How organizations are empowering local communities for mangrove restoration
Roughly half of the world’s mangroves have been lost. Learn how organizations are partnering with local communities to restore mangroves around the world.
Image courtesy of timothy kinan
What are mangroves, and why are they so important for addressing climate change?
Mangroves are coastal trees that grow in saltwater marshes that flood at high tide. Mangroves are vital in the fight against climate change because they store exponentially more carbon than tropical or temperate forests. Additionally, they prevent erosion, filter water, and provide a buffer that protects the shoreline against extreme weather events like hurricanes. However, roughly half of the world’s mangroves have been lost to causes including agriculture and aquaculture, coastal development, cyclone damage, and the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels and increased ocean acidity.
Why use drones to restore mangroves?
Unfortunately, traditional forms of mangrove reforestation are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Drones can help overcome these challenges in two ways. First, conservationists and community members can use drones to collect spatial imagery of a landscape, which can help determine where seeds should be planted. Then, they can use drones to sow seeds from the air, which is significantly faster than planting trees by hand
“Roughly half of the world’s mangroves have been lost to causes including agriculture and aquaculture, coastal development, cyclone damage, and the impacts of climate change”
Drones help restore mangroves in Myanmar
In 2012, the Worldview International Foundation began a reforestation project in Myanmar to plant over a billion trees and reforest 350,000 hectares of land. Initially, the organization worked with local community members to plant seedlings by hand. However, the organization realized it would take an exceedingly long time to complete the project using manual planting techniques.
Looking for a way to improve planting efficiency, the Worldview International Foundation partnered with Dendra (previously BioCarbon Engineering) in 2018 to use drones to plant mangrove seeds more quickly. In contrast to the laborious process of manual planting, two drone operators flying ten drones could theoretically plant 400,000 saplings in a day. Less than a year after drone planting began, some of the saplings stood 20 inches tall, demonstrating the value of using drones for reforestation.
Mangroves are vital in the fight against climate change because they store exponentially more carbon than tropical or temperate forests
Why is community engagement critical for successful reforestation projects?
As Dendra co-founder Irina Fedorenko said, "The forest didn't vanish by itself — the forest was cut down by local people."
Dendra recognized that their project was about more than carbon storage or ecosystem restoration for local community members. They realized their project could also support the economic development of local communities. Residents who previously worked in charcoal production, which contributed to mangrove deforestation, were trained to be drone pilots planting trees and to run aquaculture businesses in the mangrove forests.
In addition to creating jobs and stimulating the local economy, drone reforestation provided the community with the opportunity to take part in the global carbon market. The global carbon market is the system under which credits representing carbon emissions are bought, sold, or traded. The communities participating in the mangrove reforestation project could earn carbon offset credits for the greenhouse gas emissions they sequestered and sell these credits to the company to produce revenue for their local communities.
mangroves prevent erosion, filter water, and provide a buffer that protects the shoreline against extreme weather events like hurricanes
Stories like this demonstrate why mangrove reforestation is a form of community development that requires more than technological application. Local support is essential, and these projects can create sustainable livelihoods that enrich communities.
The success of this project has led to other implementations around the globe: In April 2021, Panama Flying Labs ran a demonstration of mangrove drone seeding on volunteered local lands. These trees will be cared for by residents, making successful germination more likely and promoting local involvement with this technology.
On a governmental level, in 2020, Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency collaborated with ENGIE as part of their “Blue Carbon” social and environmental responsibility project to plant mangrove seed balls over a 2.5 acres portion of the coastal Mirfa lagoon. After a year of monitoring to confirm successful germination, their partner Digital Imagery returned to plant 35,000 additional seed pods.
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