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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
Mangroves contribute to businesses and communities through In a recently held webinar with a blue carbon expert dialling in
multiple ecosystem services, yet are undervalued and under- from Edinburgh, for example, NexAMS set a record high for the
protected in Malaysia and globally. In early 2020, a research team number of webinar participants. The crowd of more than 80
from Universiti Malaya (UM), together with partners from the people from across five continents and multiple time zones
University of Plymouth and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, comprised academics, industry representatives, students,
highlighted this issue and was consequently awarded a grant government officials and many others. Such reach and diversity
under the Newton-Ungku Omar Fund to run an 18-month project would not have been possible with the traditional format of a
for mangrove protection. face-to-face engagement at a physical venue. Other learnings
Called the Nexus Action for Mangroves in Selangor (NexAMS), the during this time included ramping up communications and
team of nine researchers from Malaysia and UK is led by Dr. Amy outreach work to overcome the disadvantage of not having the
Then from the Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science “human touch”. Apart from rolling out its own website, the
in UM. The funded project aims to advance policy and business NexAMS team also developed a newsletter and social media
initiatives for improved, inclusive mangrove protection through pages to ensure high visibility for its activities and an open
sustainable use and build public-private-community partnerships, channel for interested collaborators. Collaboration with partners
focusing on the state of Selangor. such as the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur for joint
Using stakeholder engagement, desk work and knowledge events further ensured good public relations exposure and
exchange, these aims will be achieved through: (i) analysis of local, helped NexAMS to gain new audiences in Malaysia and abroad.
state, federal and international plans, policies and commitments
to identify gaps and opportunities to support sustainable How NexAMS will Achieve its Goals
development with mangroves; (ii) assessment of past, present 1. Catalyse change in mangrove-relevant policies through the
and potential future threats to mangroves (iii) identification of engagement of government, private sector and community
achievable actions for businesses to minimise their impact on stakeholders in co-creation workshops and targeted
mangroves, support mangrove restoration and contribute to communication along the policy pathway.
coastal community development; (iv) community engagement to 2. Work with business champions (local, national) to apply the
identify optimum areas for mangrove protection for sustainable mangrove business case, including achievable actions to minimise
use; and (v) outreach, engagement and targeted communications business impacts on mangroves and connecting businesses with
with various stakeholder groups. These activities aim to improve coastal communities for mangrove livelihood development.
coastal community livelihoods and environmentally sensitive 3. Provide a platform for community voices to facilitate greater
economic development in Selangor and beyond. participation of local communities in sustainable mangrove
management.
Overcoming the Pandemic Hiccup
During this uncertain time, the team has been taking the Covid-19
threat seriously and has implemented the Work-From-Home Upcoming Activities
policy following the university's health guidelines. Unfortunately, In the coming weeks and months, NexAMS will be focused on
the restrictions on social distancing and interstate travel bans achieving the numerous goals of the grant. Upcoming activities
meant that plans to conduct fieldwork and workshops were include a policy brief launch and webinar, interviews with
disrupted. Despite facing operational issues, NexAMS was able to communities in the mangrove areas, survey with large and small
push forward by successfully adapting many of its activities to the businesses on mangrove replanting efforts, questionnaires with
virtual space. Discussions with project partners and other corporates for a business case study, and discussions with state
stakeholders were moved to Zoom, and surveys evolved into self- and federal policymakers on policy reform matters.
serve online questionnaires.
An indirect benefit from learning to work virtually was that it If you would like to sign up for the newsletter, join our events, or
allowed access to a broader audience, and a global pool of learn about our work, please log in to the NexAMS website
experts beyond the original stakeholder group. NexAMS has https://nexams2020.wixsite.com/nexams2020
successfully facilitated increased interaction between different
stakeholder groups to enable partnership building on a whole You may also follow NexAMS on Facebook: @nexams.my
new level.
Click to find out more
NexAMS is led by Dr Amy Yee-Hui Then from Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of
Science, Universiti Malaya as the Project leader/Principal Investigator for the Malaysian
team. Further details of the full team can be viewed in their website
https://nexams2020.wixsite.com/nexams2020
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