Several months before I arrived, ELI Africa teamed up with the Mauritian Ministry of Fisheries for an awesome project: planting mangroves. Mangroves trees are true wonders of our natural world. For those who are not familiar with this particular type of flora, allow me to give you a quick run-down. Mangroves are rather special among tree species, for they are the only tree that spends its entire life submerged in saltwater. Imagine a shoreline covered with spiderwebs of roots anchored in the water, with a tree rising from each web, and you can picture a mangrove forest.
Planting mangrove trees in the South (mature trees in the background)
Apart from their astounding construction, mangrove forests offer a bounty of benefits. Coastal residents living besides mangrove forests can owe a lot to these trees. During storms, they act as natural buffers against the sea, protecting homes and lives by absorbing wave surges (a feature all-the-more important with the building threat of climate change). By trapping sediments, mangroves help slow down land erosion, a big problem for agricultural and property development. And the livelihoods of local fisherman are often staked to the health of mangroves, as they provide habitats for aquaculture catches such as crabs and shrimp, nursery grounds for most juvenile fish species, and act as a critical forces in balancing the flow of nutrients out to sea that enable nearby coral reefs to thrive.
Harvesting propagules for planting
Unfortunately, mangrove deforestation has increased around the world in recent decades, and the trend holds true in Mauritius. In recognition of this problem and the importance of mangroves, the Ministry of Fisheries began a program to protect and restore mangroves on the island in 1995. Partnering with this program, ELI Africa’s very own Gaurav Dabeesingh organized a team of over 40 workers to help plant mangroves at Bois des Amourettes, Providence, and Bambou Virieux. Over two days, Gaurav and ELI Africa helped plant over 12,000 mangrove propagules. What an amazing accomplishment. Mangroves are extraordinary parts of the world we live in. They give stunned pause to the eye of this beholder, provide nurseries for over 70% of commercially caught fish, and are being studied to see if their roots contain a compound to help ease inflammation from diabetes! We are proud that ELI Africa was given the opportunity to help local communities by restoring a critical element of the Mauritian environment. Next up on our project list: coral farming…
Propagules planted!