The Mangrove Action Project
Founded in 1992, the Mangrove Action Project is dedicated to reversing the degradation of mangrove forest ecosystems worldwide. Its central tenet is to promote the rights of local coastal peoples, including fishers and farmers, in the sustainable management of coastal environs.
Mangrove forests are one of the most productive and biodiverse wetlands on earth. Yet, these unique coastal tropical forests are among the most threatened habitats in the world. They may be disappearing more quickly than inland tropical rainforests, and so far, with little public notice. Growing in the intertidal areas and estuary mouths between land and sea, mangroves provide critical habitats for marine and terrestrial flora and fauna.
However, in many areas of the world, mangrove deforestation is contributing to fisheries declines, degradation of clean water supplies, salinization of coastal soils, erosion, and land subsidence, as well as the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In fact, mangrove forests fix more carbon dioxide per unit area than phytoplankton in tropical oceans. Mangrove forests once covered three-quarters of the coastlines of tropical and subtropical countries. Today, less than 50 per cent remain.
The Mangrove Action Project provides four essential services to grassroots associations and other proponents of mangrove conservation.
- It coordinates a unique international non-governmental organization network and information clearinghouse on mangrove forests.
- It promotes public awareness of mangrove forest issues.
- It develops technical and financial support for non-governmental organization projects.
- And it helps publicize within the developed nations the basic needs and struggles of Third World coastal fishing and farming communities affected by the consumer demands of the wealthy nations through a quarterly newsletter, action alerts, and published articles, as well as planned public forums and presentations.
The Mangrove Action Project’s international network has grown to include over 350 non-governmental organizations and over 200 scientists and academics from over 50 nations. The Project is currently expanding the effectiveness of its coalition work by solidifying ties with other major environmental and activist groups.
Through its wide network, the Mangrove Action Project hopes to stimulate the exchange of ideas and information for mangrove forest protection and restoration. It also works to promote effective regulations and enforcement to ensure sustainable shrimp aquaculture practises which include participatory coastal resource management, responsible consumer choices, and strategies for the implementation of these and other solutions. For example, the Mangrove Action Project wishes to create a dialogue on certification of shrimp products, which may help in forming a template for possible introduction.
The Mangrove Action Project’s newsletter “MAP Quarterly News” can be obtained from Alfredo Quarto, Mangrove Action Project, PO Box 1854, Port Angeles, WA 98362-0279, USA. Fax: 1-360-4525866. Email: mangroveap@olympus.net. The Mangrove Action Project's web site is at www.earthisland.org/map/map.html.