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Commemorating the Mangrove Action Day on
July 26th
In 2000,
July 26th was first chosen as a day for the mangroves based on
its great significance for the movement in Latin America led by
Red Manglar (Mangrove Network). July 26th commemorates that day
in 1998 when a Greenpeace activist from Micronesia, Hayhow Daniel
Nanoto, died of a heart attack while involved in a massive protest
action led by FUNDECOL and Greenpeace International. During this
action the local community of Muisne joined the NGOs in dismantling
an illegally built
shrimp pond in an attempt to restore this damaged zone back to
its former state as a mangrove forest. Since Hayhow's death, FUNDECOL
and others have commemorated this day as a day to remember and
to take renewed action to Save the Mangroves!
In 2003,
MAP (Mangrove Action Project) and Red Manglar joined forces to
encourage fisherfolk from around the world to join them on Mangrove
Action Day to form cooperative flotillas to protest the destructive
expansion of shrimp farming in their areas. This call to action
got positive responses from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Ecuador,
Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Europe
and the USA.
Since then,
every July 26th has become an annual global commemorative day
for the mangroves. This year's theme is entitled "Mangroves,
Our Natural Heritage". According to the Latin American Red
Manglar based in Ecuador, “Mangroves are our heritage, our source
of life, our livelihood, our place of work, our warehouse and
our home”.
However,
from Mexico to Peru, there are 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.
Red Manglar
warns that “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.”
In Bangladesh,
on the Mangrove Action Day the Institute for Environment and Development
Studies organized a discussion meeting. The speakers warned that
destruction of mangrove forests would worsen increasing sufferings
of the world's poorest people in the coastal areas, slashing their
resilient power in the face of cyclones, tidal bores and tsunami.
They said that “the destruction of mangrove forests exposes our
ecosystems. Lessons from our experience of most recent Asian tsunami
taught that mangrove forests protected Bangladesh and Indian South
Eastern coast from the onslaught of the devastating Tsunami. Mangrove
forests like the Sunderbans support life on earth and mangroves
need protection and conservation more so because of ever increasing
propensities of threatening tsunami, cyclones and sea-level rises.”
Also the
Centre for Coastal Environmental Conservation (CCEC), from Bangladesh,
has undertaken a programme on the protection of southwest coastal
ecosystems of Bangladesh particularly at polder 30 Batiaghata
Upazilla (sub district) by forming a 51 member Mangrove Protection
Society (MPS). They are planning to address the activity in polder
32 of Dacope, adjacent to Sundarban, the UNESCO declared World
Heritage site
In India,
COPDANET! held Art, Drawing and Painting competitions for school
children emphasising Mangrove Action Day which was celebrated
on a grand scale with rally, public meeting and prize distribution
by senior Forest Officials.
As for Africa,
the local NGO “Congo Nature Conservation” commemorated the international
day receiving messages and phone calls to support the mangroves
sustainable management program of Congo threatened by town planning,
marine pollution by oil, bad fishing techniques, etc.
As MAP says,
“Momentum is building globally to 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”.
Article
based on information sent by Alfredo Quarto, Mangrove Action Project
(MAP), e-mail: ,
http://www.earthisland.org/map/map.html
