Mangrove forests do not occur in our latitudes. Why do we commit ourselves to their conservation? The answer is simple: we only have this one planet! Environmental destruction may seem local but has global impacts on the climate, biodiversity and the social situation of many people.
It is important to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to zero, but beside technology it needs the protection of ecosystems sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere (Natural Climate Solutions). Among the most efficient and cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change are reforestation, avoidance of forest conversion, and sustainable land use (Griscom et al., 2017). So the easiest way to fight climate change is to end global environmental destruction!
Among others, environmentally harmful subsidies must be reduced. This can be shown using an example from southern Thailand. There, the conversion of mangrove forests into aquaculture farms for shrimp farming was subsidized. The conversion brought the operators a private profit of US $ 1,000 per hectare, the restoration of the mangroves cost around US $ 9,000 and was paid by the society. Intact mangrove forests, however, have a much higher monetary value due to wood, fishing and coastal protection, this is around 12,000 US dollars per hectare (the benefit as carbon storage is not yet included)(UFZ).
Our demands:
– the end of global environmental destruction,
– reduction of environmentally harmful subsidies,
– protection of carbon-rich ecosystems (such as mangrove forests, seagrass beds, salt marshes, moors, etc.) ,
– strengthening of the ecological infrastructure in order to increase the resistance to climate change, especially in countries of the global south, to reduce the risk of natural disasters and to fight poverty.
Our goals
In the beginning of 2019, the non-profit organization has been founded aiming for environmental education and mangrove conservation.
What we do:
– implementation of projects for the conservation and reforestation of mangroves
– environmental education and education for sustainable development in schools and extracurricular sectors, in particular in the form of events, exhibitions and seminars
– awareness raising work about the consequences of mangrove destruction for people and nature
– promoting understanding of ecological relationships in politics, administration and economy.