Guidelines on Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration for the Western Indian Ocean Region

Abstract

Overexploitation and general degradation of mangrove forests is a common feature across the countries in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. Accordingly, mangrove restoration initiatives have been increasingly proposed as mechanisms to compensate for the losses and promote sustainable use of mangrove resources. However, in many countries, more failures of mangrove restoration projects than successes are reported. This has been attributed to poor understanding of the local ecosystem requirements and misapplication of the principles of ecological mangrove restoration. The current Guidelines on Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration for the Western Indian Ocean region targets communities, civil society, national agencies, and practitioners involved in mangrove conservation activities. The Guidelines provides background information on the mangrove forests and their attributes, as well as the threats they face – both human and natural. Using experiences in mangrove restoration projects from Kenya, United Republic of Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles, the Guidelines analyzes challenges facing community-based mangrove restoration projects; and provide possible solutions to the identified problems. During the preparation of the Guidelines, authors collected country specific information through expert consultations, workshops, and field visits. Additional information on mangrove restoration was accessed online and through direct contacts with ongoing projects in other regions for comparison and learning. Many mangrove restoration projects have been implemented with specific objectives, such as production forestry, coastal protection, ecosystem preservation, and fisheries support, among others. Lessons from around the world have demonstrated that mangrove restoration is feasible as long as the questions of why, where, when, how and by whom are appropriately addressed. The Guidelines demonstrate the value of goal setting in restoration projects and illustrate how they can be achieved. There are many ongoing mangrove restoration activities in the WIO region, involving different stakeholders, including local communities, government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private sectors, and funding agencies. However, these initiatives are faced with a number of operational challenges that have led to multiple failures. The Guidelines comprehensively analyze prevailing circumstances, sharing local lessons for best institutional arrangements and stakeholders’ engagement mechanisms that enable efficient implementation of restoration projects. Interaction between local communities and mangroves is often not well appreciated when formulating mangrove restoration projects. Over-exploitation of mangrove resources and conversion of the area into other land uses are socio-ecologically complex issues that require deep understanding of the root causes to identify possible intervention measures. Multiple dimensions of mangrove restoration and management have been addressed in the Guidelines. Many mangrove restoration initiatives in the region are small scale, largely involving one to several local communities and only a few mangrove tree species. Implementation of mangrove restoration projects at larger scale involves more species and consequently requires adaptive approaches (learning by doing) to be effective. Adaptive pathways include the use of multiple scenarios of future socio-economic and physical changes (e.g. population growth, climate change, or land-use). The Guidelines, which describe a step-by-step approach to ecological mangrove restoration in order to realize success, will be hosted by the WIO Mangrove Network, which will be responsible for any future revisions and dissemination in consultation with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Nairobi Convention and also in collaboration with other partners in the region.