Happy International Day of the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem

It’s International Day of the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, and we continue to advocate for mangrove conservation. They continue to reduce in coverage, and this is a big problem roaming.

I was lucky again to join one of my favorite organizations, Blue Earth Organization, in a mangrove planting on the 24th of July 2021. We also had had groups, it’s getting bigger, and more people are thrilled with mangrove planting.

Sadly, the mangrove cover continues to shrink. The planting and growing of mangroves continue to try to fill that gap left by overexploitation, but more needs to happen.

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Joining hands by different groups gives hope to increase in growth of mangroves and awareness creation. This will go a long way, We need more people in ensuring that mangrove conservation is taken seriously.

“If there are no mangrove forests, then the sea will have no meaning. It is like having a tree with no roots, for the mangroves are the roots of the sea.”

— fisherman, Trang Province, southern Thailand

Benefits of mangroves include;

• Provide habitat to the marine life
• Provide food
• Provide materials to be used by communities
• Important in Carbon sequestration
• Important for a stable coastline
• Protection from the storm and waves

Conclusion

Today is just a reminder that we need to conserve mangroves, and should be an everyday affair.

Every seedling planted, should have an after-care plan in place, and more seedlings added as time goes by.

We should continue promoting awareness among communities to enable them to join the movement. The more, the merrier. And these needs all hands on deck.

Identify what works for you, and let make it happen.

Let’s be happy and content with what we will have done by next year. Let our next year’s celebration highlight a mangrove forest that we will have succeeded to establish.