars will be available in September.
Any donation of $35 or more qualifies the donor for an annual membership with a
free calendar! Please give generously today!

PLEASE  help MAP stay in this fight for the future by becoming a donating
subscriber today! Check our website for details (www.earthisland.org/map) or
contact: <mailto: mangroveap@...>mangroveap@...
The Mangrove Action Project News, 172nd Edition

---------------------------------------------------

MAP's Children's 2007 Calendar Mangrove Art Competition A Success in Bangladesh

Cordial Greetings from AOSED!

I have the pleasure to inform you that the art work on Sundarban done by the
Bangladeshi child Chaitali has become headline news in one of the most popular
national dailies of Bangladesh, the Dainik Janakantha, The story has been
published as a cover story and printed on the left top corner on the front page,
with Chaitali's photograph, adjacent to the name of the Daily, and continued
thereafter on an inside page.

The story was reported by Mr. Gauranga Nandi, Staff Correspondent in Khulna of
the Daily Janakantha after attending the Reception given to the child artist at
the Batiaghata upazilla auditorium on April 11, 2006. Speakers at the reception
praised Chaitali for having represented the country in MAP's Calendar for 2006.

They also praised MAP's initiatives to conserve mangroves throughout the world,
including the Sundarban, which is a World Heritage site. The speakers, including
the child's teachers, also expressed their gratitude to MAP, Bangladesi
coordinating organization AOSED and the Upazilla level organization LoKOS for
highlighting Bangladesh by means of Chaitali's picture.

The daily expressed the view that such activities as drawing pictures, not only
are the children encouraged to draw and paint, but they also become more aware
about mangroves and the need to conserve them. The daily congratulated MAP for
its unique initiative.

Shamim Arfeen, Executive Director
AOSED
From: aosed aosed <aosed_khulna@...>



Thailand spearheads ASEAN shrimp alliance

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan said
representatives of shrimp producers and traders from Cambodia, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines and Thailand met here on Wednesday to
form the ASEAN Shrimp Alliance to be a forum for cooperation to harmonize
ASEAN-wide quality standards and a certification system.

Its purpose is to win recognition among consumers and buyers and to strengthen
the price of the product of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
on the world market. Both ASEAN-region governmental and commercial sectors will
take part in the ASEAN Shrimp Alliance activities, according to Khunying
Sudarat.

In a first step toward establishing the new group, the first meeting of the
Alliance asked Thailand's Fisheries Department and the Southeast Asian Fisheries
Development Centre to study the scope, role, mandate, possible technical
cooperation, trade and industry agreements within the framework of the Alliance.
The group will meet again on July to review its progress.

Fisheries Department director-general Jaranthada Karnasuta said the ASEAN Shrimp
Alliance website is under construction and would serve as an information portal
on academic, trade and regulatory information for members.

Source: <http://www.thanhniennews.com/worlds/?catid=9&newsid=17227>TNA/OANA

From: icsf@...

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

La Nina hits Thai shrimp farmers

17 July, 2006 - SHRIMP farmers in southern Thailand are suffering from the
effects of the La Nina weather phenomenon, being forced to buy salt water to
keep their businesses afloat, according to the Bangkok Post.
Sakda Mannantakul, who operates a large shrimp farm, reportedly said the salt
water in Songkhla Lake was being diluted by the ever-increasing rainfall
generated by La Nina.
La Niña is characterised by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial
Pacific, compared to El Niño, which is characterised by unusually warm ocean
temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific.
La Niña brings humidity from the sea to the land, leading to a sharp rise in
rainfall. Normally, shrimp breeders pump some brackish water from the lake and
blend it with fresh water in the shrimp hatchery. But as the lake water is being
diluted by the increasing rainfall, breeders are having to bring in sea water
from the Gulf of Thailand.
Mr Sakda said the price of salt water had more than doubled from about 1,200
baht to 3,000 baht for a 15,000-litre load brought in by a 10-wheeler.
He said the added cost was a burden on the farmers and that some were being
pushed out of business. As a result, the shrimp output could drop by up to 50%.
Supol Tansuwan, director of the coastal aquaculture research centre, said the
higher rainfall did, however, benefit the freshwater fish industry.
Catches had risen by over 20%, which was good news for fishermen, he said.
<http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/4951>http://www.fishupdate.com\
/news/fullstory.php/aid/4951

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

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

Indonesia

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER AND INDUSTRIAL AQUACULTURE
IN INDONESIA

Marine and Coastal Campaigner, National Executive WALHI/FoE Indonesia
Member of Asia Solidarity against Industrial Aquaculture (ASIA)
Contact: riza@..., mriza_damanik@...,
or www.walhi.or.id


Aquaculture development in Indonesia

With the coastline about 81,000 km_, it's not surprising that 80% of Indonesian
people live along the seaside. What is surprising, however, is that this second
longest seashore in the world has become the place of many kinds of
environmental criminal practices, one of which is industrial aquaculture.

