BIODIVERSITY RESTORATION: Mozambique gives green light to Africa’s largest mangrove restoration project.

Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Johannesburg, South Africa
Mozambique has given the green light to a project to plant 200 million mangroves in Mozambique’s mangroves over the next 60 years, which will begin in November, the project’s promoter has announced.
The project will be the largest mangrove concession in Africa, Dubai-based Blue Forest said in a statement, adding that it had obtained the necessary license from the Mozambican government after two and a half years of feasibility studies.
“We will start planting the first of 200 million mangroves in Quelimane, Zambezia in November, in phase with the start of the rainy season in Mozambique,” Blue Forest founder and CEO Vahid Fotuhi explained to the press.
The project will restore mangroves over an area of 155,000 hectares, twice the size of Singapore, he added. It is expected to create around 5,000 jobs.
Mangroves, which grow along sea shores in areas regularly covered by salt or brackish water, are among the world’s most efficient carbon sinks. Their powerful aerial roots also stabilize coastal areas, protecting them from erosion and providing shelter for important fauna.

The vast mangrove ecosystem along Mozambique’s 2,000 km coastline has been damaged by cyclones and floods, as well as by logging and deforestation.
Over the next 60 years, the MozBlue project is expected to capture 20.4 million tonnes of CO2, contributing to efforts to curb climate change, Mr. Fotuhi assured.

Humaniterre with AFP