© Santiago Gibert / WWF-Mexico

This Earth Day, Invest in Mangrove Ecosystems

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AN EXCERPT FROM THE GLOBAL MANGROVE ALLIANCE’S
EARTH DAY 2022 NEWSLETTER

This Earth Day arrives amid conflict and global health and climate crises. Still, there are continued glimmers of hope for the future of our planet.

In the last few months, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released two intermediary reports on the state of global climate. Overall outcomes look dire, however, there is still time to limit climate change to 1.5°C if immediate action is taken to restore and protect ecosystems, reduce carbon emissions, and improve energy efficiency.

Mangrove ecosystems are mentioned in both reports, highlighted as strong nature-based solutions to help wildlife and communities mitigate and adapt to climate change, but also as at-risk for climate change related impacts like sea level rise and groundwater salinization.

So how do we keep climate change to 1.5°C, invest in our ecosystems, protect and restore mangroves, and sustain benefits for people and nature?

The good news is that we have the best science knowledge to date, and more people and organizations committed to slowing climate change than ever before. In the Global Mangrove Alliance Knowledge Hub alone, we have almost 200 resources, from fact sheets and infographics to policy and management guidelines that detail best practices and case studies from around the world. Some of our resources include:

  • The Global Mangrove Watch data mapping platform, containing data on mangrove extent, change, blue carbon and more,
  • Restoration manuals, like this one for the Mesoamerican region,
  • Guiding principles on sustainable mangrove ecosystem management for policy decision-makers,
  • Management practitioner toolkits to evaluate equality and community engagement,
  • and more, detailed in our Member Updates below and in our Tools and Resources.

This summer, we’ll share updates on a new tool to improve mangrove management and restoration, an update to The State of the World’s Mangroves report series, and a look ahead to the full IPCC Synthesis Report and the UNFCCC COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Read the full Earth Day newsletter here.