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How a salt-loving tree is helping to protect Mozambique from climate change

GEF-UNEP/Nairobi Convention WIO-SAP

By IW:LEARN

August 24^th, 2023

The rhythmic sound of voices singing in harmony floats across Mozambique’s Limpopo River as several women stand ankle deep in the sticky mud along its banks.

In a well-rehearsed routine, one woman scoops up sediment with a hoe while another buries a fragile mangrove sapling in the void.

The joyous songs of the women obscure the difficulty of their job.

“It’s hard work, because we work in the mud,” said Josefina Augusto Boca, 42. “But we don’t mind it because we know its importance. We know it’s for the benefit of our community.”

Boca is one of 22 women involved in an effort to replant mangrove trees in the Mahielene-Xai Xai district, which is some 200km north of Mozambique’s capital, Maputo.

The project, which is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility, is aiming to revive the district’s once-thriving mangrove forests, many of which have fallen victim to logging and cyclones.

The project’s backers are hoping the mangroves – which thrive in the salty waters of coastlines and estuaries – will create a buffer around local communities, shielding them from storm surges and other extreme weather linked to the climate crisis.

“As cyclones in the Indian Ocean get stronger, they will cause ever greater destruction and loss of life unless we invest in nature-based solutions, like mangroves, to shore up coastlines,” said Leticia Carvalho, Head of Marine and Freshwater at UNEP. “Projects such as this one, which focus on reviving natural infrastructure, are critical to protecting both people and nature as we enter an uncertain climate future.”

Helping communities adapt to the climate crisis is expected to be a central issue at the upcoming Africa Climate Week 2023, taking place from 4-8 September in Nairobi, Kenya. Experts say the continent of 1.3 billion remains ill prepared for the worst impacts of the climate crisis, which has already claimed lives, hampered food production and sparked water shortages. As the world warms and weather patterns change, it is highly likely the fallout will get worse, said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Africa’s 30,500km coastline is especially vulnerable. Fringed with fragile ecosystems, including mangroves, lagoons, deltas, wetlands, seagrass meadows, kelp forests and coral reefs, it faces risks from rising seas and extreme weather.

A project to restore mangrove forests in southern Mozambique combines traditional planting techniques with a unique watering method that mimics natural tides. Photo: UNEP / Artan Jama

Read the full story at UNEP.org.

About the WIO-SAP Project

WIO-SAP is working ‘to reduce impacts from land-based sources and activities and sustainably manage critical coastal-riverine ecosystems through the implementation of the WIO-SAP priorities with the support of partnerships at national and regional levels’. The project builds on the WIO-LaB Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the protection of the WIO Region from land-based sources and activities that was developed under the auspices of the GEF-UNEP WIO-LaB project and which identified key actions that need to be undertaken in the region in order to reverse the degradation of the coastal and marine ecosystems.

For more information on this project, please contact the Project Manager, Jared Bosire (jared.bosire@un.org). Additionally, please access the project on the Nairobi Convention website and the dedicated project page on iwlearn.net.