From Nov. 7-12, 2005, MAP will be co-sponsoring an ecological restoration training to help ensure that post-tsunami restoration is done in the most efficacious and long-term manner that truly restores and conserves denuded or degraded mangrove zones. This will be done partly in response to the need to recreate a protective coastal greenbelt against future tsunamis. Because this greenbelt had been shortsightedly removed to make way for shrimp farms, tourist resorts, golf courses and other developments, the destructive force of the tsunamis of Dec. 26th were worsened, and many residents and visitors who might have survived did not.

In addition to restoration, we will be aiming to help enhance the daily livelihoods of the fisherfolk who have traditionally relied on the wild fisheries to earn their living and gather their daily sustenance to support their families. This is an important reason for restoring a healthy mangrove habitat, because this subsequently ensures the return of a healthy wild marine fishery.
Other useful products from the mangroves can be gathered such as fuel wood, herbal remedies, building materials and tannins. As Pisit Charnsnoh of Yadfon Association in Thailand has said, "The mangrove forest is the "supermarket" for the local communities. They can find much of their daily needs more easily assessable within this productive wetland.

Khun Pisit, who was a Goldman Environmental Prize winner in 2001, has also stated that "the mangroves sustain the people who sustain the mangroves!" With this in mind, any successful program that is geared towards restoring the mangrove forest wetlands must necessarily involve the indigenous and local communities in the ongoing process of sustainable management and conservation. Therefore, MAP will be working with local NGO partners and local communities to help develop our "toolkit" initiatives of alternative sustainable development options and conservation techniques. We will tie together the concepts of conservation and sustainable development to ensure the long-term success of these restoration projects and to involve the local stakeholders integrally in the entire process.

To empower the local communities in the sustainable management and conservation of their coastal resources, culturally sensitive awareness raising and education components will be involved via in-village trainings in alternative livelihoods that will supplement local incomes, as well as involve the local communities in an ongoing self-help planning and management process. To address the needs of the young children who will become the future "stakeholders" and resource managers, an important education component will bring MAP's Mangrove Curriculum developed by MAP's Education Director, Martin Keeley from the Cayman Islands. This Curriculum is designed to teach primary school children, but can easily be adapted for use with secondary school children.

To house these projects and offer a place where ongoing training and demonstration projects can be viewed and learned from, MAP will work with local partners and communities in establishing and co-supporting future Coastal Communities Resource Centers (CCRC). These resource centers will allow community members to meet to discuss their management and conservation issues, share ideas and experiences, and participate in trainings and educational presentations. MAP has helped successfully establish such CCRCs  in Sri Lanka (2), India (1), Senegal (1), Indonesia (3), Honduras (1) and Nigeria (1). We see future such centers being constructed out of inexpensive locally grown materials, such as bamboo and rattan, which can be more sustainably harvested over the long-term. Such Centers have very successfully been integrated into the local communities where numerous workshops and seminars have been held, greatly enhancing the lives and livelihood alternatives for those communities involved.

This overall program described above is meant to offer a more holistic view of the overall effort. MAP is not merely planning to restore mangroves then go our way. These programs are meant to keep MAP effectively involved and interactive over the long-term.