Mangrove Restoration - Ankilahila, Madagascar
Mangroves are crucial in maintaining coastal water quality, supporting fisheries production, and providing protection from floods, storms and tsunamis. They are capable of storing 2-3 times more carbon than traditional forests.
The project is part of a wider scheme which has planted over 300 million trees and created over 3 million workdays since 2007.
Intervention
Mangrove Regeneration
Location
Madagascar
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Project information
Mangrove planting in Madagascar
This trail-blazing project run by Eden Reforestation Projects has reforestation and poverty alleviation at its heart. Mangroves pack some punch when it comes to carbon sequestration but also provide a whole load of other natural benefits such as storm surge protection and vital habitat for many species.
To date, Eden's projects have planted over 334 million trees across projects in eight countries. They have created 3.3 million days of work for local communities and, by 2025, they aim to have 500 million trees.
Sustainable Goals
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Great for Earth
Madagascar has experienced deforestation on an enormous scale with only 10% of its original forest remaining today. Did you know that approximately 75% of species found in Madagascar are not found anywhere else in the world? This means it is even more important to protect what is left and help to reforest areas that have been destroyed.
Mangroves are important for the climate crisis because estimates suggesting that they sequester carbon at a rate of 2 – 4 times greater than mature tropical forests. Each mangrove tree removes around 308kg of CO2 from the atmosphere over the course of its life-cycle (approximately 25 years).
Mangrove forests also offer numerous other ecosystem services such as natural coastal defences from floods and storm surges, increased biodiversity and sediment reduction.
Planting: A mix of four different mangrove species are planted as well as at least 10% agroforestry trees to provide an additional source of income to the local people. The mangroves are planted directly from propagules, and Eden have discovered that mortality becomes irrelevant as natural regeneration occurs (after the inevitable loss of some propagules). Typically regeneration exceeds 200% of the original number of mangroves planted – we know it’s cool.
Earthly do also contribute a buffer so that if anything were to happen like a tropical storm we have you covered.
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Positive for People
Deforestation is often tied to extreme poverty, so Eden Reforestation Projects uses a unique methodology of ‘employ to plant’ in order to target both of these problem areas. This aims to provide fair employment to local people to grow, plant, and guard to maturity native species forest on a massive scale.