2010 MAP Calendars available!

Hello Everyone!

The new 2010 MAP calendars are now available for sale! 

Primary school children from tropical and sub-tropical nations are invited to participate in MAP’s annual international contest which is increasing in popularity every year since its first publication in 2002. 

This contest aims to promote appreciation and awareness of the mangrove forests and communities while encouraging and listening to creative voices of children living in mangrove regions. 

Selected winners are published in the calendar which is distributed worldwide.

You may purchase them on our website by going here:

http://www.mangroveactionproject.org/get-involved/store/2009-map-childrens-art-calendar

They are $12 and discounts are available for bulk orders.

Please contact us if you have any questions: mapusa@mangroveactionproject.org

Join MAP at the People’s Summit: Nov 27-Nov 29

Come out to the People’s Summit over Thanksgiving Weekend!

MAP will be tabling on Nov. 28th and 29th at Seattle University in the Campion Ballroom. Executive Director Alfredo Quarto has been offered the opportunity to present about MAP and mangrove issues at the 2009 People’s Summit. He joins a cadre of distinguished speakers discussing issues on all topics pertaining to human and world affairs. Please come support MAP and participate in the event.

Alfredo will be joining Anne Mosness of the Go Wild Campaign and Laura Hendricks of Sierra Club (Cascade Chapter) on the panel called “Industrial Aquaculture: A People’s Perspective on the Blue Revolution”. As the organizing member of the panel, he will be presenting on Nov. 28th at 2:30pm til 4pm.

The panel and Q&A session will be highlighting industrial aquaculture and seafood production as a pertinent example of pressing issues affecting both our local and global marine environment and coastal communities dependent upon our oceans and waterways for life and livelihoods. Seafood and industrial aquaculture and trade will be used to illustrate important central points involving climate change, declining wild fisheries, biodiversity loss, and adversely affected livelihoods of coastal communities.More information about the People’s Summit below:

THE PEOPLE’S SUMMIT Nov 27-29
WTO+10: Global Justice Forward!

On Nov 30th the World Trade Organization (WTO) will host a “restart” meeting in Geneva – 10 years to the day from when we shut down the Seattle WTO! On Dec 7th, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change opens in Copenhagen. These are uncertain times and much is at stake: Join us to reclaim and amplify our voices with the vision we have for a healthy planet and people. Let’s harness the spirit of the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle with a renewed commitment to move global justice forward!

Friday Nov 27 through Sunday Nov 29: three days of plenaries, workshops and a cross-sector strategy session, held at Seattle University, New Hope Baptist Church and Town Hall.

Visit www.seattleplus10.org for a full list of speakers, plenaries, and workshops!

Thanks and hope to see you there!

The First Annual BlueFestival Was A Success!

Photo By Jennifer Perussi

The first annual BlueFestival was on Sat. Oct. 3rd at the Maritime Event Center on Pier 66. Mangrove Action Project and The Go Wild Campaign were co-organizers and sponsors of the event which brought out over 500 people! There was a plethora of regional and national exhibitors including the Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch, and the Pure Salmon Campaign.

Photo By Jennifer Perussi

Photo By Jennifer Perussi

Photo By Jennifer Perussi

Photo By Jennifer Perussi

There were several speakers presenting on topics such as sustainable seafoods, aquaculture, pesticides, Puget Sound, and ocean acidification including Time Magazine’s “Environmental Hero” Casson Trenor from San Francisco, activist Diane Wilson from Texas, Eli Penberthy & Trudy Bialic from PCC, and MAP’s very own Alfredo Quarto.

Photo By Jennifer Perussi

The Port Commissioner candidates were also able to join BlueFestival to talk about the issues each person would focus on in office. A big congratulations to Rob Holland for Position #3 and Tom Albro for Position #4.

Photo By Jennifer Perussi

Throughout the day, BlueFestival also had sea shanty music and fisher poets performing in the Bouy Room with a pirate working the sound board.

Photo By Jennifer Perussi

Overall, the BlueFestival was very educational and a lot of fun. There were various interactive exhibits for kids and adults to play with, interesting topics presented by engaging speakers, and attention grabbing documentaries. MAP received a lot of consumer pledge signees and hopes to be involved in the planning process for the next one! Stay tuned!

Join MAP at the Ballard SeafoodFest in July

Due to the success of our booth at the Fremont Fair, the Mangrove Action Project plans to participate in the 35th Ballard SeafoodFest on the weekend of July 25-26. The event is located in the historic Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. With entertainment for all ages, beer and wine gardens, a plethora of seafood vendors, arts and crafts and our unique contests, it’s a great, old fashioned summer party. Find out more about the SeafoodFest here.

