MFF at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2012

Asia Regional Coastal and Marine Session on Coastal Ecosystems and Resilience Building

The event, organized by Mangroves for the Future (MFF) and hosted by Dr. Don Macintosh, MFF Senior Advisor, featured case studies from MFF member and outreach countries, with speakers including Dr. Bui Cach Tuyen, Vice Minister of MONRE, Viet Nam, Mr. Ishtiaq Ahmed, Country Representative IUCN Bangladesh, Mr. Pradeep Vyas, Director, Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve, Government of West Bengal, India, and Mr. Klaus Schmitt, Chief Technical Advisor, GIZ CZM Project, Vietnam. Documentaries from India, Indonesia and Vietnam were also showcased to share success stories and lessons learned and the event concluded with constructive discussions on future approaches and possible partnerships.    

Investing in Coastal Ecosystems: Snapshots of MFF Small Grants (2009 – 2011): Press Release

Investing in Coastal Ecosystems: Snapshots of MFF Small Grants (2009 – 2011) is a compilation of project summaries of MFF actions on the ground. It offers readers a first glance at activities that promoted awareness of coastal issues and features how different countries approached and designed solutions to coastal problems in a participatory manner. This regional synthesis of small grants demonstrates how MFF Small Grant projects contribute to integrated coastal management across the Asia region.

The book was released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress on 10 September.

Conserving and Restoring Coastal Wetlands Globally: Communicating Opportunities, Overcoming Constraints

Coastal habitats such as mangroves, shellfish reefs, tidal flats and salt marshes are the engines of prosperity for coastal communities. They are simultaneously some of the most imperiled and degraded ecosystems on earth. People depend on these habitats for food and protection, but coastal habitats continue to be damaged by an array of acute and chronic stressors. As more people live in coastal areas, the loss of these habitats is expected to accelerate, with local, regional and even global consequences. 

In addition to more proactive conservation policies, restoration of degraded habitats is an element of marine conservation that demands more attention. The science and practice of coastal wetland habitat restoration is still developing, but despite the apparent differences between habitats from an ecological perspective, there are likely some important similarities that can help to propel all restoration efforts.

More than 80 workshop participants gathered together on 10 September 2012, at the World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Republic of Korea, to help to identify these similarities and provide recommendations for advancing restoration and conservation at a global scale. The workshop was jointly organized and featured speakers from The Nature Conservancy, Korea National Park Service, Korean Wetlands Society, Mangroves for the Future (MFF), Japanese Association for Wild Geese Protection, Ramsar Secretariat and Ramsar Network of Japan and the IUCN Global Marine Species Assessment Group. A summary of discussions and recommendations will shortly be released.