At the inauguration ceremony of the 9th Mangroves for the Future (MFF) Regional Steering Committee Meeting on Sunday, over 80 experts from 12 Asian countries had gathered to discuss issues of climate change. In this three-day meeting, the experts will share regional expertise for the safety of coasts. The event aims to improve and apply regional knowledge to support the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of the coastal ecosystem.
The chief guest of the session, Javed Jabbar, who is the former vice president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and regional councillor, said that the coasts were conflict zones between the state, communities and corporate interests. “The relevant communities must be educated and, in some cases, persuaded to change their voracious appetite for resource extraction,” he suggested.
The representatives of the eight MFF member countries - India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam - were discussing the progress in coastal management efforts in their respective countries. They were joined by MFF outreach countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Myanmar.
MFF Coordinator Dr Steen Christensen said that coastal ecosystems all over the world, especially in developing countries, were facing climate change challenges. “Nearly half of the global population lives in coastal areas and about 70 per cent in east Asia depend on coastal resources for their livelihoods,” he said, adding that it will require collective efforts from all possible sectors to ensure the protection of vulnerable communities.
Christensen applauded Pakistan for its good governance of the coastal ecosystem since it became an MFF member country in 2010.
IUCN Asia regional director Aban Marker Kabraji was of the view that human activities were contributing to the vulnerability of coastal systems. “In Thailand, for example, more than 70 per cent of the mangrove areas have been cleared for activities, such as shrimp farming,” she informed the audience. “Success in coastal management will depend largely on the will of the private sector to move towards sustainable practices and MFF principles.” During the opening session, a 12-point call for action to conserve and restore mangroves, and halt their further loss and degradation was also launched. According to MFF senior adviser Dr Donald Macintosh, the 12-point statement that emerged from the deliberations at the MFF regional colloquium held earlier this year in India summarises the state of affairs of mangroves conservation in the region.
Although India, Pakistan and a few other countries have success stories to share, globally mangroves are still in decline by 1 per cent every year, he added.
The MFF is an initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystem conservation. The MFF provides a collaborative platform among different agencies, sectors and countries who are addressing challenges to coastal ecosystem and livelihood issues. The MFF member countries now include Pakistan and Vietnam.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2012.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