Meet A number of the Map Group as we Have fun our thirtieth Anniversary
HESPER KOHLER
Improvement Affiliate
Inform us somewhat bit about you and the way you bought concerned in MAP
It might appear bizarre for there to be a mangrove nonprofit within the Pacific Northwest, however for me, it was the very best information to by accident come across. I grew up within the desert west of america after which moved to the luxurious tropics of the Florida Keys once I was 10. I used to be captivated dwelling by mangrove forests and continued to like them via my thesis in faculty 10 years later and much from the keys. I discovered MAP by accident on-line once I was on the lookout for volunteer alternatives in Seattle, Washington, my present dwelling. A mangrove nonprofit within the Pacific Northwest? Excellent! I volunteered with MAP, then in October of 2021, I used to be welcomed on as the brand new Improvement Affiliate for MAP. I’m thrilled to be concerned in mangrove conservation and restoration all over the world!
Why do you like mangroves and why ought to we defend them
I’m somewhat nerdy in relation to mangroves, however perhaps all of us are at MAP. There may be nothing else like mangroves on the earth. They’re the apodeme of resilient and adaptable. Large waves? Mangroves maintain quick and hold coasts from washing away. Excessive tides? The crops survive with specialised respiratory pores known as lenticles of their bark that may open or shut, so the plant doesn’t drown. An excessive amount of salt? There are a number of methods mangroves have advanced to eliminate salt. The record goes on and on together with infinite advantages for ocean ecosystems and coastal communities. No different plant can dwell of their excellent steadiness of land, sea, and air. They’re ‘magnificent’ and that’s we have to defend them. Though mangroves are resilient, that resilience can solely go to this point in relation to local weather change and deforestation. We’re dropping mangroves at a quick fee and we have to do all we will to guard them, and therein defend all of the life that will depend on mangrove forests too.
Your spotlight from working with MAP
I’ve not been with MAP for lengthy, however I like being a part of a global staff. It’s generally bizarre to solely know your coworkers by electronic mail or workers zoom conferences, however it is extremely unifying to all be working in direction of the identical objective despite the fact that we’re all in several time zones. Because the world is opening up extra, I can’t wait to get out and see extra of what MAP does out within the area.
SAM NUGENT
Publication Director
Inform us somewhat bit about you and the way you bought concerned in MAP
In 1992, I met Alfredo in a duplicate store in Port Angeles (sure, copy store, not espresso store, because it was nonetheless pre-Starbucks period). He was making copies of a brand new emblem and comedian guide he had simply obtained for a brand new non-profit he was beginning. I used to be there to run copies of a flyer for a brand new graphics enterprise I used to be launching. I provided to redo the easy stick-figure comedian guide he had with a extra conventional comedian guide format. Our Mangroves On the Root of the Sea comedian was a success – ending up translated into 5 languages together with Swahili. A number of years later Alfredo provided me a place as grant-writer and Finance Director, which I held for nearly three years earlier than taking an actual job (haha). Alfredo and I remained mates and I typically did graphic or different work in help of MAP. When Austin stepped down as editor of MAP Information, Alfreda once more turned to me and I gladly stepped into the position which I’ve held for the previous 15 years
Why do you like mangroves and why ought to we defend them
Throughout my “earlier life” within the garment business (1985-1991), I had the chance to journey all through Southeast Asia, and had seen the fantastic thing about the mangroves and ugliness of their destruction. I additionally met the folks whose lives relied on tropical forests. When Alfredo and I met, we already had a lot in frequent relating to the will to assist defend these essential ecosystems. As Alfredo defined to me, when he informed a villager in Thailand that “somebody ought to do one thing about this destruction” the person replied “why not you?” I shared Alfredo’s conviction that the very best place to cease mangrove destruction as a result of shrimp farming was on the mouth, particularly right here within the U.S. the place shrimp consumption was driving the destruction. So being a part of a tropical forest non-profit positioned in a temperate rainforest within the Pacific Northwest of the United State really made good sense. Why ought to we defend them? Learn a couple of problems with MAP Information and also you’ll quickly uncover.
Your spotlight from working with MAP
I’ve many, many good recollections and highlights, however two stick out as “finest”.
The primary was when, shortly after the comedian was printed and I had achieved one other for Earth Island Institute’s Sea Turtle restoration venture, Alfredo informed me that he was unable to attend a convention in San Francisco and requested if I want to attend in his stead. I informed him that “if he was buyin’ I used to be flyin’” and I did. I took copies of the Sea Turtle and Mangroves comics with me, and distributed them on the convention. In direction of the tip of the convention, the Keynote speaker, Dr. David Suzuki was standing round speaking with of us. I had been a giant fan of The Nature of Issues since he joined it in 1979, and I thought of him a real film star. Star-struck, I timidly approached and began to introduce myself to him when he stopped me and stated “I do know you! You’re the man that drew these comedian books that everybody was studying as a substitute of listening to my speech!” I beemed for months afterwards. David Suzuki knew me! On later initiatives I really contacted David, and he hadn’t forgotten who I used to be and was all the time very useful to no matter sources I wanted. I love him to today.
