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Loading ...Disappearing Mangroves in Guatemala
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009I read an interesting article from Tierramérica about Guatemala’s disappearing mangroves and a discussion of probable causes and possible impacts. I’ve mentioned here before on The Temas Blog about the importance of mangroves (here, here, here, here and here) in preventing sediment runoff and filtering out contaminants before they enter the sea, stabilizing coastlines, impeding […]
EPA to Study Puerto Rico Waters
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009From the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): EPA to Study Puerto Rico Waters and Marine Habitat For nearly two weeks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will study water, reefs and marine habitats in the Caribbean Sea around Puerto Rico. Starting today, EPA’s ocean survey vessel, the OSV BOLD, will conduct a series of scientific […]
Putting a Value on Belize’s Reefs and Mangroves
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008In a recent post I applauded efforts to estimate the true economic value of the mangroves along the coast of Mexico’s Baja California. Last month the World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released a report that estimates the economic value of Belize’s coral reefs and mangroves that I similarly applaud — in […]
Maps, Maps and More Maps
Monday, June 2nd, 2008In a prior post on the Temas library of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) legal texts for download, I promised to highlight other changes and additions to the updated site. The biggest addition to the site has been the Temas Tools Section, a collection of references and tools that help in understanding, shaping and managing […]
Mexico Takes Stock of its Wetlands
Saturday, May 31st, 2008Mangroves matter. Why? Among other reasons: Their dense root systems keep sediment from rivers and off the land from going out to sea. This helps stabilize the coastline and provides some protection from hurricanes and tropical storms. [Studies have shown storm damage is usually greater in coastal areas where mangroves have been cleared.] It also […]
Even the Small Guys…
Thursday, February 1st, 2007Another entry that’s sat unfinished for far too long in the queue. Some of you might feel that maybe it should have stayed there, but I hope by the end of this post to convince you otherwise. At the end of November I read in the online edition of the Cayman Compass, the Cayman Islands’ […]
The Need for Better Reef Protection, Part I: Why Should I Care?
Saturday, September 2nd, 2006Although my snorkeling experience is limited, and I’m only just now learning to scuba dive, and I have never worked on reef protection issues in my job, even I had some idea of the beauty and value of coral reefs and the pressures facing them. But in the process of preparing a blog series on […]