Mangrove forests are in decline, but rate of loss is slowing. L ast month, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released their Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) for 2020. The report is published every five years (starting in 1990) and compiles forestry data from 236 countries and territories. Overarching statistics are captured for natural, planted, and primary forests. Mangroves are categorized as a primary forest—where there has been minimal human activity and disturbance—and therefore have their own dedicated section. Following are excerpts of the report’s assessment on mangroves. “FRA 2020 received information on mangroves for 2020 from 223 countries and territories, of which 113 indicated that they have areas of mangrove forest” “More than 40 percent of the global area of mangroves is in four countries: Indonesia (19 percent of the global total), Brazil (9 percent), Nigeria (7 percent) and Mexico (6 percent).” “Globally, the area of mangroves decreased by 1.04 million ha between 1990 and 2020 (Table 31). The rate of loss more than halved over the three decades, from 46 700 ha per year in 1990–2000, to 36 300 ha per year in 2000– 2010, to 21 200 ha per year in the most recent decade.” “There was a substantial increase in the average annual rate of mangrove loss in Asia, from 1,030 ha in 1990–2000 to 38,200 ha in 2010–2020. The increased rate of loss was due mainly to Indonesia, which reported an average annual loss of 6,800 ha in 1990–2000 and 21,100 ha in the most recent decade.” These reports are, and will continue to be, used for the UN’s sustainable development goal regarding Life on Land – indicators 15.1.1 and 15.2.1. Overall rate of loss has slowed for mangroves and all forests globally, but there is still work to be done. FAO experts expect that a global halt on deforestation will take another 25 years to achieve. This report helps to highlight specific countries and regions that need attention and the Global Mangrove Alliance will continue to push for conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems. An interactive map of global mangrove data, updated regularly, is available from the Global Mangrove Watch here . The full report is available here .

Written by Martin Keeley (Mangrove Education Project & Mangrove Action Project ) After more than 20 years of legal action Cayman Islands’ mangroves finally have official legal protection, which should, finally, prevent these dwindling yet critically important species from being removed by developers without consequence. In early May, the National Conservation Council (NCC) finalized the adoption of a Species Conservation Plan , which formalizes mangrove protection in law and outlines the very strict conditions under which they can be removed. Cayman and international environmental organizations, including the Mangrove Action Project (MAP) have warned about the dangers of mangrove clearance for years. Since the urban and tourist developments started accelerating in the early 1980s Cayman has lost over 25% of its mangroves. More recently, there has been an increase in the number of development sites where a significant swathe of mangroves has been illegally cleared before planning permission was obtained. This meant that the Department of Environment (DOE) was not given the opportunity to advise either against any removal or how it should be done to mitigate negative impact, raising concerns for the scientists at the department. In many cases mangrove destruction has taken place when developers are either unaware or simply do not care about the importance of mangroves or how they would benefit the proposed projects.   Just last month the Central Planning Authority (CPA) considered and granted an application for after-the-fact land clearance in the Prospect area – a process that is quite common. Several acres of mangroves that were part of an important drainage system were removed so a developer could dump soil and store materials to support a nearby condominium development. Hotel and condo construction going on fast in former mangrove habitat © Martin Keeley The DoE had urged the CPA to take appropriate measures regarding this last bout of mangrove destruction because the DoE conservation officers could not intervene until the mangrove conservation plan had been approved. But the CPA did nothing and gave the developer after-the-fact permission. While the CPA could impose penalties for such destruction the agency has never applied such fines despite the commonality of the practice. But from now on mangroves are formally protected and anyone who removes, kills or damages them commits an offence under section 33 of the National Conservation Law. With no specific penalty in place, the courts have the discretion to fine perpetrators up to half a million dollars or send them to jail for as long as four years, which is the maximum penalty for conservation law infractions. — Meanwhile, a group of young people in the Cayman Islands who campaign for conservation and environmental awareness, are not letting the current lockdown stop their efforts and are using social media to campaign hard for the Caribbean-wide initiative to plant trees, including mangroves. © Martin Keeley The students, who have formed the group Protect Our Future , are also pressing for a curb on development in Cayman, which has caused thousands of trees to be removed. “This is especially damaging and dangerous for Cayman because most of the trees destroyed are mangroves,” the POF students said. “Mangroves sequester four times the amount of carbon than rainforests do and protect our coastlines from severe weather events. By tearing down our mangroves, we are releasing a vast amount of carbon into the environment, once again contributing to climate change. Through leading and promoting the reforestation of our mangroves we will be creating a more sustainable environment for our future,” they added in social media postings.