The second spotlight was main a bunch of school college students on a “Get Muddy” tour of Sri Lanka and Thailand in 2003. We had been the primary westerners to go to Sri Lanka after 2 a long time of civil warfare. Once we arrived, the King’s Dancers carried out for us on the coast. What we didn’t know till a lot later, was the King’s Dancers don’t carry out outdoors of the King’s Palace in Kandy. However they arrive to take action for us. Earlier dignitaries had been invited to the palace to see them, not the opposite method round. As a younger 30 one thing, I failed my first position as Ambassador, in that once they completed I merely smiled and nodded and stated “that was good” and turned away, as in the event that they had been road performers. I want I’d have identified the respect they had been displaying us so I may have returned it. However that tour was an unbelievable expertise, from consuming beers with their nationwide cricket star gamers, to having dinner with the Minister of Setting. Once we tried to assist plant timber, our native professional and mentor informed the group of 12 of us to carry the crops whereas he used a persist with open a gap for the saplings into the bottom one by one. Brash Individuals, we grew impatient with this gradual course of and informed him if we solely had extra sticks we may plant tons of extra. We had been losing time. He didn’t search for from his work, however stated “you’ll quickly return to your house in America, and I’ll keep to look after the saplings. If there are greater than I can look after, they’ll die, so allow us to plant the quantity that may be properly tended.’ I’ve been carrying that thought with me to today. Individuals like to see massive numbers. He simply needed to see long-term success. Sadly, In Dec 2004 almost each coastal villager we had met and sang songs with was both killed or displaced by the good tsunami.
LEO THOM
Inventive Director
Inform us somewhat bit about you and the way you bought concerned in MAP
I had simply moved to Thailand to get entangled with extra environmental / much less city initiatives and contacted MAP as they’d an workplace down on the Andaman Coast. I keep in mind studying via an older MAP web site that was just about all textual content and considering, wow, this sounds tremendous fascinating however I must see some footage. Though Jim was operating the Asia workplace, I obtained an enthusiastic reply from Alfredo, MAP’s Co-Founder, who I managed to persuade that we should always animate the Query Your Shrimp marketing campaign. After creating my first video on mangroves, I realised I had identified little or no about them, and this was the beginning of our journey in 2013. Since then I’ve been producing mangrove movies and operating the Mangrove Images Awards in order that we will attain extra folks and switch their heads in direction of this undervalued ecosystem which I’m now extremely captivated with.
Why do you like mangroves and why ought to we defend them
I like them as a result of they’re smelly, they’re tough to work in and transfer via and sometimes find yourself as dumping grounds alongside the shore – they’re seen because the underdog. However in case you look somewhat deeper and may see previous the wasteland picture, you reveal the true magnificence, range and intriguing nature of those complicated and dynamic ecosystems, crossing the boundary from land to sea. Discovered throughout the tropics and extremely adaptable, the identical species of tree will be discovered being a dwarf tree at 3 metres small, however rising as much as 40 metres excessive in the identical area due to sure components. You will have miniature worlds inside a mangrove tree; the treetops the place birds can nest or relaxation throughout a migration, you may see monkeys, snakes, lizards and crabs climbing the bark, whereas the roots will be submerged or uncovered relying on the time of the day. Masking simply 0.1% of the earth’s land floor, mangroves will be present in over 118 international locations and every place reveals a novel relationship between the communities, the wildlife, and their mangroves. Mangroves function very important protecting and spawning grounds to tropical fisheries worldwide, assist mitigate the consequences and causes of local weather breakdown by sequestering large quantities of carbon, and defend coastlines towards storms and tsunamis – all very important for sustaining an ever-increasing international inhabitants. Regardless of their skills to assist resolve environmental emergencies, they’re nonetheless quickly declining all over the world; dropping out to shrimp farms, vacationer resorts, agriculture, and concrete land improvement over the previous few a long time.
