Know-how from the coasts: Selected pickings of knowledge from across the region

Together these functions define the MFF’s Knowledge Platform – a hub that integrates the capture, refinement and dissemination of information, lessons and experiences from all MFF activities. MFF's Knowledge Platform currently emphasizes information management and communications, and gives special attention to documenting and sharing MFF products, activities and experiences at regional, national and project level. MFF knowledge products capture, record, and articulate the know-how of people in the form of print documents, publications, films and online resources. A wealth of knowledge is produced by MFF countries and projects and just a few samples of them are showcased below.

The MFF full-color children's book "Mangroves: Soldiers of our Coasts" recently inspired enthusiasm and active participation from the youth of Balik Pulau, Penang, Malaysia. On February 12, for World Wetlands Day, the Malaysia-based NGO Water Watch Penang awarded local students with copies of the book Mangroves as a prize for participating in the "Nature Classroom - Water, Forest, and Us" programme, a partnership with the UNEP Eco-Peace Leadership Centre. The programme creates public awareness on water and forest conservations through educational visit to the mangrove wetlands in Balik Pulau, Penang. A copy of the book was also donated to the library of a local school. Yun Yun Wong, project manager of "Nature Classroom" in Water Watch Penang, says: "We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and appreciation to the contribution by MFF, especially MFF India who made the effort in publishing the book. Its great to share a real good mangrove book suitable for basic learning of mangroves." Read more about Yun Yun's "Let's Go to see Mangroves!" project in Malaysia.

"Mangroves: Soldiers of our Coasts" was also of interest to Ferit Temur from the Macajalar Bay Development Alliance, 14 coastal local government units in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, who requested 100 copies of the Mangroves book for the Adopt-A-Mangrove reforestation project. The Alliance is advocating integrated coastal management in Macajalar Bay. It is supported by GIZ, local governments and Xavier University in the Philippines.

In Indonesia, mangrove ecosystems are popular not only for coastal defence, but also as a source of food. The mangrove recipe book Beragam produk olahan berbahan dasar Mangrove (Products from mangroves) was a big hit in the 2011 Asia Pacific Forestry Conference when MFF spoke about community benefits from mangroves. The Maldives completed a music video that highlights environmental awareness, particularly recycling and reducing waste in their islands. The music video was a product of a small grant facility project, and was telecast over national media.

Pakistan created a short documentary titled Sentries of the Coast about the life of a fisherman and the importance of mangroves for fishing communities. The film shares similar themes with MFF India's mangrove movie Mangroves: Guardians of the Coast, a stunning full-length feature about mangrove ecosystems and MFF's work in India (please contact the MFF Secretariat for more information).

In the Seychelles, a small grants project produced a suite of children's educational materials about the UNESCO World Heritage site, Aldabra Atoll. The Aldabra Atoll children's book and Aldabra Our Atoll: Secondary School book are the first of their kind in the Seychelles, and are now being used in schools in the archipelago. The Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles also produced a magazine that celebrated mangroves and wetlands in Seychelles. For a copy, please contact e-news@mangrovesforthefuture.org. 

Sri Lanka has produced several publications that record the rich knowledge from MFF activities. At the front line is For the People By the People, a collection of lessons from their MFF Small Grants Facility projects completed in 2009. The country has also compiled scientific dialogues about appraising mangroves in micro-tidal estuaries and lagoons, in their book, An appraisal of mangrove management in micro-tidal estuaries and lagoons in Sri Lanka. Preparatory studies and workshops that contribute to coastal governance and important sectors like tourism are also well-documented in Tourism and Coastal Development on the Southeast Coast of Sri Lanka and Governance performance in integrated coastal management: Sri Lanka country report.

Thailand has a developed a robust online photo library documenting their activities on Google+, Picasa and also maintains an active social network MFF Thailand in Facebook.

At the regional level, toolkits, project snapshots, and short films abound. As climate change is a hot topic in coastal management, MFF and UNEP developed Climate Proof: A four-step guide for coastal projects as a toolkit for managers who wish to "climate proof" their coastal projects.

Gender equality in projects has been a special focus in MFF and it has drawn on expert opinions from its institutional partners develop instructional material for gender courses which are integrated into MFF’s Integrated Coastal Management Courses. Three short films were produced in 2011 that explore gender issues in MFF projects in Thailand and Sri Lanka. The Gleaners of Ban Modtanoi tells the story of how the Thai coast is becoming more stressed with increased development and related environmental change, and how women and men are being forced to share roles simply as a matter of survival. The Beauty of Aloe vera narrates the experience of a fishing village around Puttalam lagoon, located on Sri Lanka's north-west coast, and how an Aloe vera cultivation project changed the lives of women there. The Lucky Ladies of Maha Oya is about an alternative livelihood program offered to a community of artisan sand miners and their wivesin Sri Lanka. The men chose fish farming, and the women -- to make ladies shoes. Little did anyone realize how successful these sand miner's wives would turn out to be. Watch the films.