Member Spotlight IFRC joined the Global Mangrove Alliance in early 2020 and is made up of a network of 192 National Societies, reaching 150 million people with over 13.7 million volunteers, making it the world’s largest humanitarian network. The collective plan of action of the IFRC is to “tackle the major humanitarian and development challenges of this decade…committed, in this fast-changing world, to ‘saving lives and changing minds.’” The IFRC network has been working on humanitarian projects through mangrove conservation for over 20 years. Most recently, IFRC launched a project with The Nature Conservancy in the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Jamaica to help the islands protect themselves from climate-related disasters through nature-based solutions, including utilizing mangroves. By supporting natural solutions to extreme weather events, the islands will also benefit by attracting more tourists, supplying stronger fisheries, and reducing erosion. A tool for examining the coastal protections and flood risks to Jamaica was released in late 2019, and is available from the Coastal Resilience program here . To learn more about IFRC’s work with humanitarian projects and mangroves, check out this story about mangrove reforestation in Vietnam with the help of the Japanese and Viet Nam Red Cross societies and this story in Indonesia with the help of the Indonesian and American Red Cross societies and USAID. IFRC Expert: Stephanie JULMY Lead, Climate and Resilience Disasters and Climate Crises Department (Prevention, Response and Recovery) stephanie.julmy@ifrc.org

These forests still need our help to do the job. The annual forestry journal published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization included a review paper written by WWF experts on Nature-based solutions for water-related disasters. One of the many benefits of mangroves to coastal communities is the ability of these trees to buffer the impacts of increasingly frequent and intense storms. Integrating mangroves into disaster risk reduction can be more effective than building infrastructure to protect coastal communities from flooding and deadly wave action – but when this natural infrastructure is lost due to development, alternate land usage, and even climate change side-effects, the benefit provided to communities is lost too. In Nature-based solutions for water-related disasters the authors list several recommendations for maximizing the role of mangroves in disaster risk reduction (DRR): “ Disaster risk managers can improve outcomes in the use of mangroves for DRR by carefully considering a range of factors in risk reduction analysis, planning and management. They should consider the viability of current – and potential for future – protective mangrove ecosystem services in the context of combined climate and development impacts over time to better understand how well and to what extent mangroves might help reduce risks. Policymakers and managers should understand the interaction of these factors at a landscape scale.” “ Integrated, multidisciplinary post-disaster studies can increase understanding of the DRR efficacy of mangroves.” “It is important to consider how long it will take for mangroves affected by extreme events to recover and thereby provide their protective services. This should be factored into recovery and DRR planning.” “As mangroves migrate due to a changing climate, they may no longer provide the same protective functions to communities relying on them.” “Adaptive frameworks and decision-support tools that enable managers to integrate and continuously update projections of climate-change risk, land use and human population growth can increase the effectiveness of natural infrastructure, including mangroves .” Click here to read the paper in the Unasylva journal beginning on page 67. Community mangrove restoration in Madagascar © WWF-Madagascar

