Global Nature Fund | Mangrove & climate protection

We are creating CO2 reservoirs and protecting coasts by restoring hundreds of hectares of mangrove forest. At the same time, we are creating alternative sources of income for local people. In this way, we not only preserve the valuable ecosystems in the long term, but also the livelihoods of the local population.

Mangrove forests are true all-rounders: they store five times more carbon than terrestrial rainforests, for example, and stabilize our global climate. They protect coastal settlements and fields from flooding and are nurseries and habitats for countless animal and plant species.

However, around 30 percent of these valuable ecosystems have already disappeared worldwide due to deforestation and overexploitation – the destruction of mangroves is progressing many times faster than that of the tropical rainforest. Huge amounts of carbon are released and the livelihoods of millions of people are endangered.

Since 2005, we have therefore been committed to protecting and restoring mangrove forests in South Asia, renaturalizing hundreds of hectares of mangrove forest and thus making a contribution to coastal and climate protection. Through environmental education and the involvement of the local population – especially young people – we create alternative sources of income and ensure the long-term protection of the forests.

Project area

Goals

Establish tree nurseries

Establish 14 community-based tree nurseries and plant 146,000 mangrove seedlings.

Development of environmental education centers

Establishment of two environmental education and mangrove learning centers in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Training coastal population

Realize mangrove-friendly income opportunities and training for the local coastal population – especially for women and young people.

Improving living conditions

Improve concrete living conditions for 700 families affected by absolute poverty in 20 communities and adapt their sources of income and food to climate change (better drinking water supply, solar projects, erosion reduction, vegetable cultivation, aquaculture).