 |
|
Events
 Eco-Social Festival, REEARTH 25-26 February, 2010 Koh Samui, Thailand Reearth- is an innovative international eco-charity event promoting sustainable coastal tourism through awareness-and fundraising events using concerts to raise awareness and funds for conservation activities. The event has been successfully marketed through hotel/travel and inflight magazines, youtube, Facebok, Twitter and the Reearth website www.reearth.me already visited by 75 countries and is supported by Sida/SENSA. The Reearth group is working with local conservation and fishers groups. Several coastal and marine interventions such as erosion dams, artificial reefs and mangrove planting are being planned in consultation with the local community and relevant government authority to ensure that all guidelines and protocols are adhered to. During the festival a system of nine check-dams and 50 meters of artificial reef will be created together with musicians, tourists, local conservation groups and community, schools, marine experts, government, officials, sponsors and organizers. MFF will support efforts to raise awareness about the negative effects of unsustainable tourism practices through information tents with materials in English and in Thai. MFF will also further provide technical expertise to ensure sound practices/interventions both (short and longer term).  The Third EAS Congress 2009 convened from 23-27 November in Manila, Philippines was hosted by the Philippines Government and organized by PEMSEA (Partnerships in the Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia). The event was supported by GEF, UNDP and UNOPS. Almost 1,600 participants attended the Congress, representing governments, UN agencies, industry, academia and youth. The Congress featured several events: The International Conference on Sustainable Coastal and Ocean Development (23-26 November), the Meeting of the EAS Partnership Council (25 November) and the Ministerial Forum on Strengthening the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Strategy for Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA) (26 November). 28 thematic workshops and seminars, as well as a Youth Leaders Forum, Corporate Social Responsibility Forum and Legislators’ Dialogue were held during the International Conference, examining issues ranging from ocean policy and legislation to the impacts of climate change on coastal and ocean areas. Field visits to ICM sites showcasing local government efforts in implementing ICM. The venue provided a region-wide platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange, capacity building, strategic action and cooperation for the sustainable management and development of the East Asian seas. MFF at PEMSEA East Asian Seas Congress, 23-27 November, 2008
World Ocean Conference, Manado, Indonesia World Ocean Conference, a fight to get oceans into the climate change talks
Ministers and Senior Officials from all over the world gathered in Manado, North Sulawesi at the World Ocean Conference (WOC) to discuss threats to our oceans, the effect of climate change and the role of oceans in climate change mitigation. The main highlights were the adoption of the Manado Ocean Declaration, a joint statement to work together in safeguarding the function of the oceans in climate change mitigation and adaptation by country delegates and ministers, and the Coral Triangle Summit where the Heads of states from the six countries involved in the Coral Triangle Initiative signed the first interstate agreement in the coral triangle towards conservation efforts, supported by the major BINGOs, as well as a Global Ocean Policy Day which provided an ample opportunity for a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on oceans, climate and security among high-level government officials together with NGOs, industry and scientists to not only discuss the impacts of climate change but the adaptation and mitigation strategies as well as financing issues. Concurrently, there was a three-day International Symposium on Ocean Science, Technology and Policy with 33 topics under eight major themes where a total of 570 scientific papers were presented. The adoption of the Manado Ocean Declaration The Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD) signed 14 May, 2009 recognises that oceans and coasts provide valuable resources and services to support human populations, particularly coastal communities that heavily depend on them. Sustainable use of marine living resources will enhance global food security and reduce poverty for present and future generations. The declaration will be put forward to the UN FCCC and hopefully adopted at the COP 15 in Copenhagen at the end of the year.
“The message coming from Manado is clear- the state of our oceans is a reality and it is only going to get worse in the face of climate change, but if we take concerted action now we may have a better chance of being able to cope with the effects of climate change. The Manado Ocean Declaration is proof of the willingness and commitment to do just that” says, Don Macintosh, Coordinator for the Mangroves for the Future (MFF) Initiative. Coral Triangle Initiative- from Manado to Copenhagen
The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI) was launched during the World Ocean Conference at a Leaders Summit. This represented new ground breaking commitments by the six governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor Leste to an extraordinary joint effort to safeguard the world’s richest marine resources and thereby ensuring food security for millions of people who dependent on these resources. The Heads of States formally adopted one of the most comprehensive and specific plans for marine conservation, the CTI Declaration.
More then 40 national and international participants joined the workshop. The aim was to gather coastal and marine conservation policy-makers who are trying to decide how to proceed in addressing adaptation challenges in the region without creating new laws or programmes, and planners and/or project managers who want some practical approaches to act immediately, as well as communications and outreach professional seeking to make the connection between information, needs, and action. The one-day workshop provided an opportunity for sharing experiences and utilising participant real case studies. Group exercises were conducted to explore in more depth the different starting points for understanding strategies to mainstream adaptation measures into projects, places and national policy. This was based on the newly launched Guidebook developed by Rhode Island, NOAA and USAID, and the MFF Guidelines for mainstreaming climate change adaptation into project design. At the end of the workshop, MFF Secretariat and MFF Indonesia announced the first call for project proposal under the MFF programme. The majority of the participants were from Indonesia and elegible for MFF funding, and will now be able to effectively integrate climate change considerations into project design, implementation and evaluation. The Sundarban Tiger Reserve Hosted the Fourth MFF Regional Steering Committee Meeting 19-22 January, 2009, Sundarbans, India MFF’s Regional Steering Committee meets twice a year. This is where MFF’s overall future direction is steered and important decisions are taken. The Steering Committee comprises of two co-chairs Aban Marker Kabraji, IUCN and Nicholas Rosellini, UNDP, the NCB chair from each focal country and representatives from dialogue countries and the respective MFF institutional partners, as well as the MFF Secretariat. The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (SBR) provided a unique opportunity to hold the fourth regional steering committee onboard a ship and to visit the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve.
The Sundarbans is the largest single mangrove area in the world and is known for its spectacular species diversity home to many rare animals such as crocodiles, Olive Ridley turtle, and the famous Royal Bengal tiger. Mangrove forests are extremely productive coastal ecosystems with a wide range of goods (such as Honey collecting, timber, fuelwood, crabs, fish) and environmental regulating and cultural services (preventing erosion and negative impacts from extreme weather events). Efforts to protect this remarkable mangrove forest date back to the 19th century and visitors are coming from all over the world to visit the Sundarbans.
“The Sundarbans is the single largest single mangrove forest in the world with 80 percent of the global mangrove floral diversity. MFF simply would not be complete without the Sundarbans... Bringing the MFF to have a first hand experience with the Sundarbans, illustrating the beauty and the challenges face in conserving the Sundarbans allowed for an opportunity for the forest department to show how India has successfully dealt with these challenges to the rest of the world.. “, says N.C. Bahuguna, Chief Conservator and Director, Sundarban Biosphere Reserve. Regional Training Course MFF at the IUCN World Conservation Congress |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tiger in the Sundarbans © Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve
 |