Rapid Assessment Guidance Manual Mangroves are an amazingly rich ecosystem, supporting biodiversity, providing natural resources and services – and thus supporting livelihoods – and storing carbon. Mangroves also offer a very effective defense against the effects of climate change on tropical coast, protecting deltas from shrinking and sinking. But deltaic and estuary mangroves forest have an Achille heal: they depend on a steady supply of sediment flows to strive and survive. Yet the delivery of sediment from most tropical rivers to their mouths has been drastically reduced over the past 3 decades. This rapid assessment tool has been designed to assist practitioners & decision makers in understanding and assessing the role of sediment flows while considering conservation, replantation or regeneration mangrove forest projects. DOWNLOAD THE RAPID ASSESSMENT GUIDE HERE Section 1 of this report provides context on the role of mangroves, as a unique ecosystem, and their benefits to people. It also outlines why sediment supply is important for mangrove sustainability, the impacts of a diminishing sediment supply, and why one should consider sediment when undertaking mangrove conservation and restoration. Section 2 sets the objectives and frame of the rapid assessment tool. Section 3 presents method and guidance to understand and assess key processes, the impact of human interventions and how to measure this impact on sediment flows and deposition, while taking into account the state of relevant governance and policy frameworks at four spatial scales of analysis interlinked by sediment flow connectivity: (1) river basin scale, (2) delta scale, (3) coastal scale, and (4) site scale. Section 4 explains how to conduct a rapid assessment for non-experts when data is readily available – even if it is limited. Section 5 provides concluding remarks on the future of mangroves in the context of climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures. Further guidance on how to use the tool is provided in the annex.   MANGROVES TODAY Mangroves are found at the junction of three biomes¹: terrestrial, marine and freshwater. They are found in the intertidal zone between high and low water on low-lying coasts, and they are one of the world’s most productive ecosystems for food, notably for rice and fish. Mangrove areas are therefore often densely populated by humans, which brings them under significant and ever-increasing pressures that have resulted in the conversion of large tracts of mangrove forests to coastal development, for example agriculture and aquaculture zones. The exploitation of mangrove areas is however extremely problematic: these extraordinary trees that have the ability to thrive despite the presence of salt in water, play a unique role as biodiversity hotspots. They are also one of nature’s anti-tsunami and anti-cyclone defence systems. Cyclones are becoming more intense with climate change, making the pressures on mangroves a problem that needs to be addressed with extreme vigilance. Pressures on mangroves are often direct. These include deforestation, either related to wood-cutting – for firewood and construction – or to the conversion of mangrove areas into farmlands, aquaculture farms, and grazing pastures. Coastal erosion and increased subsidence in river deltas – which both account for more than 40% of the world’s mangrove areas – are also detrimental factors of mangrove degradation. Increased subsidence in river deltas is more difficult to ascertain, and is thus often overlooked. Coastal erosion and increased subsidence in river deltas are essentially due to insufficient river sediment supply, a phenomenon that can originate several thousand kilometres upstream in the river basins to which these deltas belong. The net long-term sustainability of mangrove-bearing shorelines depends first and foremost on an adequate sediment supply. Mangroves – like all trees – rely on sediments, yet are at the same time, limited producers of sediments (meaning in situ organic production by mangrove roots, leaves and tree trunks.) Mangrove populations are often found on coasts that are subjected to land subsidence and erosion processes that are in natural dynamic balance, meaning that natural forces continuously ensure that sediments are replenished. Without an adequate sediment supply, these processes become imbalanced, thus creating serious threats to the integrity of mangrove ecosystems.   