MANGROVES ARE VITAL to our coastlines, reef and planetary health generally. Naturally, they’re endangered by human activities, among the most threatened habitats in the world, according to the non-profit Mangrove Action Project (MAP).
Villains in the picture include shrimp farming, logging, unregulated development and perhaps the fact that many governments have regarded mangrove forests as wastelands and useless swamps. MAP cites shrimp farms as the most significant destroyer of mangrove forest at present.
SIGNIFICANT LOSSES IN FORESTS A difficulty, perhaps, is that mangroves are often remote, generally impenetrable and, thus out-of-sight and out-of-mind. According the MAP, less than half the planet’s original mangrove forest cover remains, with clearing for shrimp aquaculture accounting for as much as 50 percent of mangrove habitat destruction in recent years.
With U.S. offices in Port Angeles, Washington, and Asian offices in Trang, Thailand, MAP is supported by nearly 70 organizations worldwide, from the Cleveland Zoological Society to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the United Nations Environment Program, the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the World Wildlife Fund.
SUPPORT MAP – AND PLEDGE TO AVOID FARMED SHRIMP! Naturally, MAP would like you to donate funds to support their work. You can join for $15, receiving a newsletter every two weeks or so.
To read more about the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) to save mangroves, click HERE.
For free, you can take the Pledge to Avoid Farmed Shrimp (which, since most of it comes from developing nations with less regulation, means less antibiotics and chemical risks).
It’s important!