We will have a booth at the fair where MAP staff and volunteers will educate fair-goers and hand out brochures about the loss and degradation of mangrove habitats and the resulting effects on the environment and the livelihoods of coastal communities.

As part of the Shrimp Less, Think More campaign, MAP’s presence at the Seafood Fest will also serve to raise awareness of the destructive actions of the shrimp and aquaculture industries on the mangroves and their ecosystems. We hope to further promote our Consumer’s Pledge to avoid farmed shrimp, and increase the number of signees. T-Shirts and calendars will also be available for purchase, with all proceeds going to support MAP and its worldwide programs to protect and restore the mangroves.

If you’d like to volunteer to help with the booth, please contact us via email. We would love to have your help!

MAP at the Fremont Fair

The Mangrove Action Project’s booth at the 2009 Fremont Fair was a huge success! MAP staff and volunteers distributed brochures, talked with fairgoers, answered questions, and promoted the work of MAP and the Shrimp Less, Think More campaign. The audience was very receptive to our work and everyone came away more informed and aware of the issues of mangrove loss and industrial aquaculture. Many people donated to our cause and offered to volunteer with MAP in the future.

The Fremont Fair also marked the official unveiling of the campaign’s Consumer Pledge, an effort to get individuals to make informed choices about the source of their shrimp and to avoid imported, farmed shrimp due to the ecological and health issues associated with shrimp farming. The pledge was enormously well received, with 102 people signing the list and agreeing to avoid farmed shrimp.

Join us at the Ballard Seafood Fest in July and the BlueFestival in October, and look for MAP and the Shrimp Less, Think More campaign at other events around the Seattle area in the next few months!

Submit artwork now for 9th MAP Children’s Mangrove Art Calendar

Every year the Mangrove Action Project sponsors a fun and exciting Art Contest for children 6 to 13 years old.
 
We invite all primary school children from tropical and sub-tropical nations, and whose schools are located near mangroves, to create art telling us “why mangroves are important to me and my community”.
 
Selected winners will be published in a 2010 calendar to be distributed internationally to raise awareness of mangrove forest ecology. This creative contest aims to promote appreciation and awareness of mangrove forests, and to encourage and listen to creative voices of children living in mangrove areas.
 
Help us launch this program in your school by contacting science and art teachers in your area and encouraging them to work together on this fun and innovative project.
 
Who Can Enter?
 
Age Limit:  6-13 years old
 
What kind of art can be submitted?
 
Technique: Paint, color pencil, ink, collage, pastel, crayons, etc
 
Dimensions: Canvas, or paper, 45 cms x 30 cms. (18 in. x 12 in)
 
The art work should be in a horizontal format (long length across, the shorter length vertical), in order to fit on the calendar page. (We had received wonderful art work  in a vertical format, but sadly were unable to use it.)
 
Artist Identification: On the back of each art work please write (in English) the full name and age of the artist, the school’s name, address, city or town, country, and the title of the art work.
 
When is the deadline?
 
Please, we must receive the artwork in MAP’s office by the end of 31 July, 2009.
 
Mailing instructions:
 
The art work has to be mailed in a small tube, such as the ones for mailing posters. Make sure the art is sent in certified or registered mail to:
 
Mangrove Action Project
PO Box 1854
Port Angeles, WA 98362-0279 USA
 
Please mail in a tube or flat in a box, but not folded!
 
Please also include your local NGO contact.
 
All entries selected at the national level should be submitted to the same address.
 
How will entries be judged?
 
Each school will hold its own exhibition and select 3 or more winners in art. Winning entries will be collected in each country by a participating NGO and then mailed to MAP’s office to be judged by a team of artists.
 
What are the prizes?
 
1st Prize will receive a certificate + calendar and the recognition of being published in an International calendar with global distribution.
 
2nd Prize will receive a certificate + calendar and the recognition of being published in an International calendar with global distribution.
 
3rd Prize will receive a certificate + calendar and the recognition of being published in an International calendar with global distribution.
 
Schools will receive 2 Calendars
 
NGOs will receive 10 Calendars.
 
Who do I contact?
 
Please let us know if your school plans to participate by contacting:
 
Monica  Gutierrez-Quarto
Calendar Project Coordinator
c/o Mangrove Action Project
PO Box 1854
Port Angeles, WA 98362-0279 USA
 
tel./ fax  (360) 452-5866
e-mail: monicagquarto@olympus.net or mangroveap@olympus.net

Mangrove Action Project sponsors Earth Day 5k Run for the Mangroves

Runners at the Starting Line

On April 19th, the Mangrove Action Project and the Shoreline, WA neighborhood hosted the Earth Day 5k Run to promote mangrove issues, MAP, and environmental responsibility. The run was open to runners and walkers of all abilities for the 5k course at Paramount Park. Kids also took part in the 1/3 mile fun run.
 