MANGROVES AND SEDIMENTS In considering the role of mangrove ecosystems, the free flow and availability of sediments constitute an overarching background factor without which (1) mangrove substrate elevations cannot be durably sustained, and (2) the commonly considered ‘land-building’ and ‘coastal protection’ roles of mangroves cannot be successful. The extent to which mangroves can be conserved, or the eventual outcome of mangrove rehabilitation or restoration projects, fundamentally depend on sediment supply. Many mangrove rehabilitation or restoration projects, often implemented at a considerable cost, unfortunately overlook this fundamental criterion, and therefore sometimes meet with failure. Sediment replenishment to coasts by rivers is a natural process which is greatly hindered by the trapping effect of man-made structures, such as dam reservoirs, and by sand mining. This is further aggravated by groundwater extraction and by sea-level rise induced by climate change, both of which increase the need for more sediments to balance accelerating subsidence, and to fill the ‘accommodation space’ created by water-level increases. This is notably the case in delta areas where natural subsidence is common, and which can exacerbate sea-level rise. Further disruptions of sediment supply and dynamics are frequently caused by the presence of harbours, ports, and coastal protection structures such as groins and dykes. © Hartmut Jungius / WWF THE RAPID ASSESSMENT GUIDE The aim of this report is to provide an assessment guidance manual for the management of mangrove conservation and restoration. This manual takes into account sediment flows and sediment deposition as crucial factors in the success of mangrove projects. This will help local decision-makers in large tropical river deltas to better plan and manage mangrove conservation and restoration programmes. Derived from background literature, workshops in Tanzania, Vietnam and Myanmar, and questionnaires on policy and field practices in connection to mangroves in the Irrawaddy, Ganges-Brahmaputra, Indus, Mekong and Rufiji river deltas, the manual has two key purposes: one, to ensure mangrove practitioners, coastal zone managers and land-use planners in delta regions are aware of, and able to address sediment issues at the various spatial and temporal scales of analysis and planning – with special attention given to mangrove resilience to environmental stressors and perturbations – and to better understand the factors that lead to the success or the failure of mangrove replanting and rehabilitation projects. Secondly, this manual aims to provide guidance on best management practices, by integrating the sediment-supply dimension in mangrove conservation, rehabilitation or restoration. The rapid evaluation guidance manual applies a multi-scale approach to the assessment of sediment supply and availability. It guides the collection of existing information on man-made major causes of loss of sediments, and the governance frameworks relative to their management. The four embedded scales are: the river basin scale, the delta scale, the coastal scale, and the local mangrove site scale. DOWNLOAD THE RAPID ASSESSMENT GUIDE HERE For more information, contact Marc Goichot , WWF Greater Mekong Programme Office.

A new report from the Global Commission on Adaptation calls for investing in mangrove forests. One of the best solutions to the #climatecrisis is investing in nature. A new report from the Global Commission on Adaptation outlines what the world stands to gain if it invests in mangroves, and other adaptation efforts, to mitigate climate change. According to Act Now: A Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience , “investing $1.8 trillion globally in five areas from 2020 to 2030 could generate $7.1 trillion in total net benefits.” “The five areas we consider are early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved dryland agriculture, mangrove protection , and investments in making water resources more resilient. This represents only a portion of the total investments needed and total benefits available.” As the world aims for ambitious climate targets, the Global Commission on Adaptation makes clear that mangroves are part of the solution. "We find that adaptation actions bring multiple benefits, which we call the triple dividend." - Global Commission on Adaptation Read the full report here .

