In Mozambique, an ambitious project to plant 200 million mangroves will start in November, during the rainy season, and will last for 60 years. Mozambique has given the green light to this initiative aimed at restoring the country's mangroves.
The project, led by Dubai-based Blue Forest, will be the largest mangrove concession in Africa. After two and a half years of feasibility studies, Blue Forest has obtained the necessary license from the Mozambican government. The project will cover an area of 155,000 hectares, twice the size of Singapore, and is expected to create around 5,000 jobs. The vast mangrove ecosystem along Mozambique's 2,000 km coastline had been damaged by cyclones, floods, logging and deforestation.
"We will start planting the first of 200 million mangroves in Quelimane, Zambezia, in November, in phase with the start of the rainy season in Mozambique," Blue Forest founder and CEO Vahid Fotuhi told AFP. Mangroves, capable of growing along sea shores in areas regularly covered by salt or brackish water, are among the world's most efficient carbon sinks. Their powerful aerial roots stabilize coastal areas, protecting them from erosion and providing shelter for a wide range of wildlife.
Over the next 60 years, the MozBlue project is expected to capture 20.4 million tonnes of CO2, thereby contributing to efforts to curb climate change, Mr. Fotuhi assured.
