mangroves Archives - Global Landscapes Forum

Opportunities for including peatlands in National Determined Contributions (NDCs) Caribbean region

kneditor — Fri, 03 May 2024 11:37:43 +0000

This report highlights the critical role of wetlands, particularly peatlands and blue carbon ecosystems like mangroves, in climate change mitigation. It emphasizes the need for conservation and restoration efforts to counteract degradation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Key Messages:

Underrated peatlands: While mangroves receive significant attention in climate policies, coastal peatlands are often overlooked. Despite their substantial carbon stocks, only a few countries include peatland-related actions in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), presenting a gap in global climate strategies.
Opportunities in the Caribbean: The Caribbean region, home to both mangroves and coastal peatlands, holds promise for climate action. Seven countries stand out for potential peatland and mangrove conservation efforts, with a focus on mitigation and adaptation measures.
Priority actions: Priority actions in the identified region include mapping peatlands, establishing monitoring systems for greenhouse gas fluxes and biodiversity, and piloting conservation and restoration projects. These initiatives aim to enhance awareness, capacity, and technology for effective wetland management and climate resilience.

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Including Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) in Mangrove Conservation & Restoration

kneditor — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 10:47:15 +0000

A Best-Practice Guide for Practitioners and Researchers

This guide is designed to assist mangrove researchers and practitioners in incorporating Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) into their projects. LEK encompasses the knowledge, practices, and beliefs acquired through extensive personal observation and interaction with local ecosystems. It is shared among local resource users, often indigenous communities, and is typically passed down through generations. In this groundbreaking study, we delve into how researchers have successfully integrated LEK specific to mangroves, offering best practices for engaging with and harnessing the power of LEK in mangrove restoration and conservation. The guide showcases over twenty case studies from around the world, highlighting the diverse applications of LEK in mangrove projects.

Find the handbook abstract and related DOI.

Greening the Blue Initiative

The awarded Restoration Stewards of 2023, Levis Sirikwa, is the lead author of Case Study 14 on pages 119-122. With over five years of experience, he actively restores mangroves and leads sustainable agriculture and community empowerment projects in Kenya’s blue economy. As co-founder of Ceriops Research Environmental Organization, he manages Casina Farms, Mikoko na Jamii, and Mangrove Buddy, all grounded in community empowerment, sustainable development, and data-driven approaches.

In his article, he describes the Greening the Blue as a unique mangrove restoration model that prioritizes understanding the local context for conserving and restoring blue ecosystems. Recognizing extensive mangrove degradation in Tudor Creek (Mwakirunge), Kenya, over the past decades, the initiative views conservation and restoration as an art. This art is eloquently expressed by the local people, who have interacted with the ecosystem for millennia. Documenting the successful restoration of half a hectare of degraded mangrove landscape, the project highlights the key pathways through which Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) played a crucial role in achieving success. Emphasizing the significance of the community-based ecological mangrove restoration (CBEMR) approach, the Greening the Blue Initiative serves as a source of inspiration for best practices, ensuring sustainable restoration efforts in the project area.

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Webinar: To plant or not to plant mangroves?

kneditor — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 15:22:44 +0000

Join the mangrove restoration movement

Explore the essence of mangrove restoration in this webinar recording hosted by GLFx Mindanao and Oceanus Conservation on International Mangrove Day.

The International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem is celebrated every year on 26 July, and aims to raise awareness of the importance of mangrove ecosystems as “a unique, special and vulnerable ecosystem” and to promote solutions for their sustainable management, conservation and uses.

Gain insights from mangrove restoration experts:

Dr. Rupesh Bhomia, a CIFOR-ICRAF scientist renowned for his expertise in tropical freshwater swamps;
Agatha Maxine Bedi, a Mangrove specialist from the Geospatial Database Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
Roberto Ballon, a community environmentalist and 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, who shares experiences from the frontlines of mangrove reforestation through the Association of Small Fisherfolk of Concepcion (KGMC).

Learn about the best community-led practices and discover the crucial factors determining the ideal time for mangrove planting.

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Mangrove blue carbon market opportunities

kneditor — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 11:03:05 +0000

GLF Climate: Frontiers of Change

Hosted on the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and online, GLF Climate 2022: Frontiers of Change united 7,000 participants from 164 countries and rallied over 27 million people on social media around what humanity can still do to avoid the worsening impacts of the climate crisis.