On July 26, the world celebrates fascinating climate protectors: mangroves. Declared World Mangrove Day by the General Commission of UNESCO, this day raises awareness for the immense environmental and economic importance of this ecosystem, but also the pressing threats that mangroves face and that urgently need to be tackled. Despite their physical distance to Germany, mangroves have an impact on the lives of people around the globe, and even our everyday choices in countries like Germany are closely linked to the survival of these habitats. Therefore, on World Mangrove Day 2019, the people of Hamburg got a surprise. The Save Our Mangroves Now! team had placed an eye-catching floating mangrove installation in the city’s central lake and provided curious visitors with information and consumer tips. An additional life-size mangrove on land offered a place to relax and take a break in the shade of its leaves. In the course of the day, we enjoyed great chats and encounters around the installation. Mangrove forests occur between sea and land along tropical and subtropical coasts and estuaries. They are among the most prolific, species-rich and adaptable ecosystems on earth. They save three to five times more CO2 per hectare than tropical forests on land, thus helping to reduce climate change. They are not only habitat and nursery for marine life, but also for many birds as well as land-based mammals and reptiles. In addition, mangroves fortify the coasts and mitigate the effects of tidal waves and floods. For more than 120 million people, especially in developing countries, they provide livelihoods and subsistence through the natural resources they provide. Impressions from World Mangrove Day 2019 in Hamburg © Mirjam Kluka
 / WWF-Germany

Mangrove Restoration for Sustainable Development Goal 14: Discover the Potential Information to join and resources below. The wide-ranging benefits of mangrove restoration, conservation & sustainable management are a key pathway to meeting the targets of SDG14. Many of the voluntary commitments made towards SDG14 through the UN Community of Ocean Action for Mangroves focus on global, national, and local mangrove restoration. In this webinar, Dr. Tom Worthington of the University of Cambridge presented the Mangrove Restoration Potential Map and demonstrate how to utilize the map to inform effective restoration. In addition, coordinators of the Global Mangrove Alliance, Jen Howard of Conservation International and Emily Goodwin of IUCN, showcased the work of the Alliance to accelerate progress towards a global restoration target of extending mangrove cover 20% by 2030. The presentations were followed by discussions on how the UN Community of Ocean Action for Mangroves can work together to advance mangrove restoration globally for the implementation of SDG14 and other SDGs. An introduction to the Mangrove Restoration Potential Map can be found here ; the Map itself is available here .   There were two iterations of this webinar to make it accessible to multiple time zones, one for the Americas and Africa on June 12 and on for Asia and Oceania on June 14. Recordings of the webinars can be found here and here .

Habitats like mangrove forests have been destroyed rapidly, leading to sharp declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services, threatening billions worldwide. Over a quarter of all mangrove cover has been lost since 1980, a majority of which was caused by human development. Dramatic land and sea-use change like this is the leading threat to over a million species worldwide, according to a new global assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The other main drivers of extinction are direct exploitation of species, climate change, pollution, and invasive species. Coastal ecosystems are particularly threatened by all of these factors as human populations grow, resource use expands, and climate change ramps up the intensity of storms and sea level rise.   Mangroves are a framework for rich and plentiful biodiversity: thousands of fish and shellfish species, turtles, manatees, migratory birds, tigers, corals, and sponges are just a slice of the biodiversity that mangroves support. They also create the conditions that allow humans and wildlife to thrive by buffering coastlines from waves, purifying water, stabilizing shorelines, and storing massive amounts of carbon in their waterlogged soils. But urban expansion, infrastructure development, aquaculture and agriculture, polluted runoff, and deforestation for firewood, all fueled by increasing human population and resource consumption, are eating away 1% of mangrove cover each year. Source: IPBES 2019 Global Assessment Mangroves do not need need to be victims, the report emphasizes; if we take care of them, they can be part of an arsenal of natural solutions for biodiversity loss and climate change while helping realize the Sustainable Development Goals and improving human well-being.   The bottom line: urgent, collective action must be taken from the highest levels of government through local and indigenous communities. The Global Mangrove Alliance is actively leveraging the power of our fifteen national and international members to advance mangrove conservation, policy, and research and the indivisible social issues, like livelihoods and gender equality. The time for transformative action is now, and mangroves are part of the solution.