From the data issued by the Department of Marine and Fishery of Indonesia (DKP),
at least until 2005, it's predicted that the area of aquaculture of Indonesia
nearly reaches 800,000 hectares, with average increment number of area ranges
around 14% per year. Practically, industrial aquaculture, or known better as
intensive aquaculture, began to exist in Indonesia in 1985. The intensive
aquaculture pattern by that time became very popular because it might generate a
profit of 4 times greater in one harvest, compared to rice harvesting in the
farm. In order to fulfill the desire to widen this kind of industry, degradation
of mangrove was irresistible. Every year we lost up to 2% of total existing
mangrove along the Indonesian seashore. Furthermore, entering the year 2000,
mangrove on the seashore of Indonesia was left not more than 2 million hectares.

The golden era of this intensive aquaculture didn't actually last long. In 1992,
a great disaster struck the shrimp industries in Indonesia. Similar thing also
happened to Thailand a year earlier, 1991. At least 3 fundamental changes
happened to almost all shrimp industries, namely, the spreading of white spot
disease, decreasing production outcome, and harvest failure. As a result, many
aquaculture areas became "idle", because they were no longer profitable as
before.

These many aquaculture areas being made "idle" had actually brought golden
opportunities for the widening of industrial areas along the seaside of
Indonesia. People's lands were purchased at low prices because they were deemed
unproductive. There were at least 13,200 hectares of aquaculture lands that had
changed their functions to industrial areas by 2003. As a matter of fact, until
today more than 80% of industries on Java Island lie along the North seashore of
Java.

Destructive Policies
In 1990s, the government issued the President's Decree No. 32/1990 regarding the
Management of Preservation Area. The decree determines that a green belt shall
be 130 times the average difference between high and low tides, so that the area
not allocated for aquaculture activities shall become the shore clearance area,
with the width of 140 meters from sea line to the land. The fact was that the
said government's policy even accelerated the growth of aquaculture industries
in Indonesia, since there has been no strict border regarding the tolerable area
of a fishpond, considering the environmental condition until now.

Yet, the Indian Supreme Court in its CBA (cost benefit analysis) review has
proven that the industrial aquaculture (shrimp, in this case) has caused greater
economical loss compared to its benefit. Every year, Indian government must
allocate funds as much as 63 billion rupee to anticipate mangrove eradication,
increment of salinity, increasing unemployment, and other impacts. In fact,
annual revenue of this industry is not more than 15 billion rupee (Khor, 1995,
Primaver, 1996, in Radja Siregar, 2005).

Harvesting a Disaster
Disaster after disaster keeps on happening to this republic. Abrasion (erosion)
disasters takes place in more than 750 villages along the seashore of Indonesia
during the period of 1996 till 1999, as well as flood disasters. Just until
1999, at least 7000 villages suffered from flood. This figure even turned bigger
in 2003 to reach 12,000 villages, 90% of which were coastal villages which have
lost their mangrove ecosystem. Even for Java Island, where shrimp farm expansion
in Indonesia has been the greatest, there were an increment number of coastal
villages struck by flooding-- as high as 4 times during the period of 1996 until
2003-- totaling to 3,000 coastal villages.
All these reflect that ecological disasters have taken place in Indonesia.
According to WALHI, ecological disaster is the accumulated ecological crisis
caused by the unfairness and the failure of natural management systems, which
has caused the collapse of the rules of life. In general, ecological disaster is
indicated by the absence of choice to struggle for life, failure of ecosystem
functions, displacement, poverty, and death. And all these are clearly visible
where one finds Indonesian aquaculture.

Moratorium of Aquaculture Industries, and Return to Traditional Way
In early June 2006, several environmental activists grouped in a network called
ASIA (Asian Solidarity against Industrial Aquaculture) held a meeting to develop
a line and confront against industrial aquaculture practices which are proven to
contribute to the environmental degradation as well as to biodiversity,
disturbance to food resistance system, violation against human rights, up to the
environmental disasters in Asia, particularly.