Featuring 228 leading scientists, activists, Indigenous leaders, financiers, youth and government leaders, and 96 incredible partner organizations, the second edition of GLF Climate called for a just transition to a stewardship economy that puts people and nature first.

Making blue carbon count

Mangroves are blue carbon storehouses facing tremendous pressure from unsustainable economic activities. Conservation of intact mangroves and restoration of the degraded ones need coordinated actions from stakeholders.

This expert session brings together representatives from various backgrounds in a dialogue to explore mangrove blue carbon market opportunities. Cases in countries like Indonesia may be linked to meeting national emission reduction stipulated in the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement and the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

Download the session resources

White paper Making blue carbon count: market opportunities for mangrove restoration

Presentation Mangrove blue carbon market opportunity

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Making blue carbon count: market opportunities for mangrove restoration

kneditor — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 16:05:45 +0000

What is blue carbon and why it is important?

‘Blue carbon’ refers to the world’s carbon stores that are stashed in the plants and soil of coastal and marine ecosystems – such as mangrove forests, tidal marshes, algae, and seagrass meadows.

As we straddle the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) – and countries pursue means to meet the emission reduction targets stipulated in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – the quest to save and grow our blue carbon stores through restoration and protection is gaining increasing attention.

Mangroves can store four to six times as much carbon as tropical rainforests, through their combination of high productivity and secured mineralized soil carbon storage. Globally, they host around 1.6 percent of tropical forests’ biomass, while occupying only 0.6 percent of their area.

Nonetheless, many blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves are facing tremendous pressure from unsustainable economic activities – with far-reaching impacts on climate, biodiversity, and livelihoods.

Mangroves can store four to six times as much carbon as tropical rainforests. Photo: Maxwell Ridgeway, Unsplash 2018.

Indonesia’s mangroves: a case in point

The Indonesian archipelago houses about a fifth of global mangroves – the largest extent of mangrove ecosystems in the world. Avoiding further emissions from the more than 3 billion tons of carbon they contain would provide huge market opportunities.

The Center for International Forestry Research–World Agroforestry Centre (CIFOR-ICRAF) has been carrying out ground-breaking research on Indonesia’s mangrove ecosystems and coastal communities for decades. Over the years, researchers have detected the opportunities for mangrove restoration including:

A strong governance system is required to enable institutions and regulatory frameworks to be operationalized effectively.
Blue carbon natural capital will receive public attention and attract investment when public policies recognize the rights and responsibilities of stakeholders in accessing information.
A multistakeholder approach –involving the private sector, the business community, and local people – can help to inspire mangrove forest management that provides tangible benefits for livelihoods and development – whilst keeping these critical ecosystems intact.

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People-Centric Nature-Based Land Restoration through Agroforestry: A Typology

Global Landscapes Forum — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 07:45:24 +0000

Restoration depends on purpose and context. At the core it entails innovation to halt ongoing and reverse past degradation. It aims for increased functionality, not necessarily recovering past system states. Location-specific interventions in social-ecological systems reducing proximate pressures, need to synergize with transforming generic drivers of unsustainable land use. After reviewing pantropical international research on forests, trees, and agroforestry, we developed an options-by-context typology. Four intensities of land restoration interact: R.I. Ecological intensification within a land use system, R.II. Recovery/regeneration, within a local social-ecological system, R.III. Reparation/recuperation, requiring a national policy context, R.IV. Remediation, requiring international support and investment. Relevant interventions start from core values of human identity while addressing five potential bottlenecks: Rights, Know-how, Markets (inputs, outputs, credit), Local Ecosystem Services (including water, agrobiodiversity, micro/mesoclimate) and Teleconnections (global climate change, biodiversity). Six stages of forest transition (from closed old-growth forest to open-field agriculture and re-treed (peri)urban landscapes) can contextualize interventions, with six special places: water towers, riparian zone and wetlands, peat landscapes, small islands and mangroves, transport infrastructure, and mining scars. The typology can help to link knowledge with action in people-centric restoration in which external stakeholders coinvest, reflecting shared responsibility for historical degradation and benefits from environmental stewardship.