The continuous application of Mangroves for the Future’s (MFF) knowledge and governance structures to leverage and scale up MFF investments, share knowledge and influence national policy development, is critical in contributing to sustainable coastal resource management in Asia. This was the clear message that emerged at the MFF completion workshop held in Bangkok, Thailand on February 13, 2019. The workshop presented MFF’s achievements over the years, its plans moving forward, and initiatives that can be scaled up or replicated. Initiatives that had a positive impact at the national or local level, include natural resource governance mechanisms for mangrove and water resource management, nature based solutions for waste water treatment and mangrove restoration, climate smart agriculture, mangrove polyculture systems, and strengthening capacity for integrated coastal management (ICM). “MFF can be viewed as an ecosystem of good practices, which has generated a great amount of co-funding from governments and international projects and programmes,”  said Ms Aban Marker Kabraji, Regional Director IUCN Asia . Since its inception, MFF has overseen more than 380 grant projects implemented primarily by local civil society organisations, delivering on-the-ground results for the wellbeing of coastal ecosystems and communities. The projects also contributed to meeting the targets of Multilateral Environmental Agreements and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 1, SDG 5, SDG 13 and SDG 14. In terms of governance, MFF established multi-stakeholder National Coordinating Bodies in 11 countries to provide support in programme implementation, knowledge management, and policy influence for sustainable coastal resources management.   In 2007, MFF teamed up with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) to develop a regional postgraduate ICM certificate course that combined academic lectures, practical skills training, and field-based learning about coastal management. The ICM course has now been integrated at 12 universities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.   As a result of MFF projects and interventions, national Marine Protected Areas and Locally Managed Marine Areas have been established in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Viet Nam. The creation of MPAs directly contributes to SDG 14, in particular, and national commitments to Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).   The MFF Regional Knowledge Hub has also been established, providing access to information, expertise, and lessons learned from MFF projects in the form of case studies, and through the interactive Knowledge Network platform. For example, MFF has formulated the ICM Training Development Knowledge Network to facilitate sharing of knowledge and experiences between academic staff at seven universities around Asia.   Gender Mainstreaming in coastal resources management has been an important component of the programme, with 78% of MFF’s Small Grant Facility projects contributing to addressing women’s needs and interests. Of these projects, 75% provided education, skills development and awareness to women and their families while others focused on the development of women-led livelihood initiatives.   In collaboration with Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), MFF developed a Gender Analysis Toolkit for Coastal Management Practitioners to improve gender integration and mainstreaming in coastal resources management. As part of the collaboration, MFF also published a Regional Gender Synthesis, which will help share MFF’s knowledge of the gender context in South and Southeast Asia with policy-makers and practitioners.   Moving forward, MFF partner countries have confirmed that the National Coordinating Bodies will be maintained as soft governance platforms for strategic planning, implementation, knowledge sharing, and policy influence.   A number of project development measures aimed at securing funding for the continuation of the hallmark program components and country priorities in coastal resources governance, are also underway. At the regional level project proposals to the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility are being developed.   IUCN is also working with FAO on a Project Preparation Grant phase to develop the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) project. Over the next few months, IUCN will organise national consultation workshops in six of the eight countries: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand in order to facilitate dialogues between key national stakeholders from the fisheries and environment sectors relevant to the development of the FAO GEF-6 project. These consultations rely on the NCB platforms in each country to highlight specific national priorities. In addition to this, IUCN is in discussions with FAO to develop a Regional GEF-7 International Waters Project that will bring further funding for the BOBLME implementing phase, with a focus on securing funding for country activities. “I’m grateful to participate in MFF’s completion workshop,” said Jose Padilla, Regional Technical Advisor (Water, Coastal, Marine), United Nations Development Program. “A completion workshop is a sign of accomplishment and MFF through its many years of work has carved out a niche regionally and internationally.”

Looking for a way to celebrate World Wetlands Day on February 2? You don’t have to look far — there are over 1,000 events worldwide! Ramsar has organized these events in an easy map . If your organization is hosting an event, you can add it to the list. For nearly 50 years the global community has celebrated World Wetlands Day in honor of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on February 2, 1971. This year’s theme is “wetlands and climate change”. Mangroves and other wetlands are super carbon sinks because of their fast growth, sediment-trapping skills, and their ability to lock away organic matter in their saturated soils.

