World Mangrove Day 2025

World Mangrove Day is a day to raise awareness about mangrove ecosystems and their vital importance. These coastal forests bridge land and sea, supporting biodiversity and the livelihoods that depend on them. The Global Mangrove Alliance is a global network committed to restoring and conserving mangroves. We work in partnership with 100+ members and 14 national chapters who are implementing best practice on the ground. We often speak about the work of our community, but today we are lifting their voices to share their local stories of impact.

In the North of Sulawesi, Indonesia, NABU is working with local communities to protect and restore vital mangrove forests. A key person is Pak Umar, a member of the Bajo ethnic group. For over 20 years, he has been a passionate advocate for mangrove conservation. With deep knowledge of coastal ecosystems and a strong connection to nature, he inspires many young people in the region. For the Bajo, mangroves are more than just an ecosystem – they are a way of life, a source of identity, and a vital foundation for their future. People like Pak Umar and their extraordinary cultural and ecological knowledge are vital to turn a temporary conservation project into a lasting commitment. His presence in the photo reflects this deep commitment.

Learn more about the project and our work here.

TERRE Policy Centre: Empowering Women in Maharashtra

In this coastal Indian village, local women are at the heart of ecological restoration. Through focused capacity-building sessions, women from local Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are being trained in the importance of mangroves. What began as an awareness initiative has evolved into hands-on conservation action. The efforts don’t stop at restoration. The women have also established and now manage a fully functional mangrove nursery. It stands as a symbol of sustainable livelihood and environmental stewardship, where women are not only restoring nature but also generating income and gaining recognition within their communities. Through their efforts, mangrove ecosystems are being revived, coastal resilience is being strengthened, and the link between gender equity and environmental sustainability is being forged — one sapling at a time.

Integrated Village Development Trust (IVDT) and Chale Chalo

CHALE CHALO is a grassroots NGO that has been collaborating with the Integrated Village Development Trust (IVDT)-UK, in Bhitarkanika National Park (BKNP) for the last two decades. Bhitarkanika Mangrove Wetland Forest is India’s second-largest mangrove habitat and  was designated as a Ramsar site in 2002. We have brought together 840 local community members to restore and conserve mangrove habitats. We have educated 200 students from 10 high schools on the restoration and conservation of mangroves, local birds, and topsoil fertility. We also convened 400 Eco-Club students to participate in events such as drawing, painting, poster and scroll making, debates, one-act plays, songs, and slogan writing focussing on the wetland mangrove habitat restoration.

We Forest – Senegal

In the heart of Casamance, where the river intertwines with the mangroves, a canoeist named Vieux fixed his eyes on a green islet in the middle of the water. He has personally witnessed how restoration and conservation efforts have allowed his once sparse island to now teem with life. Biodiversity, once so rich, had suffered. But today, a smile lit up his wrinkled face. “Truly, there is a gradual restoration of biodiversity in Casamance.” He saw in every bird that returned and in every new leaf that budded on the mangroves, a sign of hope.

Wetlands International Eastern Africa – Kenya

Fuelwood collection from mangrove forests has long been essential for communities in Lamu, Kenya—but it has also contributed to severe forest degradation. To address this, Wetlands International launched a community-led initiative to introduce energy-efficient cookstoves. These new stoves use significantly less wood, reduce indoor air pollution, lower household costs, and create safer cooking environments. Already benefiting over 3,000 people in Lamu Delta, the initiative has generated strong demand for replication across the region and beyond. For more information click here. Photo credit Priscilla Kagwa, Wetlands International Eastern Africa.

SOA Tanzania 

Since 2020, at SOA Tanzania has been leading mangrove restoration efforts and building a generation of restoration youth champions and coastal guardians. We’re working with over 695 youth and local community members to protect and restore mangrove ecosystems along the Tanzanian coast. Together, we have adopted 5,000 hectares of mangrove forest. Through this work, we also empower people in the sustainable blue economy, linking conservation with livelihoods.

A Light for Nature (LINAT) – Cameroon

Our work is rooted in community, culture, and climate action. Along the coast of Cameroon, mangroves were once vanishing quickly, taking with them our fish, our protection from storms and the deep cultural stories tied to the land. To combat this, we launched a locally led mangrove restoration project. Our mangroves carry the memory of our ancestors. They hold our stories and shape our identity. As Mr. Yana Asokwo, a local resident, says, “our mangroves are like a home for fish and crayfish. They give us food and money to support our families. They also protect us from floods and strong waves that can damage our homes.”

GMA National Chapter – Kenya

The collaboration between GMA–Kenya Chapter and NMMC is more than a policy alignment, it’s a platform for real change on the ground. Through joint efforts, the partnership is enhancing knowledge exchange, improving policy coherence, and optimizing the use of financial and technical resources. Local communities, often the first to feel the impacts of environmental degradation, are now better equipped to participate in and benefit from conservation efforts.

