Contents

ABOUT THIS BOOK

INTRODUCTION

The mangrove: a unique type of forest

WRM BULLETIN EDITORIAL ON MANGROVES

Mangroves and shrimp farming: deeds, not words

MANGROVES: AN OVERVIEW

Mangroves and their uncertain future
Mangroves are life, long live mangroves
Unsustainable versus sustainable shrimp production
Environmental, social and economic impacts of shrimp farming
The pillars of increased global shrimp trade
Shrimp aquaculture in international environmental treaties
Tropical Prawns versus Mangroves

NETWORKING FOR MANGROVE PROTECTION

Global Group Formed to Counter Destructive Industrial Shrimp Farming
The Latin American Mangrove Network is born

INSIDE THE MANGROVES

AFRICA

Kenya
Mangroves threatened by Canadian mining company

Madagascar
Mangrove importance and threats

Nigeria
Threatened mangroves
Oil and violence
People protect mangroves against shrimp farming

Tanzania
Mangroves menaced by aquaculture project
Impasse on commercial shrimp farming at Rufiji Delta mangroves
The death of the Rufiji Delta Prawn Project

ASIA

Bangladesh
Mangroves menaced by oil and gas companies
Polder 22, The struggle to protect the Sundarbans
Memorial Day of Korunamoyee Sardar

Burma
Upstream deforestation and shrimp farming are destroying the mangroves

Cambodia
Can banning be the solution to mangrove conservation?
Too late and too little to protect mangroves

India
Violence against local fisherfolk

Indonesia
Opponents to shrimp farming industry under arrest
Mounting tensions over industrial shrimp farming
The destruction of mangrove ecosystems

Malaysia
Each prawn produced represents a teardrop
Penang's mangroves and biodiversity conservation

Philippines
Shrimp farming and mangrove decline

Sri Lanka
Local fisherfolk protect the mangroves

Thailand
Uncertain future for the world Nº 1 exporter?

Vietnam
Shrimps, mangroves and the World Bank (I)
Shrimps, mangroves and the World Bank (II)

LATIN AMERICA

Belize
Villagers defend their mangroves
Shrimp farming threatens Placencia Lagoon's mangroves

Colombia
Local communities affected by shrimp companies
Actions against expansion of industrial shrimp farming

Ecuador
Greenpeace action to protect remaining mangroves
Government tries to hand over mangroves to the private sector
Mangrove replanting initiative
Action to save mangroves in Guayas
Mangroves and shrimp farming companies

Guatemala
Shrimp-farm generates violence and death
Security for shrimps, insecurity for the local population

Honduras
Action to protect mangrove forests and wetlands against shrimp farming
Struggle against shrimp farming gaining ground
World Bank involvement in mangrove destruction
Shrimp farming destruction

Mexico
Mangroves vs. shrimp farming and golf courses
Mangrove destruction by tourism and shrimp farming
Growing opposition to industrial shrimp farming

REFERENCES

ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book gathers a selection of articles published in the monthly electronic bulletin of the World Rainforest Movement (WRM), addressing the issue of the processes leading to the destruction of mangrove forests and the struggles developed at the local and global levels to protect and use these forests in a socially equitable and environmentally adequate manner.

The level of detail and analysis in the articles varies greatly, as a consequence of the nature of the bulletin, which is intended to serve as a tool, both for individuals and organisations acting on a local level and for those working on an international scale. However we have included most of the articles, as we consider that in some way they can all serve to generate resistance and solidarity movements regarding a subject such as this, of vital importance both for the survival of local communities whose livelihoods depend on mangroves and for the future of a unique type of ecosystem such as this.

Most of the articles are the result of a collaborative effort between the WRM bulletin's editorial team and people and organizations working at the local and global level to protect the mangroves. Special mention must be made of the involvement of the people from the Industrial Shrimp Action Network in the production of an entire issue of the bulletin (October 2001), focused on mangroves and shrimp farming. The numerous sources of information on which the articles were based are detailed - by article - at the end of this book. The articles have been organized in different sections and within each section by date, in chronological order of publication.

Responsibility for this publication is shared between the WRM editorial team and the numerous individuals and organisations who contributed articles or relevant information for the preparation of articles. Errors that may have been made are the exclusive responsibility of WRM.

But what matters most is that beyond the authorship of the different articles, the true protagonists of this work are the numerous local communities in the tropics and subtropics who suffer from the impacts of mangove destruction and degradation, who resist appropriation of their territories by industrial interests and whose knowledge allows the sustainable use of this type of ecosystem. The articles attempt to reflect the struggles of these protagonists, with the central aim of supporting them. To all of them, we pay our most sincere homage.

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