The 2019 Global Mangrove Alliance Workshop In January 2019, mangrove specialists of the Global Mangrove Alliance from all over the world came together to discuss approaches to save the world’s mangroves. Wetlands International was represented involving colleagues from the Philippines, Indonesia, Kenya, Senegal, Panama, and the Global Office. In this blog, I will share my personal experiences and the most important outcomes of the meeting. What is the Global Mangrove Alliance? Mangroves occur along tropical coastlines and are considered one of the most important ecosystems for nature and people. They are havens for biodiversity, provide rich fisheries resources and protect communities against storms and erosion. They also regulate our climate by sequestering and storing large amounts of carbon. However, worldwide mangroves are under threat from large scale infrastructure development and expansion of agriculture and aquaculture. As more and more people live along our coasts these pressures increase rapidly. To save our mangroves for future generations, it is crucial to work together. That’s why Conservation International, IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands International, and WWF came together in 2017 to form the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA). By organizing a global movement involving NGOs, private sectors and government partners we are working towards the bold target to increase global mangrove cover by 20% by 2030. By aligning our work and sharing lessons learned we have a stronger voice, we can scale up our interventions on the ground, and convince others to support mangrove conservation across the globe. In the past year, we formalized the operational structure and overall vision of the alliance. The workshop marks a new phase in which we will work with our regional network to refine our strategy, develop plans for collaboration and hit the ground running! The Workshop –   Day 1: Mapping Opportunities for Collaboration We started off by mapping how we could work together in such a large alliance: What is needed for a smooth collaboration and what complementarities exist in approaches and experiences? While many of us had never worked together on projects, even though the organisations work in the same regions, it soon became clear that there is no lack of opportunities! I met someone from The Nature Conservancy East Africa who is working in a mangrove delta South of the Rufiji Delta, where we work. We found out that our remote sensing technology could support communities and coastal zone managers in their project to better develop management plans for mangroves and other coastal ecosystems.  Other partners were excited to learn from our experience  in Indonesia on mangrove-based coastal defence . The other way around, we are very keen to tap into the experience of partner organisations on  blue carbon  and make use of the  mangrove restoration potential map  that was recently developed by The Nature Conservancy and IUCN. But it is not just a matter of finding thematic synergies. We realized that getting to know each other personally, understanding our organisational differences and building mutual trust is at least equally important for a successful collaboration. As the focus of my day-to-day work is mostly on Africa, talking to people from other regions gave me a broader perspective and get to know the different organisations better. The Workshop – Day 2: Defining Important Mangrove Issues    One thing I noticed is that broadly, most of us in the different regions are coping with similar issues. Coastal infrastructure development, large scale agriculture, aquaculture, overharvesting of natural resources –  these are just some examples of threats to mangroves that are shared in different places of the world. We used the second day of the workshop to review our strategy and prioritize our future work. We split into groups and identified priority issues and solutions that we can focus on in order to meet our long-term goal. Cooperation with communities Sometimes there appear to be conflicts of interests between communities and conservation organisations. How to balance the need for communities to exploit mangrove resources while at the same time acknowledging the need for conservation. Realising that ultimately we strive for the same goal, to safeguard mangroves and their natural resources for future generations we asked ourselves the question: What can we do as an alliance to facilitate cooperation with communities, to engage together in the sustainable management of mangroves? The different organisations of the alliance all have experience in these areas. We have all dealt with a variety of community groups and learned valuable lessons from these experiences. In Guinea-Bissau, for example, we established community-based protected forests and involved local community groups in the protection of the buffer zone of Cacheu national park. By reviving traditional natural resources management arrangements, we have enabled local community groups to become stewards of their natural environment (see our publication on the project in Guinea Bissau  here ). In other countries, we have experienced how local policies can either support local stewardship or be a driving force to local degradation. These lessons we learned are often not shared outside our organisations. This is where the GMA could come in: by facilitating the sharing of lessons learned and by developing joint strategies for community engagement