For instance, Indonesian industrial shrimp, where some 90% of them are absorbed
by America and Europe, do not positively correlate to the people's economic
improvement. The fact is that around 3 million Indonesian aquaculture-affected
communities have a standard of living  below the poverty line. More ironical,
the consumption of national fishing products is only around 19 kg/capita/year,
lower than Vietnam or Malaysia, with the consumption level of 33 kg/capita/year.
No wonder if the figures of nutritional deficiency are also extraordinary. In
NTT, there are more than 13 thousand cases of nutritional deficiency among the
under-five year old children, 36 of which died. And yet, this happens in one of
SE Asia's biggest fishery producing countries-- Indonesia.

In order to avoid more complicated and severe damage it's about time for the
government to implement a moratorium against industrial aquaculture in
Indonesia, and immediately perform coastal ecosystem rehabilitation, especially
for mangrove, in order to avoid worse ecological disasters. Besides, traditional
aquaculture practices emphasizing and calculating the environmental carrying
capacity, as those institutionally developed by the aquaculture fishermen of
Sidoarjo - East Java, should have been the wise policy of the government in
developing Indonesian aquaculture in the future.

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

Tsunami warning system questioned
By Shawn Donnan

Questions were being asked on Tuesday night about the effectiveness of a warning
system set up in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami after Indonesian
officials said an e-mailed warning about Monday's offshore earthquake was
received 14 minutes after towering waves hit southern Java.

The death toll from the latest tsunami -- the result of a 7.7-magnitude
earthquake in the Indian Ocean -- rose to around 400 on Wednesday as rescuers
continued to scour the rubble in coastal communities. But as the toll rose,
observers were beginning to question the efficacy of the much-touted Indian
Ocean tsunami warning network.

"For a local tsunami, there is no way to warn people in advance," said Budi
Waluyo, the deputy head of earthquake information at Indonesia's Bureau of
Meteorology and Geophysics. "The tsunami was moving very fast."

It emerged on Tuesday that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii issued
an e-mail bulletin on Monday warning of "the possibility of a local tsunami that
could affect coasts no more than 100 kilometres from the earthquake epicentre".

However, the e-mail landed at Indonesia's Meteorological and Geophysical Agency
20 minutes after the earthquake, which happened at 3.19pm local time. According
to Mr Waluyo, the first of a series of waves -- moving at 900 km an hour -- hit
the southern coast of Java at 3.25pm, 14 minutes before the e-mail landed.

Tony Elliott, head of the inter-governmental co-ordination group overseeing the
deployment of the Indian Ocean tsunami warning system, led by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, said the 20 minutes it took
to issue the warning was "a very good result".

Officials in India concurred with the warning, causing authorities to monitor
the sea around the Andaman and Nicobar islands for five to six hours -- the time
it would have taken a tsunami to cross the Indian Ocean -- before declaring the
all-clear.

Mr Elliott said the goal was to cut the time it took to issue a tsunami warning
to five minutes or less. But in places such as Indonesia, which sits on several
seismic fault-lines, even that may do little to save lives.

Indonesia had a deadly relationship with tsunamis long before the December 2004
disaster, which left more than 160,000 dead in the Sumatran province of Aceh. In
1883 more than 36,000 died after the eruption of Krakatoa. Tsunamis also hit the
eastern island of Flores in 1992 and eastern Java in 1994, causing hundreds of
fatalities each time.

Even if the warning had arrived before the waves, Indonesian officials said on
Tuesday, the country still did not have a system to pass on warnings to the
public.

Source: <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/bdb2efae-1699-11db-8b7b-0000779e2340.html>FT

From: SAMUDRA  icsf@...

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

The Philippines

High School Students Attempt To Undertake Mangrove Restoration

Dear MAP,

I am the representative of my high school group in Butuan City, southern
Philippines. My group is currently initiating a mangrove restoration project in
our place. Actually, this project is a continuation of our conservation efforts
during our high school years. We have done the project entitled "Water quality
assessment of Masao River and its impacts to the community" from 1995 to 1998. 
Masao River in the Butuan City Philippines harboured an extensive mangrove
forest. However, due to conversion for aquaculture, only a small mangrove cover
remains. Thus, we recognize the importance of doing a much intensive mangrove
restoration project.

In view of this, we would like to seek the assistance of Mangrove Action Project
on our conservation efforts. We are hoping for your positive response.

I have attached some documents for information of our project.

Thank you very much.