Over 180 runners participated, with their registration fee being donated to the Mangrove Action Project’s efforts to conserve and restore the world’s mangrove forests, and to draw attention to the issues surrounding shrimp aquaculture. At the end of the race each participant received a tree to take home and plant.
 
The Earth Day 5k motto was, “Think Globally, Act Locally.” As such, MAP had a booth at this event to provide information and answer questions about the organization, mangrove issues, and shrimp aquaculture. The booth was staffed by Executive Director Alfredo Quarto and MAP’s new Communications & Development Coordinator Austen Moore. Mr. Quarto also made a speech to the participants following the event.
 
All in all, the event was a major success for MAP. Look for other MAP-sponsored events in the future!

Pledge to Avoid Imported Shrimp

Given the environmental, community, and health threats posed by imported shrimp, I pledge to take steps to:

• Know that the source of the seafood I purchase is sustainable
• Avoid using imported shrimp
• Choose wild or farmed shrimp from the U.S. or Canada

See who has already signed the pledge!

- CALL-TO-ACTION -

Please ask your local restaurants where they source their shrimp and encourage them to sign the pledge by contacting shrimp.campaign@mangroveactionproject.org.

Public forum: Can fisheries and wild fish survive with feedlots in our state and offshore waters?

Around the world, coastal environments and economies, wild fish and other marine life have been affected by the expansion of large-scale farming of fish, shrimp and certain kinds of shellfish. Few safeguards are in place as marine feedlots produce commodity seafoods, resulting in habitat loss, pollution, competition for food, and diminished access and quality of life for coastal residents. Citizens can turn the tide by educating elected officials about the need to protect our local waters and tidelands, as well as keeping open cage fish farms from the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), 3-200 miles offshore, currently promoted by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce/NOAA.

Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Location: Leif Erikson Hall
2245 NW 57^th
Seattle, WA 98107

6-7 pm Refreshments and Leikarringen Norwegian dancers

7-9:30 pm “Industrial Aquaculture: Food or Folly?”

Anne Mosness, Go Wild Campaign:  NOAA’s promotion of salmon, geoduck and blackcod farming in Washington State and the “National Offshore Aquaculture Act” allowing thousands of cages in our EEZ.

Laura Hendricks, Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat:  Degradation of tidelands and loss of forage fish/salmon habitat from industrial geoduck production.

Alfredo Quarto, Mangrove Action Project (MAP):  Impacts of large-scale shrimp farming and MAP’s “Shrimp Less, Think More” consumer campaign to decrease consumption of farmed shrimp.

and special guest:

Kurt Willy Oddekalv, Leader of Norges Miljovernforbund (Green Warriors of Norway):  Advocating major changes in the global fish-farming industry and in Norway.

Informational displays:

Risks from Bristol Bay’s proposed Pebble Mine and offshore oil and gas drilling;
Puget Sound clean up activities;
Wild fish restoration projects;
Fishing and conservation organizations.

Event donations and tabling requests are welcome.

Contacts:

Anne Mosness eatwildfish@aol.com, 360-671-6478
Alfredo Quarto mangroveap@olympus.net, 360- 452-5866

Download event flyer (pdf)

Shrimp Less, Think More at Slow Food Nation

One of the highlights of the campaign has been participating in Slow Food Nation over Labor Day weekend, where over 60,000 people congregated in San Francisco to celebrate “the birth of a broad and inclusive food movement to build an American food system that is sustainable, just, and delicious.”

At Changemakers Day, MAP staff organized a panel, Is Something Fishy? Aquaculture, Seafood, and Sustainability.  Aquaculture is the world’s fastest growing food sector, worth $70 billion and providing over one-third of the seafood consumed worldwide. This dynamic panel brought together activists, policy experts, fishermen, a retailer, and a chef to discuss ways of overcoming the industrial food dilemmas created by aquaculture. It addressed the harmful impact of shrimp and salmon farming on the environment, communities, family fishing businesses and consumer health, and focused on strategies for reforming policy and increasing consumer awareness.

Consumers are often confused about how to purchase and use sustainable seafood. This panel was both informational and fun; it provided resources and guidelines to help Changemakers promote clean, sustainable seafood that is at the heart of Slow Food, and also provided a taste of delicious smoked wild salmon!

Panelists included Laura Anderson, owner of Local Ocean Seafood; Ben Bowman, policy analyst at Food and Water Watch; Diane Morgan, Cookbook Author; Anne Mosness, Go Wild!; and Alfredo Quarto, Mangrove Action Project.