we optimally build upon each other’s experiences and maximize our impact. GMA participants team up to develop proposals for future mangrove conservation work. This team included Blue Ventures, Wetlands International, NASA, WWF-Madagascar, WWF-Germany, and IUCN. Government buy-in Many policies that seek to achieve economic growth, fail to take into account the values of mangroves. Large infrastructure and agricultural schemes, for example, may cause mangrove degradation and deforestation, causing loss of valuable fisheries resources and making coasts vulnerable to extreme events. To ensure that mangroves are conserved and restored, we need to make sure that government agencies at all levels recognize them for what they are worth: essential for nature and human well-being. Often their economic values are not recognized. In our brainstorm, we considered what we can do to ensure mangrove conservation and restoration are mainstreamed into relevant policies. We explored bottom-up approaches where we help communities to put mangroves on the agenda. We also looked at top-down approaches for example by informing global and regional development strategies, by influencing procurement policies of financial institutions or by strengthening policies that promote more sustainable supply chains for mangrove commodities. Collaborating through a science committee the GMA will introduce key information on mangrove threats and values into policies thereby providing strong arguments to protecting our mangroves. We also agreed to develop a toolkit of model policies, which can easily be adapted to different contexts. On a regional level, we can use the alliance to align our messages. That will make our voice much stronger and unified, and make us a credible source. We have no lack of ideas on the thematic focus of our policy work: amongst others, we plan to promote mangrove-based climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, introduce green infrastructure solutions as an alternative to conventional grey infrastructure solutions and will help governments to further improve their mangrove restoration strategies. Good restoration practice Recent studies in the Philippines and Sri Lanka show that less than 20% of restoration projects are successful. Governments and NGOs set area targets for restoration, often without any requirements in terms of the quality of the restoration. These ill-considered targets, combined with a lack of knowledge lead to failure of restoration. For example, many projects have been planting unsuitable species in unsuitable locations, in the wrong time of the year, and without making sure enabling conditions for mangrove recovery are in place. In some of the projects of Wetlands International, we have been testing different methodologies of restoration. For example, in Guinea Bissau, together with local fishermen and farmers, we restored the hydrological functioning in abandoned rice fields, allowing mangroves to naturally regenerate. This method of restoration is not only much more effective, but it is also much cheaper as well. In many cases, planting is not even necessary to restore mangrove areas! Wetlands International wrote a  paper  on this together with colleagues from the Mangrove Action Project. This kind of experiences should be shared broadly. During the meeting, we concluded one of our prime roles as the GMA, is to disseminate good restoration practice. We aim to do this by compiling lessons learned amongst organisation and by sharing guiding principles through training and our online knowledge hub. The Workshop – Day 3: Action Plans After all the conceptual thinking, it was time to get concrete. The workshop group was split into regional teams who developed proposals for their respective geographies. For the Africa region, in which I was present, we developed a proposal focused on science and policy. We really tried to make use of our respective specialties, and to incorporate the insights we got through our problem- and solutions analysis.  By specifying clear roles and responsibilities, we developed a strong proposal for a project in multiple African countries. Amongst others, we identified opportunities for using NASA’s remote sensing information as input to policy dialogues that are coordinated by IUCN. And we brainstormed how a work package on community-based mangrove management coordinated by Wetlands International could subsequently be connected to this policy work. Hopefully, this marks the start of a much more comprehensive process towards developing shared regional mangrove strategies. It was very nice to see how the participants brought their first ideas together during this workshop session. Summary:  From the workshop it becomes clear that the GMA can be instrumental in building a global movement of mangrove professionals that share their experiences, align their messaging, team up in the field, collectively working towards an ambitious mangrove agenda. Working groups on for example policy, science and communications along with regional teams will drive the work in the years to come. Over the coming year, we plan to build up the alliance by inviting new partners, securing resources and getting ourselves organised. Until now, founding partners have used their own institutional resources to start up the alliance. Wetlands International would like to thank the Nationale Postcode Loterij of the Netherlands for supporting this initiative. Their contribution has been essential for the establishment of the alliance.