What's New

9 May 2007
Development and conservation sectors mobilize against future disasters in the Indian Ocean region

Mangroves for the Future: promoting investments in coastal ecosystem conservation

Mangroves for the Future, Regional Steering Committee members.

Bangkok, 11 May – Six countries and seven agencies found an unprecedented partnership of governments, civil society representatives, international development and conservation organizations to address environmental issues along coastlines of the Indian Ocean region. This initiative was launched last December in Phuket, Thailand, by former US President Bill Clinton under the auspices of the United Nations. Its newly formed Regional Steering Committee met for the first time this week in Bangkok, at the invitation of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), to move the initiative forward.

Known as Mangroves for the Future, the initiative will address restoration and conservation priorities alongside livelihood aspects in all coastal ecosystems, from mangrove forests to coral reefs.

The regional initiative aims at both reducing the impact of future disasters in the Indian Ocean region and sustaining the livelihoods of those who depend the most on natural resources for their subsistence. It will encourage the active engagement of governments, development and conservation organizations, civil society and private sector to work together for sustained and positive change.

“Mangroves for the Future offers an opportunity to merge the world of development with the world of conservation,” says Elizabeth Fong, Manager of the UN Development Programme Regional Centre in Bangkok. “Development and conservation efforts must work hand in hand.”

Ms. Elizabeth Fong, Regional Manager, UNDP RCB pictured with Ms. Aban Marker Kabraji, Regional Director, IUCN Asia

Co-chaired by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and IUCN, the Regional Steering Committee is comprised of government representatives from six countries, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Maldives, Seychelles and Sri Lanka, and from international agencies, among which the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), CARE, Wetlands International and WWF.

Key contributors such as the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and Norway also attended this first Steering Committee meeting as observers.

They made decisions on the coordination mechanisms and the ways funds will be disbursed. To date, the Mangroves for the Future initiative has raised US$13 million from bilateral donors like Australia, Germany, Norway and Sweden, as well as UN agencies, for actions at both regional and country levels. Fundraising efforts will continue to ensure sustained investments in coastal ecosystems.

For Johanna Palmberg, representing Sida, “it is hoped that the initiative will lead to a much broader movement addressing global coastal threats, over a long period of time and perhaps the next 15 years.”

The Regional Steering Committee confirmed the focus of the initiative to be on all coastal ecosystems and not just mangroves. National coordinating mechanisms will now be set up with representatives of state agencies, UN agencies and the civil society to define priorities for work in each of the six countries. The need for more emphasis on awareness and private sector engagement was also noted.

“The Gulf of Thailand has lost 50% of its mangrove area over the last 30 years; climate change and coastal erosion become a primary concern as to communities, the private sector and the government. We will hold a National Mangrove Conference in August” announces Dr Nisakorn Kositratna, Director General of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources of the Royal Thai Government.

Although infrastructure investments made by the private sector in coastal areas, especially the tourism industry, are huge, Indian Ocean shorelines are under threat as never before.

Both natural and human-made hazards like the 2004 tsunami alongside over fishing, marine pollution and coastal erosion demonstrate the vulnerability of Indian Ocean coasts and call for an urgent response. Half a billion people live along these shorelines, 230 million of which live on less than 1 US dollar per day.

Against this backdrop of widespread poverty and high dependence on a fragile coastal resource base, disasters have risen in frequency from fewer than 100 in 1975 to more than 400 in 2005.

“Poverty is the primary threat to coastal ecosystems, particularly for those who are marginalized. And inequitable systems are also a threat” emphasizes Dr Muhammad Musa, Regional Director of CARE for the Asia Region. 

He adds: “We want to be part of the larger movement. We believe that addressing global threats requires a movement that allows things to change, to bring things in balance. We want to be part of a network that makes a difference.”

“Seeing ecosystems as a key infrastructure asset is a new paradigm in the conservation sector that usually focuses more on protected areas.  Mangroves for the Future needs to address this in a broader context” says Aban Marker Kabraji, Regional Director for Asia of IUCN.

"[With MFF], we have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to demonstrate how investment in ecosystems can generate tangible profits and benefits to people and livelihoods." - Ms. Lucy Emerton, Regional Group Head, Ecosystems and Livelihoods Group Asia, IUCN Sri Lanka

A general consensus has emerged, essentially post-tsunami, that unless development and reconstruction efforts address the broader conditions of poverty, and needs for continuing development efforts, coastal populations in South/Southeast Asia and in the Western Indian Ocean region will remain highly vulnerable and ill-equipped to withstand the effects of future pressures and disasters.

---

Media enquiries

Denise Jeanmonod, Regional Communications Coordinator, The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Asia Regional Office in Bangkok, denise@iucnt.org; +66 2 662 4029

Cherie Hart, UNDP Regional Communications Advisor in Bangkok, cherie.hart@undp.org; +66 2 288 2133