Capacity-building programs are empowering community forest associations, youth groups, and women-led initiatives to take active roles in mangrove restoration. Scientific monitoring is helping track ecosystem health and inform adaptive management. And public awareness campaigns are shifting perceptions, helping more people understand the value of mangroves not just as trees, but as life-sustaining ecosystems. Photo credit Judith Okello KMFRI.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), IUCN Mozambique & Save Our Mangroves Now – Mozambique

Mozambique faces substantial challenges in balancing development and environmental conservation. To protect biodiversity and address climate change, the country has adopted the ambitious 30×30 goals, safeguarding 30% of its terrestrial and marine ecosystems by 2030. In response, Mozambique’s Government, supported by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has launched a campaign to raise awareness and build consensus. This collaboration has produced a forward-looking framework within the National Territorial Development Plan (PNDT 2020-2040), which aims for a “prosperous, competitive, sustainable, safe, and inclusive” country. Pilot projects in two areas have proven innovative strategies and offer best practices for wider application. Read more here.

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT)

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) began planting mangroves in The Bahamas in 2020, restoring areas of Grand Bahama and Abaco so badly damaged by Hurricane Dorian that they were beyond natural recovery. Last December, BTT celebrated the planting of the 100,000th mangrove seedling with the bonefishing guides and volunteers, students and teachers, government officials, and local conservation partners whose hard work and dedication made achieving this milestone possible. The restoration project continues to grow! Our education programs engage students across the islands of The Bahamas through presentations and field trips that teach the cultural and economic importance of healthy mangroves. A new mangrove nursery will jumpstart restoration projects on Crooked and Acklins Islands. And as a founding member of the Bahamas Mangrove Alliance (BMA), BTT is pushing for increased protections for mangroves nationwide and accelerating restoration efforts. This World Mangrove Day, we are busily collecting red mangrove propagules, the seeds that will propel us towards our next goal with our BMA partners: 1 million mangroves planted.

MAR Alliance

Mangroves are true pillars of marine biodiversity.  At MarAlliance, we work in Panama and Belize to protect these critical ecosystems through participatory science, evidence-based conservation and the strengthening of local knowledge. Photo credit Rachel Graham. Read more here.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – Guatemala

The Mangrove Roundtable of Tiquisate and Nueva Concepción launched the “Sembrando Huella 2025” program, reinforcing strategic alliances with public and private sector entities, non-governmental organizations and educational institutions.

Rare – Brazil

In the Brazilian Amazon, traditional extractive communities are partnering with scientists, NGOs and private sector to co-develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool that helps them adapt to increasing climate variability. Led by the Marine Environmental Monitoring Research Group (LAPMAR) at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), with support from Rare Brazil and Accenture, the initiative translates environmental data — such as tide and lunar cycles — into daily WhatsApp audio alerts to guide safer and more productive harvesting of oysters and crabs. These value chains depend directly on healthy mangrove ecosystems, and the tool supports their sustainable management by integrating science, traditional knowledge, and community needs. Photo credit Jessica Wandscheer, Rare.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) – Ecuador

Puerto El Morro depends on mangroves for livelihoods. Don Adolfo Ávila has spent half a century working in the mangroves in Puerto El Morro. Alongside his fellow members of the Manglares Porteños Artisanal Fishers Cooperative, he sets out for the day’s work. “My father used to say, ‘We have to go fishing,’ and that was it—I’d go. The mangrove gave us our income and food for the family,” says Don Adolfo as he digs through the mud with his tool to collect shells. This work, which has long been the economic backbone of Puerto El Morro, has declined over the years due to various factors such as pollution and mangrove deforestation. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) works with several coastal communities in Ecuador, providing training on monitoring and surveillance, mangrove conservation, proper shellfish and crab harvesting, community governance, and promoting sustainable livelihoods—such as in the case of Puerto El Morro.

Planète Urgence – Indonesia

These photos were taken in the intervention zones of our mangrove planting project in East Kalimantan, where reforestation efforts—carried out in collaboration with local communities—are focused on restoring degraded riparian. Photo credit Alexandra, Planète Urgence.

Wetlands International – Indonesia

Onggojoyo Jaya, one of the community groups in coastal Demak, Central Java, Indonesia is currently developing a mud crab (Scylla serrata) fattening business in their eroding and prone to tidal floods ponds. The fattening process takes approximately 15–20 days before the crabs are ready for harvest. This GMA supported initiative through the Mangrove for Food Security (MFS) project aims to improve the local coastal economy by utilizing previously unproductive pond areas. In addition, the project aims to restore the eroding ponds by creating a mangrove greenbelt along the pond dikes adjacent to the intertidal river.

Fauna & Flora – Cambodia

Fauna & Flora and partners are working in Cambodia towards the establishment of a national network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), building on our critical support for the designation of Cambodia’s first Marine National Park in the Koh Rong Archipelago in 2018. We support the conservation and restoration of mangroves in collaboration with the Cambodian Government and our partners Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise (FCEE) and Children and Women’s Development in Cambodia (CWDCC). Fishing Cat Ecological Enterprise and Fauna & Flora work in the largest mangrove area in mainland Southeast Asia. In 2023, FCEE, Fauna & Flora and several collaborators and contributors conducted the first comprehensive biodiversity assessment of this mangrove ecosystem, recording over 700 species. Photo credit Kieran Murray, Fauna & Flora.