Very truly yours,

Rommel H. Maneja
Agusan National High School Einstein Class 1999
Butuan City, Philippines
From: "rommel maneja" rhmaneja@...

Agusan River Basin Mangrove-Wildlife Seminar Workshop
Project Date : September 4-5, 2006
Project Location : Butuan City - Philippines


Mangrove Loss In the Philippines

(An Excerpt from Agusan River Basin Mangrove-Wildlife Seminar Workshop
Announcement:

SMangrove conversion to brackish water aquaculture has caused the destruction of
majority of mangrove forest in Butuan City, a trend similar to many coastal
areas in the
Philippines. At present, several prawn and fish farmers are complaining of
failures in the
industry due to degraded environmental conditions. Future development projects
in Butuan
City such as housing and settlement, and hard coastal engineering defence
projects are also
posing threats to the remaining mangrove cover.
The loss of mangrove forests in the Philippines is very significant. An
estimated 70%
of the original mangrove forest of the Philippines has been lost from 500,000 ha
in 1918 to
only 120,500 ha in 1994 with a depletion rate of 3,700 ha per year from 1980 to
1991
(Primavera, 2000). Most of these mangrove forests were lost without records of
species
diversity and abundance since no study were conducted before. This has
significant negative
impact in terms of biodiversity since the Philippines harbours at least 40
species belonging to 14 families of around 54 true mangrove species worldwide.
Brackish water pond construction for fish/shrimp aquaculture has been regarded
as the major cause for mangrove loss in the Philippines. Around half of the
279,000 ha of mangroves lost from 1951 to 1988 were converted into culture
ponds. The accelerated fishpond development was caused by proaquaculture and
anti-mangrove biased policies of the government and the Shrimp Fever in 1980s.
Loss of mangroves also affected the livelihood of municipal fishermen because
the decline in municipal fish catch has been linked with mangrove losses (Figure
8) (Primavera, 2000).;;;

From: "rommel maneja" <rhmaneja@...>

Response From Editor to Our Friends from the Agusan National High School
Einstein Class 1999,

Thank you very much for your letter and invitation to join your workshop. I
commend you and your group for your great efforts to restore the mangroves in
your region. Your work is an inspiration to all of us to see that young people
such as yourselves not only care about the future of their mangrove forests, but
are willing to take positive actions in actually restoring and conserving these
vital coastal wetlands. The future of human life on this planet will depend upon
such people as yourselves taking such positive initiative, joining forces and
facing the challenges that we must all now face. Your paper was very well
written, and I would like to mention your planned seminar workshop in MAP's
newsletter.

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


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

Consultation on the amendment to the PWD Act, 1995

The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights
and Full Participation) Act, 1995 [PWD Act, 1995] is currently under
review. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has invited the
active participation of Civil Societies and individuals to contribute to
the law making process.

ActionAid International- India and Human Rights Law Network together
organised and facilitated a Two- day Consultation (July 20th- 21st 2006) at
Hotel Megapode Nest for the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar. The
attempt brought together people representing disabled person, Civil
Societies, Administrative officials, the legal fraternity, and PRI’s/Tribal
Councils from across the Islands to contribute to the law making process in
a truly participative manner.

The resource persons who added value to the deliberation included Mr.
Rajeev Rajan (Vidyasagar), Ms. Rekha Kumar (Sankalp), and Ms. Mutthama
(HRLN, Disability Intiative).

The Consultation addressed core issues of the Persons with Disabilities
(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act,
1995 [PWD Act, 1995] especially areas of Education, Employment, Health,
Rehabilitation, Discrimination, affirmative action, and Gender. The
disabled persons who participated put forth many grievances on the occasion
and brought out the difficulties faced by them in day to day life, and that
brought out the extent of lack of awareness about their rights and the
scope of benefiting from it.

The key pointers that were evolved at will feed in to the draft
recommendations which will then contribute to the South Zone discussions
scheduled to be held in Chennai, and later at the National Level discussion
at New Delhi. These recommendations will be forwarded to the Ministry of
Welfare and Social Justice.

For any further queries, please contact:

Kranti (HRLN; kranti.chinnappa@...)

Anupama (ActionAid; anupamam@...)

--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .

 

Dear Mr Saxena,

No Jarawas were involved in the Battle of Aberdeen.

After the 'Battle' no bodies were ever recovered. In fact the convict staton was
abandoned and left to the Andamanese to loot.  The British soldiers fired from a
ship anchored between Atlanta Point and Ross Island. How accurate the muskets
could be at that range at moving targets is anybody's guess. The painting of
Andamanese being shot down is a highly romanticised one with no historic basis.

