Mangrove Action Project – Sponsor of the CI Mangrove Rangers – Wins International Award

The Mangrove Action Project (MAP), sponsor of the Cayman Islands Mangrove Rangers, has won the Advancing Environmental Sustainability category in the international 2020 .ORG Impact Awards.

“This is a great honour,” says Martin Keeley, Brac-based education director for MAP and co-founder of the Rangers. “MAP has been working throughout the world on sustainable restoration and in-depth, science-based education programs for over 25 years. Together with the National Trust, we have been teaching our Marvellous Mangroves education program to every Year 5 class in Cayman schools since 2001.”

Keeley adds that MAP has just started working with Cayman-based Mangrove Education Project (MEP) to expand the Marvellous Mangroves teaching resources to include the entire Coastal Lagoon ecosystem from mangroves to seagrass to coral reefs.

“This is a key part of the Mangrove Rangers project,” he explains, “as the Rangers are working on pilot projects to evaluate the new activities that we are planning to use. The Rangers are also videotaping the activities so they can be integrated into the new MEP website can follow a simple step by step ‘how to’ instruction to run the activities in their classrooms.”

The first pilots were just completed by the Rangers last weekend in the UCCI biology lab which provided an excellent location for the process.

In their selection of MAP for the award, .ORG said that the organisation “focuses on a holistic approach to mangrove restoration that empowers local stakeholders to mitigate stressors and teaches them how to use mangrove ecology and biology to facilitate natural regeneration. Their dedication to protecting mangrove forests has had a tremendous impact on the environment.”

MAP was founded in 1992 as a global network, education and advocacy non-profit whose mission is to partner with mangrove forest communities, grassroots NGOs, researchers and local governments to conserve and restore mangrove forests and related coastal ecosystems, while promoting community-based, sustainable management of coastal resources. MAP’s proactive, five-pronged approach to long-term mangrove conservation and environmental justice involves collaboration, advocacy, education, sustainable community-based development, conservation and restoration.