Restoration Best Practices:

What Works and What to Avoid

Dr. Laura Michie, Mangrove Action Project

World Ocean Day is a celebration of 71% of Earth's surface. The ocean plays a vital role in providing oxygen, food, and climate regulation. What bridges land and sea, buffering against flooding as sea levels rise? Mangrove ecosystems.

The 15 million hectares of mangroves across the globe play a vital role in supporting biodiversity, protecting coastlines, sustaining fisheries, and storing large amounts of carbon. Yet, 50% of mangroves are at risk of collapse by 2050. Mangrove restoration has gained increasing attention over the past two decades. As interest in blue carbon projects continues to grow, so does the number of restoration initiatives being implemented around the world.

However, successful mangrove restoration requires more than simply planting trees. While well-intentioned, many restoration projects fail because they overlook the ecological processes that allow mangrove ecosystems to establish and thrive naturally.

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Common Restoration Mistakes

One of the most frequent mistakes in mangrove restoration is planting in unsuitable locations. Mangroves are often planted on mudflats, in seagrass meadows, or in areas where environmental conditions cannot support long-term growth. In many cases, projects focus on achieving ambitious planting targets rather than understanding why mangroves were lost in the first place. If conditions are not suitable, planted seedlings are unlikely to survive regardless of the effort invested.

Another common challenge is the planting of a single species across large areas. This approach often results in the wrong species being planted in the wrong place and can result in forests that lack the biodiversity and resilience of natural mangrove ecosystems.

© Diego-Vivanco_L

Restoration That Works

There is no single solution to mangrove restoration. Successful restoration begins with understanding the site being restored. Before any intervention takes place, it is essential to identify the factors that caused degradation and determine whether natural recovery is possible.

One approach that has gained widespread recognition is Community-Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR). CBEMR works by identifying and addressing the factors that prevent mangroves from naturally regenerating, such as disrupted hydrology, elevation changes, or ongoing human pressures. Rather than focusing primarily on planting, the approach seeks to restore the environmental conditions that allow mangroves to recover on their own.

CBEMR also places strong emphasis on community led projects. By involving local stakeholders in site assessment, planning, implementation, and monitoring, restoration efforts are more likely to address local needs and remain sustainable over the long term. This combination of ecological understanding and community stewardship often results in more biodiverse, resilient, and self-sustaining mangrove ecosystems.

Therefore when beginning a restoration project, and before planting, practitioners should understand site hydrology, elevation, salinity, and sediment dynamics, as well as how the site has changed over time. Historical maps, aerial imagery, and local ecological knowledge can help identify mangrove use and any disturbances that may have caused stressors.

Equally important is understanding the social context. Land tenure, resource use, governance, and community priorities can all influence restoration outcomes. Understanding community needs and building local capacity helps ensure that restored ecosystems continue to provide environmental, social, and economic benefits well into the future.

Restoration activities can then focus on removing the local stressors, this may include improving tidal flow (such as introducing culverts under roads, or removing sediment and debris from blocked channels), removing or reshaping shrimp pond walls, managing grazing animals or reducing wood harvesting pressure. Removing the stressors will allow nature to thrive. Natural regeneration can produce more diverse and resilient forests while reducing the costs associated with nursery development and large-scale planting. Where planting is required, it should be used strategically and based on site-specific ecological assessments.

© Mangrove Action Project

Restoration in Action

In El Salvador, Asociación Mangle and local communities have restored large areas of degraded mangrove in Jiquilisco Bay by addressing hydrological barriers that prevented natural regeneration. Sedimentation coming from upstream areas had gradually blocked tidal channels, reducing water exchange and leading to widespread mangrove diebacks. Local community members reopened approximately three kilometers of blocked channels, restoring water flow to previously degraded areas. Once hydrology was re-established, mangroves regenerated naturally across extensive areas, improving habitat quality, fisheries productivity, and biodiversity.

Similarly, in Kenya's Lamu County, Wetlands International and local communities restored degraded mangrove areas by addressing the hydrological barriers that were preventing natural regeneration. By reopening channels and restoring natural tidal flows, the project created the conditions needed for mangroves to recover naturally. Within six months, monitoring showed improved water circulation and clear signs of mangrove regrowth, demonstrating how ecological restoration approaches can support the recovery of degraded mangroves.

Protect Existing Mangroves First

While restoration is important, protecting existing mangrove forests remains one of the most effective climate and conservation actions. Healthy mangrove forests already provide critical ecosystem services, including carbon storage, coastal protection, biodiversity habitat, and support for local livelihoods. Once lost, these functions can take decades to recover, even with successful restoration.

Protecting existing mangroves is often more cost-effective and delivers greater environmental benefits than restoring degraded areas. Restoration should therefore complement, not replace, efforts to conserve intact mangroves.

Thinking Long Term

Every mangrove site has unique environmental, social, and economic conditions that must be considered for restoration. By prioritizing ecological processes, engaging local communities, and protecting existing forests, restoration projects can create more diverse, resilient, and sustainable mangrove ecosystems. Ultimately, the most successful projects work with nature rather than against it.