Mozambique | Sathuma and the mangrove alliance: An example of community involvement – Noticias

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique | Sathuma and the mangrove alliance: An example of community involvement – Noticias

7:16 CAT | 25 Aug 2021

Photo: Noticias

It started as a simple adventure for a group of people in love with the sea, for reasons that have to do with their past; in their relationship with marine ecosystems and an interest in protecting the environment.

Disgusted by the devastation of the mangrove forest along the banks of the Matola River, they wanted to give back to nature that which had always characterised it, to the benefit of marine biodiversity and human beings. A group of citizens who would become an association for the defence of the environment – with the focus on the restoration of mangroves.

Called Sathuma, the association has been operating since 2014 in Matola D district, and has already replanted an area of more than 70 hectares along the Matola River with a total of 165,000 seedlings.

Its members speak of satisfactory results, measured by the level of reforestation that the area is experiencing, after having been condemned to desertification in the not-too-distant past, as a result of human action.

This achievement gives the group of associates the status of a model organisation, given its dynamics. The group has also helped Maputo reach first place in the list of provinces committed to the restoration of mangrove ecosystems.

Despite being one of the provinces that suffer most from mangrove deforestation, it is also in Maputo where most of the rehabilitation is taking place.

Starting with a goal of planting 300 hectares, the province and city of Maputo have already achieved just over 900 hectares, an execution level of 310%. These and other actions take place at a time when the country is racing to fulfil the United Nations Sustainable Development goals, which commit it to restoring 5,000 hectares of mangrove wetlands by 2022.

Faced with this challenge, the Ministry of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries last July a national programme for the restoration of mangrove ecosystems, with the aim of mobilising Mozambican society to engage in the implementation of the Mangrove Strategy, the guiding instrument for restoration initiatives.

Source: Noticias