1st Joint Call: RESCuE
The Project:
Mangroves are forests that grow along saline coastal areas with tropical and subtropical climates, and are a crucial part of the natural ecosystem throughout Southeast Asia. They are an indispensable natural resource; mangroves not only act as ‘nurseries’ for marine species and huge carbon storage areas, but they also protect coastal areas from erosion, storms and tsunamis.
Unfortunately, mangroves have come under significant threat from industrial practices, such as shrimp farming and logging, as well as pollutants, chemicals and temperature stress. In Thailand, mangroves have been reduced by almost 50% over the past 4 decades,
The RESCuE project will work to mitigate mangrove forest loss and degradation in Thailand and Vietnam. It will do this by developing databases to understand, conserve and rehabilitate mangrove areas. The team will then work with local communities to identify areas which are suitable for replanting mangroves, and hold trainings and workshops for local practitioners to ensure that the coastal ecosystem management in Thailand and Mekong delta of Vietnam remain sustainable in the future.
The Science
The project will undertake the following activities:
- Developing suitable decision-making tools for mapping and monitoring distribution of mangrove communities and cover loss in the conservation zone using satellite and ground survey data:
- Estimating the mangrove community aboveground carbon stock and its dynamics
- Providing decision support tools for the design of rehabilitation measures
- Developing site-specific recommendations for rehabilitation projects to policy makers
- To recommend the suitable model for ecosystem services in the coastal areas
- Strengthening the capacity of local forest practitioners and disseminating knowledge of local communities via short training and meetings
The Team:
The RESCuE partners are:
- CIRAD, UPR Forests and Societies (F&S), Montpellier, France (https://www.cirad.fr/en) (Project coordinator)
- LETG Rennes COSTEL, France (https://www.univ-rennes2.fr/letg-rennes-costel)
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra (VA), Italy (https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/about/jrc-site/ispra)
- Technische Universität Dresden, Faculty of Environmental Sciences Tharandt, Germany (https://tu-dresden.de/?set_language=en)
- X-ability Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan (http://x-ability.co.jp/en/index.php)
- The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology , Bangkok, Thailand (http://www.jgsee.kmutt.ac.th/v2/index2.php)
- Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand(http://www.forest.ku.ac.th/forestry/en/index_en.php)
- Department of Land Resource, College of Environment and Natural Resources, Can Tho university, Vietnam (https://cenres.ctu.edu.vn/en/)
- Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand (https://new.forest.go.th/economy/th/ติดต่อเรา-2/)
Contact:
Prof. Valery Gond (valery.gond@cirad.fr)