Find out more here.

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Virtual tour of a mangrove forest and bird sanctuary in the Philippines

Global Landscapes Forum AR — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 04:03:03 +0000

This virtual tour immerses viewers in the often-forgotten realm of a mangrove forest, exploring Talabong Bird Sanctuary and Mangrove Park in Bais City lead by local expert Camille Rivera of Marine Conservation Philippines and filmmaker Michael Du.

Documentary makers Michael Du and Justin Davey travelled to the island of Negros Oriental in the Phillippines to meet with community members who are making impressive efforts to protect and restore their mangrove ecosystems, through reforestation projects and sea patrols to deter illegal fishing. The session at GLF Bonn 2020 starts with a short documentary called ‘Hidden Heroes’ showcasing the stories of the unsung heroes at the coalface of this challenging, inglorious and deeply important task.

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Tangled Roots and Changing Tides: Mangrove governance for conservation and sustainable use

Global Landscapes Forum AM — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 07:30:07 +0000

Mangroves cut across ecosystems, sectors, jurisdictions and governance regimes. While few countries have a specific mangrove law, many national and international regimes apply to or affect mangroves in some way. Marine and coastal law can protect mangroves as fish habitat and guardians of coastal integrity. Freshwater law can address pollution and allocate water resources. Mangroves can be found within protected areas or specially designated forests, while species of mangrove and species that live within mangroves can have protected species status. Land use planning, permitting and environmental impact assessment processes apply to activities that affect mangroves. Basic governance frameworks relating to institutional setup, rulemaking procedures, budgetary allocation, judicial systems and land and resource tenure are critical determinants of how, and how effectively, mangroves can be managed. Guiding norms and concepts from international law and national constitutions shape treatment of mangroves under applicable law.

Mangrove governance involves local and regional actors as well as national and international policymakers. Customary authorities and community groups play key roles, whether they are formally recognized in constitutions, legislation or contracts, or operate without formal legal backing. Legal pluralism—overlapping systems of customary, statutory, community and common law norms and practices—characterizes mangrove governance in many countries.

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Communities restoring landscapes: Stories of resilience and success

Global Landscapes Forum AR — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 08:33:13 +0000

This collection of 12 stories from women and men in nine countries in different parts of Africa shines a light on the efforts of communities, some of them decades-long, in restoring degraded forests and landscapes. The stories are not generated through any rigorous scientific process, but are nonetheless illustrative of the opportunities communities create as they solve their own problems, and of the many entry points we have for supporting and accelerating community effort. The stories show that leadership, social capital and cooperation, clear property rights/tenure, and supportive governance are important for successful community-based restoration. From the perspectives of communities, “success” is not only about the number of trees planted and standing over a certain terrain: it is also about the ability to secure and enhance livelihoods; to strengthen existing community relationships and to build new ones with other actors; to develop a conservation ethic among younger generations; and, in some cases, to expand the rights of excluded individuals and groups. This collection is about amplifying the voices of local people in global policy debates…. “Listen!”

Foreword. Communities restoring landscapes: Stories of resilience and succes

Story 1. Holding back the desert: One farmer’s story of restoring degraded land in the Sahel region in Burkina Faso

Story 2. Women gaining ground through reforestation on the Cameroonian coast

Story 3. Building resilience to climate change through community forest restoration in Ghana

Story 4. Thinking in tomorrow: Women leading forest restoration in Mt Kenya and beyond

Story 5. Mikoko Pamoja: Carbon credits and community-based reforestation in Kenya’s mangroves

Story 6. Rights, responsibilities and collaboration: The Ogiek and tree growing in the Mau

Story 7. Restoring Madagascar’s mangroves: Community-led conservation makes for multiple benefits

Story 8. Flood recovery, livelihood protection and mangrove reforestation in the Limpopo River Estuary, Mozambique

Story 9. Regaining their lost paradise: Communities rehabilitating mangrove forests in the drought-affected Saloum Delta, Senegal

Story 10. From the grass roots to the corridors of power: Scaling up efforts for conservation and reforestation in Senegal

Story 11. Taming the rising tide: Keeping the ocean at bay through community reforestation on Kisiwa Panza island, Tanzania