Regards

Francis
On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 Ajai Saxena wrote :
>Dear Rauf,
>
>Interesting question. Are we talking about the total
>number of all the tribes or only Andamanese. The quote
>says '....8000 of original 10 Tribes'. If we take the
>account of 1857 Battle of Aberdeen, in which thousands
>of Jarawas were killled and pushed to the western part
>of the South Andamans, then surely the combined number
>of all the tribes including the largest group of
>Andamanese, which were inhabiting the North Andamans,
>would have been more than 6000, which Portman reported
>perhaps as the then existing numbers of tribals in the
>Andamans.
>
>Regards,
>
>Ajai
>
>--- Rauf Ali <raufie05@...> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Generally, most government sources say there were
> > about 10,000 Andamanese when the British established
> > their settlement there. Portman in his 1899 classic
> > gives a number of 6000 somewhere. In the posting
> > cited
> > below, a figure of 8000 is given.
> >
> > So, how many Andamanese were there?
> >
> > In puzzlement,
> > Rauf
> >
> > --- Madhusree Mukerjee <lopchu@...> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Lost tribes face extinction
> > > Madhusree Mukerjee
> > >
> > > Of the perhaps 8,000 members of the
> > > original 10 tribes, only
> > > 45 or so individuals still survive.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>__________________________________________________________
> > Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn
> > something new
> > http://in.answers.yahoo.com/
> >
>
>
>
>
>___________________________________________________________
>The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from
your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>


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

Climate change threatens important mangroves
 
http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2991&language=1S\
ea level rise is threatening mangrove forests, say scientistsNguyen Dang Vu
Long18 July 2006Source: SciDev.Net[HANOI] Rising sea levels linked to global
warming threaten economically,ecologically and culturally important mangrove
forests in Pacific islandstates.The warning comes in a study published today (18
July) by the UN EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP), which says some of the region's
islands could lose half oftheir mangroves by 2100.The report predicts that
American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia,Fiji and Tuvalu will be worst
hit.Mangroves grow along coasts throughout the tropics and subtropics.
Theyoccupy the boundary between land and sea and are semi-submerged during
hightides.Many species of commercially important fish breed and raise their
youngamong mangrove roots, and studies have shown that when mangroves are
cutdown local fish catches decline.Mangroves also provide a range of 'ecologi

Dear Ajai,

I'm pretty sure Portman referred only to the Great
Andamanese, who numbered 6000, according to him.

Regards
Rauf

--- Ajai Saxena <ajaisaxena@...> wrote:

> Dear Rauf,
>
> Interesting question. Are we talking about the total
> number of all the tribes or only Andamanese. The
> quote
> says '....8000 of original 10 Tribes'. If we take
> the
> account of 1857 Battle of Aberdeen, in which
> thousands
> of Jarawas were killled and pushed to the western
> part
> of the South Andamans, then surely the combined
> number
> of all the tribes including the largest group of
> Andamanese, which were inhabiting the North
> Andamans,
> would have been more than 6000, which Portman
> reported
> perhaps as the then existing numbers of tribals in
> the
> Andamans.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ajai
>
> --- Rauf Ali <raufie05@...> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Generally, most government sources say there were
> > about 10,000 Andamanese when the British
> established
> > their settlement there. Portman in his 1899
> classic
> > gives a number of 6000 somewhere. In the posting
> > cited
> > below, a figure of 8000 is given.
> >
> > So, how many Andamanese were there?
> >
> > In puzzlement,
> > Rauf
> >
> > --- Madhusree Mukerjee <lopchu@...> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Lost tribes face extinction
> > > Madhusree Mukerjee
> > >
> > > Of the perhaps 8,000 members of the
> > > original 10 tribes, only
> > > 45 or so individuals still survive.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
__________________________________________________________
> > Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn
> > something new
> > http://in.answers.yahoo.com/
> >
>
>
>
>
>
___________________________________________________________
>
> The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free
> your email address from your Internet provider.
> http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html
>




__________________________________________________________
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Dear Amitangshu Acharya,

I know one NGO, Coastal Poor Development Action Network India
(COPDANET) who is doing very good work on mangrove conservation and
restoration in South Andaman. They're also working with local people
living near the mangroves to improve their livelihoods.   In 2005
they completed the building of a Mangrove Resource Centre at Shore
Point. To learn more about COPDANET please look at their website
http://www.copdanet.org/

COPDANET's conservation work has been recogonizied internationally
by SEACOLOGY which you view at the following websites.

http://www.seacology.org/projects/individualprojects/ANDAMANS_Kadakac
hang2004.htm

http://www.seacology.org/news/display.cfm?id=173

------------------------

COPDANET - Coastal Poor Development Action Network India
No.85, Vivekananda School Street,
Sakthivel Nagar,
Chennai - 600 082
INDIA
Phone: 0091 44 26710368
Telefax: 0091 44 26712150
Email: arpmds@...  &  felix@...

Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Mangrove Resource Centre,
Point Ward No.1, Sathya Nagar,
Shore Point,
South Andaman.
Phone: 0091 03192 258216

-----------------------

Best Regards,

Jim Enright
Southeast Asia Coordinator
Mangrove Action Project (MAP)

==================================
--- In andamanicobar@..., Amitangshu Acharya
<amitangshu_a@y...> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
>
>   This is Amitangshu Acharya from Winrock International India, an
NGO based in New Delhi. I have been a member of this group and was
quite intrigued by the recent debate that emanated over the
environmentalism vs local development issue. However, my query
pertains to a specific component of the debate. I remember that Mr.
Ahmed had brought up the issue of mangroves. I am quite keen on
knowing more on this issue since mangroves is a personal area of
interest.
>
>   The queries are:
>   1. Are there documents available on the extent of mangrove
damage after the tsunami and on magrove growth/degradation in
general in A&N? can anyone provide information on this?
>   2. Can anyone enlighten me on the issue of magroves and
livelihoods in A&N. Are there studies available that explores the
relationship?
>   3. What are the major GO. NGO, CBO interventions that has taken
place on the issue of mangroves?
>
>   Sorry to ask such questions which may be of common knowledge to
most of the members here. However, my experience of mangroves and
livelihood issues are more rooted in the Sunderbans and would
appreciate if anyone could take the pain to help me increase my
understanding and knowledge base on mangroves.
>
>   I had read Pankaj's book "troubled islands" earlier. Its was
amazingly informative.
>
>   Looking forward to the response from the group .
>
>   Warm regards
>   Amitangshu Acharya
>
>
> ---------------------------------
>  Find out what India is talking about on Yahoo! Answers India.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Dear Rauf,

Interesting question. Are we talking about the total
number of all the tribes or only Andamanese. The quote
says '....8000 of original 10 Tribes'. If we take the
account of 1857 Battle of Aberdeen, in which thousands
of Jarawas were killled and pushed to the western part
of the South Andamans, then surely the combined number
of all the tribes including the largest group of
Andamanese, which were inhabiting the North Andamans,
would have been more than 6000, which Portman reported
perhaps as the then existing numbers of tribals in the
Andamans.

Regards,

Ajai

--- Rauf Ali <raufie05@...> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Generally, most government sources say there were
> about 10,000 Andamanese when the British established
> their settlement there. Portman in his 1899 classic
> gives a number of 6000 somewhere. In the posting
> cited
> below, a figure of 8000 is given.
>
> So, how many Andamanese were there?
>
> In puzzlement,
> Rauf
>
> --- Madhusree Mukerjee <lopchu@...> wrote:
>
> >
> > Lost tribes face extinction
> > Madhusree Mukerjee
> >
> > Of the perhaps 8,000 members of the
> > original 10 tribes, only
> > 45 or so individuals still survive.
>
>
>
>
__________________________________________________________
> Yahoo! India Answers: Share what you know. Learn
> something new
> http://in.answers.yahoo.com/
>




___________________________________________________________
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SOME OF YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN THIS...please get in touch with Global
Health Watch directly if you are.

Roy Laifungbam

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORE Centre for Organisation Research & Education
(Indigenous Peoples' Centre for Policy and Human Rights in India's North
East)
NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of
the United Nations

Loisanglen
Nongmeibung Nambam Chuthek
Imphal 795001 Manipur, India
Tel: +91 385 244 48 45/ 244 13 19
Email: coreloisanglen@...