Your spotlight from working with MAP
I lately went to the island of Koh Klang in Southern Thailand to seize a narrative about how coastal persons are altering their relationship with stingless bees. Stingless bees are one of many largest pollinators of mangrove forests and persons are adapting their lives in order that they’ll harvest precious honey and the bees will help improve the surroundings. The story had emerged from a long-term MAP venture which Jim and Ning had labored on since 2011 with a village known as Nai Nang, who’ve been conserving bees. I’ve really labored with and filmed characters from Nai Nang and Klong Prasong since 2015, and this long-term relationship was actually key to the belief that everybody had for us and the venture. Lots of the folks we had been filming had been very poor coastal folks, however their lives may change. And it was the16 days of filming with villagers Khun Nit, Bang Bao and Sao, that must be my work spotlight with MAP because it actually drove dwelling why I’m doing what I’m doing. The filming was superb with everybody getting used to the cameras and opening up and the very best half about it was that it felt like we genuinely introduced constructive conservation impression to the folks that we got here to work with. To seize the change of their lives, with such heat folks and see it make a distinction, is one thing I’ll always remember. Hearken to extra concerning the venture here.
LAURA MICHIE
Program Supervisor & CBEMR Coach
Inform us somewhat bit about you and the way you bought concerned in MAP
I’ve identified about MAP and adopted their work for a few years. I’ve labored in mangroves as a researcher for over a decade and have all the time admired MAP’s work. I did my Ph.D. within the mangroves of Indonesia and have been fortunate sufficient to go to many mangroves all over the world. A few years in the past I reached out to MAP after seeing their advert on the lookout for volunteers. I got here on board as a volunteer after which took on a part-time position in communications, and now I work full-time for MAP as their Program Supervisor & one of many mangrove restoration trainers.
Why do you like mangroves and why ought to we defend them
I like nothing greater than being in a mangrove forest, knee-deep in mud, trekking via water, and watching tons of of little crabs scurry round. Mangroves are superb. Mangrove timber thrive in water whose salt would kill different crops. They construct land within the face of abrasion. They supply meals for tens of millions of individuals. And they’re shopping for our local weather time. Defending and restoring them is significant to the way forward for our planet.
Your spotlight from working with MAP
In March, I went on my first journey with MAP. We went to Lamu, Kenya, to work with Wetlands Worldwide and coastal communities. Though I had been with MAP for nearly 2 years at this level, it was the primary time I used to be assembly among the staff face-to-face. A mix of the staff being unfold everywhere in the world and Covid journey restrictions meant I had not but had the prospect to fulfill anybody in particular person. It was excited to lastly see how tall my colleagues had been! Kenya was a unbelievable expertise and it actually solidified my love for working with such a superb group. We labored carefully with coastal communities to show finest practices in mangrove restoration and I obtained the prospect to work with some superb girls who’re on the front-line of mangrove conservation and restoration.
SHERRY MANNING
Board Vice President
Inform us somewhat bit about you and the way you bought concerned in MAP
My work with MAP started 5 years in the past after I attended a reunion in Seattle, Washington, of the Greenpeace core group I labored with within the Eighties. Nearly everybody from that point had maintained some degree of activism–they’d turn out to be environmental legal professionals, scientists, educators, politicians. However one fellow specifically, a die-hard activist named Alfredo Quarto, had based a company, Mangrove Motion Undertaking (MAP), after touring extensively in SE Asia and seeing the aftermath of shrimp farming websites. Twenty-five years later, he was nonetheless at it. With my background with nonprofits and improvement, he requested me if I’d be part of the board to assist them set up a fundraising program.
Why do you like mangroves and why ought to we defend them
I’d identified for a while that mangroves had been essential; what I didn’t know was they protected shorelines from storm surge and managed erosion, supported sea grasses and coral reefs, offered habitat for fish, birds, and bigger species, and too, that they sequestered as much as 5 instances extra carbon per acre than another forest. I started to see key connections between efforts to protect and restore mangrove forests, and combating local weather change.
Your spotlight from working with MAP
The highlights are ongoing, however personally, I’m regularly impressed by the devoted MAP staff.
From the start, I noticed a small group of extremely dedicated people with an outsized mission. Whereas most of their work gave the impression to be popping out of the SE Asia workplace in Thailand, their restoration initiatives had been international, from Australia to Vietnam, on each continent, with locations like Belize, Columbia, and Senegal in between. The MAP staff was barely paid, they had been loyal, longstanding, and passionate. Additionally they had unbelievable instruments at their disposal: they knew (and practiced) the science behind long-term mangrove restoration; they labored inside communities to interact and help these most impacted by restoration efforts; they’d an academic curriculum for colleges, a global artwork contest for youngsters, beautiful documentary movies, a month-to-month publication that stored the mangrove neighborhood related. They had been at conferences; they had been sitting on the desk with decision-makers.
For me, and I assume at this level, 5 years in as a board member, the spotlight continues to be experiencing how this superb group of people is altering what we learn about mangroves and the way we will protect and restore them.