Megan McDaniels/WWF

GMA 2019 Workshop in Reflection

The second Global Mangrove Alliance workshop in Washington, D.C. brought together more than 80 global mangrove experts from 15 partner organizations to create a road map for opportunities and strategies for the conservation and sustainable management of mangroves worldwide.

The workshop gave our global and regional members the opportunity to convene, refine the Alliance’s vision and work plan, and assess progress towards our target of increasing mangrove extent worldwide by 20% by 2030. Despite a snowstorm in D.C., participants joined from global programs, academic organizations, and regional and field staff from nearly every region where mangroves are found!

IUCN, WWF, Wetlands International, Conservation International, and The Nature Conservancy, as well as Scripps Institute of Oceanography, NASA, Wildlife Conservation Society, Restore America’s Estuaries, the Mangrove Action project, Audubon Society, Rare, Cinestav, and Pew Charitable Trusts were all represented for a week of discussion and collaboration on the Alliance targets, forging partnerships, identifying common goals and strategies, and highlighting opportunities for synergies and collaboration in specific regions and geographies.

Over three days participants came together to conduct a mapping exercise of the ongoing projects and initiatives of the organizations in the room, showcasing the global spread of the GMA and why collaboration on our goals across the Alliance can both strengthen ongoing projects and lead to the development of other large-scale regional projects.

Workshop participants share a map to show where their organizations are working on mangrove conservation, restoration, education, and policy globally.

Breakout groups focused on restoration, science, policy and governance, human well-being, and innovative finance, discussing how these areas contribute to the GMA goals, as well as building on the interlinkages of the topics through development of work plans focused on each goal. On other days, breakout groups brought together regional colleagues spanning organizations for the collaborative development of project ideas capitalizing on the strength of multiple organizations.

Moving forward, the GMA will be releasing more information on the key outcomes of the workshop, sharing further experiences, and discussing continued collaboration as we all work together through the Alliance to achieve our shared goals of mangrove conservation.

Pipe cleaner mangrove art created by participants.