----- Original Message -----
From: "Hélène Sackstein" <hsack@...>
To: "Afton Beutler" <ABeutler@...>; "Angela Escallon Emiliani"
<int.relations@...>; "Annemarie Schlack"
<annemarie.schlack@...>; "Cindy Blackstock" <cblackst@...>;
"Conchi Ballesteros" <cballesteros@...>; "Davinia
Ovett" <dovett@...>; "Elaine Petitat Cote" <elaine.cote@...>;
"Eyla Kadjar-Hamouda" <intl-rel@...>; "Gudrun Haupter"
<haupter@...>; "Hanne Sieber" <hsieber@...>; "Joanna
Koch" <joannakoch@...>; "Judith Verkooijen"
<judithverkooijen@...>; "Nance Upham" <g_upham@...>;
"Pat Hughes" <hughes@...>; "Regina Keith"
<r.keith@...>; "Roy Laifungbam"
<roy.laifungbam@...>; "Sheila Hayes" <sheilaonthefly@...>;
"Soon-Young Yoon" <syngo1@...>; "Ursula Barter"
<ursula.barter@...>; "Veronique Lerch" <veronique.lerch@...>
Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 2:35 PM
Subject: Fw: [GHWatch-newsletter] Global Health Watch 2007-2008 - Call for
stories and case studies!!


> Dear all,
>
> Sorry to trouble you during the hot summer month, but I thought some of
> you might be able and willing to contribute to the Global Health Watch
> initiative. Their message is self-explanatory.
> Best wishes
> Hélène
>
> CALL FOR STORIES AND CASE STUDIES - GHW2!!
>
> Participate in the second Global Health Watch, by submitting human
> interest stories and case studies.
>
> We are calling on activists, health workers and academics from around
> the world to submit case studies and testimonies or stories based on
> individual or group experiences to supplement the second edition of
> the report and reinforce its main themes.
>
>
> Why you should get involved:
>
> The Global Health Watch is a non-government initiative aimed at
> supporting civil society to more effectively campaign and lobby
> for 'health for all' and equitable access to health care. This is not
> a matter of finding a technical or economic prescription, but is one
> that requires political mobilisation to shift resources and attention
> towards the needs of the poor, and to reform the very political and
> social institutions that have generated the state of ill health
> today. The Global Health Watch provides a platform for academics,
> activists and non-government organisations to:
>
> . Promote the accountability of governments and global
> institutions that affect health (such as the World Health
> Organisation, UNICEF and the World Bank)
> . Identify policies and practices at the global and national
> levels that are unfair, unjust and bad for health
> . Highlight the needs of the poor and reinvigorate the
> principle of 'health for all'
> . Shift the health policy agenda to recognise the political,
> social and economic barriers to better health and to advocate
> alternatives to market-driven approaches to health and health care
>
> But the Watch aims to do more than just produce another document - it
> also aims to provide a voice for health workers and the academic and
> non-government community from as many countries as possible.
>
>
> How can you voice your views:
>
> The Global Health Watch is putting out a call for the submission of
> local country or region-specific case studies and testimonies. These
> case studies and testimonies will form part of the electronic
> accompaniment to the development of the Watch and in some cases may
> also appear in the electronic or print edition of GHW 2007-2008, due
> to be launched in early 2008. The case studies will amplify and give
> a more personal voice to the contents of the Watch. They will also
> make the issues more accessible and meaningful to readers who may be
> able to see their own experiences reflected in the experiences of
> others.
>
> Some examples:
> . Positive and negative examples of policies and actions to
> secure improved and equitable access to health care.
> . Examples of interventions to address public sector corruption
> and inefficiency.
> . Examples of effective, efficient and inclusive public health
> care systems.
> . Evidence showing the negative effects of commercialised
> health care on professional ethics and access to health care.
> . Case studies on what is driving good and bad processes of
> decentralisation, with some analysis; illustrative case studies of
> where deconcentration, devolution and delegation have worked, where
> it hasn't worked and why.
> . The effects of good and bad practices of bilateral and multi-
> lateral donors on public health stewardship and on the performance of
> health care systems.
> . Examples of civil society resistance to the effect of
> privatised public services including health, education and water and
> electricity utilities on equitable and fair access.
> . Stories and case studies of the positive and negative impact
> of multi-national corporations on health policy.
> . Stories and case studies of the difficulty that country
> governments have in responding to the needs and demands of multiple
> international agencies (creditors such as the World Bank, traditional
> bilateral donors, relatively new institutions such as GAVI and the
> Global Fund, international NGOs).
>
>
> Guidelines/criteria for selection:
>
> . We are looking for short and concise submissions of 500 -
> 2000 words. These can either be stories (personal story or
> reflections written in your own words) or case studies (synthesis of
> experiences which may include direct quotes illustrating an issue or
> a number of issues);
> . They should be relevant for people's health, and reflect a
> personal or group experience;
> . They should cover issues broadly falling within the framework
> of the GHW themes;
> . Statistical information should not be used except in support
> of case studies/testimony and in which case it should be kept to a
> minimum;
> . Should be written in clear English - please avoid academic
> and scientific jargon. The testimonies need to be accessible and
> readable (remember that English is not the first language of many
> readers of the watch);
> . If possible they should have a narrative / story telling
> character
>
>
> Please indicate:
>
> . your organisation (if you are part of one)
> . your locality/country/region
> . whether you want your submission to be anonymous and why
>
> The publication will be freely downloadable from the net so
> effectively there will be no copyright. Please inform us if your
> story or case study has been submitted / published elsewhere. Also
> please make sure that there are no personal details that anyone would
> not want made public; names and place names can be changed.
>
> The editorial collective of the GHW will consider submitted stories
> and case studies for inclusion on the website or within the
> electronic and/or print edition of GHW2 (with a specific focus on
> human interest stories). The GHW editorial reserves the right to edit
> all submissions. Not all stories and case studies will be accepted
> for a variety of reasons including space and consistency.
>
> Please send submissions to ghw@...
>
> Case studies and stories posted on the website will have  the
> following disclaimer:
>
> "The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the
> editors of the GHW. While we make every effort to ensure that all
> facts and figures quoted by authors are accurate, the GHW and the
> editors of GHW cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.
> Please contact ghw@... if you believe that errors are
> contained in any case study or testimony."
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Global Health Watch
>
> Mobilising civil society around an Alternative World Health Report
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Ancient humans 'followed rains'
By Helen Briggs
Science reporter, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5192410.stm


