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Regrowing Forests of the Tide Myanmar

 
Worldview International Foundation (WIF) became a partner with Mission Blue in 2015 for cooperation in establishing effective mangrove mitigation projects to combat Climate Change and to support vulnerable coastal communities with long term sustainable development.
Our partnership in Myanmar with leading coastal universities, Ministry of Environmental Conservation and coastal communities, has opened large potentials in promoting adaptation to climate change. Requested by the Ministry we have undertaken a new restoration project on 7700 acres, including a request by Myeik University to support developing a new mangrove park at 3000 acres. There is also an ongoing process for REDD+ initiative on 100,000 acres in protecting standing mangrove forests. It all started with a 3 years research project in 2012, followed by establishing Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park in 2015.…

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The Manatee’s Hug

When it comes to wildlife, what is the proper balance between conservation and observation or interaction?
by Ellen Prager, PhD, marine scientist and author

Earlier this year I went snorkeling with manatees in Crystal River, FL. Before going out on a boat to where the manatees congregate near warm water springs, we were given a briefing about how to properly observe the manatees and what not to do. The what-not-to-do was emphasized by video footage of people behaving badly. Snorkelers were shown stepping on, kicking, chasing, and all around harassing the manatees. It was simply horrifying and could lead one to believe that all interaction with the manatees in Crystal River should be strictly forbidden.
We, a small group of wetsuit-clad visitors, then went on a short boat ride to the snorkeling area.…

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Nurturing Conservation in the Water

Mission Blue is excited to partner with Blue Ventures, a science-led social enterprise that works with coastal communities to develop transformative approaches for nurturing and sustaining locally led marine conservation. In cooperation with their many partners, the Blue Ventures team works in places where the ocean is vital to local people, cultures and economies, and where there is a fundamental need to support human development. Over the last decade, their models have guided national fisheries policy and been replicated by communities, NGOs, businesses, donors and government agencies along thousands of kilometers of coastline. Blue Ventures have created the largest locally managed marine protected area (LMMA) in the Indian Ocean, catalyzed a sea change in community-led fisheries management, established sustainable aquaculture and ecotourism businesses, and developed new approaches to financing and incentivizing marine conservation.…

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Environmental Growth and Sustainability in Peru

Mission Blue is proud to partner with Follow EGS – Environmental Growth and Sustainability! Here’s a word from Follow EGS on their current work:
Follow EGS is a nonprofit environmental organization that focuses on building collaborations among organizations and institutions to further scientific research and enhance marine conservation and education by means of technology use and capacity building for the benefit of society and the oceans. Our organization concentrates most of its work in rural areas and developing countries. At the present time, Follow EGS is focusing on establishing a presence in Peru. The organization is dedicated to building bridges between scientists and local communities to design, develop, and implement research projects, initiatives, and programs that increase public understanding about nature and oceans.…

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Uniting Asia for a Healthy Ocean

Mission Blue is proud to partner with earthlysoul – a Japanese nonprofit organization working to contribute to society through various sports activities and challenges centered on the ocean. With strength from perseverance, earthlysoul aims to foster awareness about the ocean and inspire people to provide a better environment for future generations by challenging themselves physically and mentally.
Earthlysoul founder Kazuya Suzuki says:
“By personally… challenging myself and placing myself in situations where I am constantly facing death (as an ocean athlete), I started to think more and more about what I could leave behind when I would no longer be around. This thought led me to have a strong desire to leave a better world for the future generations to come – and thus earthlysoul was born in 2009. …

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Beauty, Innovation and Conservation at Tetiaroa

A word from our amazing new partners at the Tetiaroa Society:
The Tetiaroa atoll is special place for many reasons. Located 33 miles north of Tahiti, this ring of 12 motus (islets) is a place of legend for Polynesians where Tahitian Royalty would visit to relax, take stock and to indulge in the rich and beautiful landscape. It’s a place that fascinates, as Marlon Brando found when he visited while scouting filming locations for Mutiny on the Bounty in 1960. Seven years later, he completed his purchase of Tetiaroa with a burning desire to learn from it, to protect its beauty, and to preserve it for the Tahitian people and their way of life that he so dearly loved.
In the 1970s, he began working on projects to generate electricity sustainably and to establish a university on the atoll with the hope of bringing the best scientists from around the world to learn from and protect the oceans.…

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Rescuing Sea Turtles from Ghost Nets

Mission Blue is thrilled to partner with the Olive Ridley Project in the Maldives! The following is a guest post all about their amazing work:
Every year millions of animals including whales, dolphins, turtles and birds are mutilated and killed by lost, abandoned or discarded fishing nets, otherwise known as “ghost nets.” Entangled animals either drown within minutes or endure long, slow deaths lasting months or even years, suffering from debilitating wounds, infection and starvation. Oceanic currents provide pathways for ghost nets to travel huge distances from their points of origin, often accumulating in various hotspots around the world.
The Olive Ridley Project (ORP) was founded in the Maldives by biologist Martin Stelfox in response to the alarming number of olive ridley sea turtles found entangled in ghost gear.…

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Fighting to Protect Mandahl Bay

By Courtney Mattison
Mission Blue is proud to partner with Friends of Mandahl as they work tirelessly to protect Mandahl Bay from a proposed development project that could severely damage vital coastal habitat on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Thomas.
“We are all very excited about this news,” stated Friends of Mandahl Steering Committee member Karl Callwood. “This partnership signifies that scientists, environmentalists and 30 million everyday people from around the world are recognizing the critical significance of the Mandahl Bay ecosystem.”[i]
Mandahl Bay is home to a lush mangrove wetland that provides nursery habitat, food and shelter to many commercially important fish species as well as sea turtles, seabirds and crustaceans. The mangrove forest also collects sediment that would otherwise smother sensitive near-shore coral species, including the critically threatened elkhorn coral Acropora palmata.…

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Conservation, Education and Research in French Polynesia

Mission Blue is excited to partner with Te Mana o Te Moana! Veterinarian Dr. Cécile Gaspar founded Te Mana o Te Moana – meaning spirit of the oceans – in 2004 to preserve our marine environment for future generations through three key actions: Conservation, Education and Research. For over ten years now, this Tahitian nonprofit has developed actions and programs in these three fields throughout French Polynesia. Coral reefs, sea turtles, marine mammals and sustainable practices are some of Te Mana o Te Moana’s main priorities, but it is constantly looking to develop its actions in any field that can have an impact on the health of our planet. The foundation also works with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Reef Check – two other Mission Blue partners.…

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Ocean Protection Expands in Horn of Africa

Four new marine protected areas have been declared in the Republic of Djibouti
Mission Blue partner, KAI Marine, is happy to officially announce the exact positions of the marine protected areas (MPAs) of the Djibouti MPA Program of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Government of Djibouti. Since 2012, KAI Marine has been assisting UNDP and the Department of Land Management and Environment in the development of the MPA Program’s management plans and communication strategy.

These MPAs, situated at the gates between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in a region known as the Horn of Africa, safeguard a hotspot of biodiversity. Pristine coral reefs, mangroves, sea turtle nesting beaches and unique oceanographic features are home to many great pelagic species including the whale shark, whales, dolphins, sea turtles and sea birds.…

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