Mangrove swamps of Burma/Myanmar - general studies and articles

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Title: Drivers of change in Mangroves ecosystem of Myanmar: population and climate change
Description: "Population in Mangroves ecosystem and climate change Myanmar is considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and sea level rise Myanmar coastline consists of large low-lying areas, including the Ayeyarwaddy Delta, where sea level rise projections would translate into increases in permanently flooded areas as well as increased frequency and magnitude of flooding Sea level rise causes saltwater intrusion and flooding of agricultural land and ultimately threatens the livelihoods of farm households The projected increase in sea levels is likely to carry flooding further inland in the future, resulting in even greater impacts: a 0.5 meter rise in sea levels could lead to a retreat of the coastline by approximately 10 kilometers in Myanmar’s lowest lying areas (NAPA, 2012) The most productive rain-fed farming areas and the rice-growing areas are not well protected against periodic saltwater intrusion during the monsoon periods. Therefore, flooding and saltwater intrusion, along with the rise in sea level, are becoming the main challenge for the farming communities in this zone..."
Source/publisher: MA-UK Myanmar via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication: 2024-01-03
Date of entry/update: 2024-01-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 554.39 KB
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Title: Myanmar’s mangrove forests are in grave peril
Topic: Agriculture, Forest
Topic: Agriculture, Forest
Description: "Mangrove forests are under threat across Southeast Asia and in the country of Myanmar alone more than 60% of them were lost within just two decades between 1996 and 2016, according to researchers at the National University of Singapore. “Mangroves are one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems, and Myanmar is regarded as the current mangrove deforestation hotspot globally,” the scientists write in a study published in Environmental Research Letters. “Net national mangrove cover declined by 52% over 20 years, with annual net loss rates of 3.60%–3.87%. Gross mangrove deforestation was more profound: 63% of the 1996 mangrove extent had been temporarily or permanently converted by 2016.” Most of the country’s mangroves have been converted into rice paddies, oil palm and rubber tree plantations, as well as areas used for aquaculture. The profound loss of deforestation in the country’s mangrove forests, which are critical for biodiversity, is the reason why Myanmar has been described as a primary hotspot of mangrove loss in the world. “It is quite incredible to consider that nearly two-thirds of all mangroves in Myanmar were deforested over a 20-year-period,” says Edward Webb, one of the authors of the study. Mangrove trees grow in various depths of water in coastal areas and they are crucial for coastal marine ecosystems. Their dense entangled roots stabilize coastlines and provide homes to a variety of marine species, including fish and crustaceans. Mangroves can also absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, as a result of which these forests play an important role in the fight against climate change. Mangroves growing in South Asia, in Southeast Asia and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region account for nearly half, or 46%, of the world’s entire mangrove forests. Southeast Asia is home to the world’s highest rate of mangrove biodiversity. Many of the region’s mangroves, however, have been lost owing to agricultural activities..."
Source/publisher: "Sustainability Times"
Date of publication: 2020-06-12
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: New study a call to action for Myanmar’s mangroves
Description: "A new study by the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found that mangrove deforestation in Myanmar is taking place at a faster rate than previously estimated. The NUS study, led by Edward Webb and Jose Don De Alban and published online in Environmental Research Letters on March 3, found that between 1996 – 2016 more than 60 per cent of all mangroves in Myanmar had been permanently or temporarily converted to other uses, including the growing of rice, oil palm, and rubber, as well as for urbanisation. Mangroves slow down climate change by sequestering carbon, and also conserve biodiversity, improve food and nutrition security and support human well-being, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development(IISD). The institute says sustainable management of mangroves can help achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations (UN)..."
Source/publisher: "AEC News Today"
Date of publication: 2020-05-10
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-17
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Title: More Than 60% Of Myanmar’s Mangroves Has Been Deforested In Last 20 Years
Description: "Mangroves account for only 0.7 per cent of the Earth’s tropical forest area, but they are among the world’s most productive and important ecosystems. They provide a wealth of ecological and socio-economic benefits, such as serving as nursery habitat for fish species, offering protection against coastal surges associated with storms and tsunamis, and storing carbon. While many countries have established legal protection for mangroves, their value for sustainable ecosystem services face strong competition from converting the land to other more lucrative uses, particularly for agriculture. In the past decade, studies have shown that mangrove deforestation rates are higher than the deforestation of inland terrestrial forests. New research from the National University of Singapore (NUS) provided additional support for this, with results showing that mangroves deforestation rates in Myanmar, an important country for mangrove extent and biodiversity, greatly exceed previous estimates. The research, led by Associate Professor Edward Webb and Mr Jose Don De Alban from the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science, was published online in the journal Environmental Research Letters..."
Source/publisher: "Eurasia Review"
Date of publication: 2020-03-04
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-05
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Title: Cyclone shield: Breathing new life into Myanmar's mangroves | earthrise
Description: "Since 1978, 1 million hectares of mangroves have been cut down in Myanmar. In the Ayerwaddy Delta in the south, mangrove forests have been significantly depleted - often cut down to make way for shrimp and rice farming, as well as charcoal production and collecting palm oil. Worldwide, 35 percent of the world's mangroves are now lost. Only 16 percent of the original cover is left in the vulnerable Delta Region where the mangroves are being destroyed at rates three to five times higher than global deforestation. "At the moment, mangrove conditions are severely degraded," says Win Meung, a seasoned ecologist who heads a mangrove regeneration project in Myanmar. "In the coastal areas, 60 percent of the villagers don't have a permanent job and try to find their money in the mangrove areas. They cut the trees and within one hour they can get the money [they need] for their livelihood." Mangroves play a vital role in the fight against climate change and extreme weather events such as cyclones. They help mitigate carbon emissions, as well as protect vulnerable coastal communities from extreme weather, while strengthening seafood stocks up to 50 percent. While Meung and many locals have tried taking matters into their own hands, planting over 400,000 seedlings by hand to try and repopulate the mangrove population, the activity has taken 3 years and there is a lot more yet to be done before another cyclone hits..."