Prehistoric humans roamed the world's largest desert for some 5,000 years,
archaeologists have revealed.
The Eastern Sahara of Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Chad was home to nomadic
people who followed rains that turned the desert into grassland.
When the landscape dried up about 7,000 years ago, there was a mass exodus
to the Nile and other parts of Africa.
The close link between human settlement and climate has lessons for today,
researchers report in Science.
"Even modern day conflicts such as Dafur are caused by environmental
degradation as it has been in the past," Dr Stefan Kropelin of the
University of Cologne, Germany, told the BBC News website.
"The basic struggle for food, water and pasture is still a big problem in
the Sahara zone. This process started thousands of years ago and has a long
tradition."
Jigsaw puzzle
The Eastern Sahara, which covers more than 2 million sq km, an area the size
of Western Europe, is now almost uninhabited by people or animals, providing
a unique window into the past.

Dr Kropelin and colleague Dr Rudolph Kuper pieced together the 10,000-year
jigsaw of human migration and settlement; studying more than 100
archaeological sites over the course of 30 years.
In the largest study of its kind, they built up a detailed picture of human
evolution in the world's largest desert. They found that far from the
inhospitable climate of today, the area was once semi-humid.
Between about 14,000 and 13,000 years ago, the area was very dry. But a
drastic switch in environmental conditions some 10,500 years ago brought
rain and monsoon-like conditions.
Nomadic human settlers moved in from the south, taking up residence beside
rivers and lakes. They were hunter-gatherers at first, living off plants and
wild game.
Eventually they became more settled, domesticating cattle for the first
time, and making intricate pottery.
Neolithic farmers
Humid conditions prevailed until about 6,000 years ago, when the Sahara
abruptly dried out. There was then a gradual exodus of people to the Nile
Valley and other parts of the African continent.

"The Nile Valley was almost devoid of settlement until about exactly the
time that the Egyptian Sahara was so dry people could not live there
anymore," Dr Kropelin told the BBC News website.
"People preferred to live on savannah land. Only when this wasn't possible
they migrated towards southern Sudan and the Nile.
"They brought all their know-how to the rest of the continent - the
domestication of cattle was invented in the Sahara in the humid phase and
was then slowly pushed over the rest of Africa.
"This Neolithic way of life, which still is a way of life in a sense;
preservation of food for the dry season and many other such cultural
elements, was introduced to central and southern Africa from the Sahara."
'Motor of evolution'
Dr Kuper said the distribution of people and languages, which is so
politically important today, has its roots in the desiccation of the Sahara.
The switch in environmental conditions acted as a "motor of Africa's
evolution," he said.
"It happened during these 5,000 years of the savannah that people changed
from hunter-gathers to cattle keepers," he said.
"This important step in human history has been made for the first time in
the African Sahara."