Increasing Liberia's resilience through mangrove restoration

Country and Region: Liberia, Africa

Partner: Mangrove Alliance

Implementer: Coastal and Marine Protected Area Network in Liberia

Breakthrough solution: Restoration of Mangrove and Reefs for flood risk reduction (Nature)

Mangroves are key ecosystems for climate mitigation and adaptation, they serve as major sinks to greenhouse gas emissions, hotspots of biodiversity, filtering water pollutants and can also protect from sea level rise and flooding. Mangroves are also important sources of livelihood and income, derived from activities such as fishing, timber and charcoal production.

In Liberia deforestation related to urbanization, overuse and exploitation of natural resources threaten mangrove ecosystems, increasing climate-associated risks and the loss of local livelihoods. An ambitious project led by Global Mangrove Alliance and Conservation International in partnership with the Coastal and Marine Protected Area Network in Liberia seeks to solve this issue by establishing 35% of Liberia’s mangroves as a protected area, increasing the country's coastal resilience, while also benefiting local communities. The project is centred on using the power of land-use participatory planning to halt mangrove degradation, strengthen conservation, community engagement and the sustainable use of the ecosystem.

During its first year of implementation, the project has built capacity and awareness raising with local government and communities from Northern Liberia, with tangible outcomes such as 20% of mangrove areas prioritized have been delimited and now have a management plan, 15% reduction of deforestation of prioritized mangroves and their buffer.

Read more here.