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Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of publication: 2019-05-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-23
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Title: Surfers ride the wave of ocean action in Myanmar blue forest
Topic: Oceans & seas, Climate change, Ecosystems
Topic: Oceans & seas, Climate change, Ecosystems
Description: "Ocean lovers are often left out of the bigger environmental discussions and so struggle to see how they can do their part to stop climate change. But one organization, Sustainable Surf, is committed to changing all that by directly engaging the global surfing community to save and restore threatened mangrove forest ecosystems. Mangroves are five times more effective at sequestering carbon emissions than land-based trees. “Many people, including most ocean-minded individuals, inherently understand the real value of restoring coastal ecosystems as a way to protect our oceans, and ourselves. But they need an easier and more engaging pathway to get involved, and that’s why we’re launching project SeaTrees,” said Michael Stewart, co-founder of Sustainable Surf. The ocean-health innovation lab uses surf culture to sell a sustainable lifestyle to an audience all around the world. With SeaTrees, it will provide an online portal to surfers worldwide to calculate and offset their carbon footprint, then become ‘carbon positive’ by funding new mangrove trees. “The goal is to plant one million trees on behalf of the global surfing community in 2019,” said Stewart, who plans to ride the same wave that advertisers have used for years to sell products using surf culture, celebrities and events, but to promote conservation rather than consumption. “Every corporation in the world that you can think of … They all use the imagery of surf and surf culture and coastal ecosystems to sell their products,” he said..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Date of publication: 2019-02-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Episode 3: Mangroves Rakhine (video)
Description: ''Communication for Sustainable Livelihoods and Food Security in Myanmar...''
Creator/author: Khin Thuzar Nwe, Ma Ei Kay Zin Tun, U Soe Ni Latt, Dr. Maung Maung Kyi, U Aung Min, U Maung Phyu, U Aung Aung Naing
Date of publication: 2017-04-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Title: Ecological Mangrove Restoration Workshop Series
Description: "Since the December 2004 tsunami, there has been a mounting call for re-establishing protective greenbelts along coastlines. Although the jury is still out on the extent to which mangroves mediate tsunami damage, mangrove forests are proven effective barriers against tropical storms and strong wave action. How effective depends on a number of factors, such as, the density, width, height, and complexity of the mangrove forest, as well as the bathymetry of the coastline and other oceanographic factors. What is more clearly understood is that mangroves provide many benefits to coastal populations in terms of economic goods and ecological services, such as, fisheries production, medicinal use, wastewater treatment, provision of building materials, bird and mammal habitat, eco-tourism value, etc. Mangrove forests are valuable ecosystems which are currently extremely undervalued and they require long-term protection and conservation. Much of the post-tsunami effort to restore coastal greenbelts involved simple planting of mangrove seedlings and propagules. Already, there have been numerous failures due to planting of inappropriate species, in inappropriate locations, but in general failure occurs due to a lack of understanding of the restoration site itself. What was its history? What mangroves grew there? Where did they grow? What were their hydrological requirements? How deep was the substrate in which they grew? What were the fresh water inputs to the area? Where did exchange of tidal and sea water take place? Contrary to popular belief mangroves require some freshwater to grow well, and they are submerged only around 33% of the time. Planting mangroves along an exposed coastline, in too deep water without fresh water input is a recipe for failure..."
Creator/author: Alfredo Quarto
Source/publisher: Mangrove Action Project (MAP)
Date of publication: 2007-02-15
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Format : pdf
Size: 1.91 MB
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Title: Mangrove Conservation & Restoration
Description: Working alongside mangrove ecologists, local NGOs, and communities, MAP promotes the ‘ecological – hydrological’ mangrove restoration (EMR) methodology, an economical and efficient way to mangrove restoration that follows basic natural processes. This well-considered model directly engages local community participation, and has proven extremely successful. Reaching far beyond mere hand planting of one species, as is sadly typical of mangrove restoration projects, EMR greatly increases the effective restoration of biodiversity to ecosystem-wide degraded mangrove forests. Natural restoration and/or manual planting of mangroves utilizing the EMR model is an important tool for international relief organizations to implement in order to restore mangroves in a cost effective manner to counter increased storm surges and rising seas MAP has actively rehabilitated mangroves in Thailand and Indonesia, as part of post-tsunami recovery, while being involved in consulting on shoreline and mangrove restoration projects elsewhere. MAP completed EMR training workshops in Cambodia, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and plans additional workshops where there is interest. . MAP also facilitates an EMR e-group with over 130 members worldwide sharing information and experience on more effective ways to rehabilitate mangroves. Through all of its work, MAP also raises awareness among those participating as to the importance of mangrove forests, whether participants are policy makers, local citizens, or NGOs..."
Source/publisher: Mangrove Action Project (MAP)
Date of publication: 2011-12-01
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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