New cooperation with the United Arab Emirates on mangrove conservation in African countries announced

German Federal Minister of the Environment Steffi Lemke and Mariam Almheiri, Environment Minister for United Arab Emirates, today announced the signing of a letter of intent at COP28 for a partnership in the field of mangrove conservation and sustainable mangrove management for African nations. 

A member of the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) since 2023, Germany is now also supporting the Mangrove Breakthrough. The Mangrove Breakthrough aims to achieve the conservation of 15 million ha of mangroves worldwide by 2030. This new collaborative effort supports the goals of the Global Mangrove Alliance, and initiatives from countries, civil society and research to protect mangroves worldwide.

Federal Environment Minister Lemke: 

“Mangroves are valuable ecosystems and natural carbon sinks. Mangrove restoration and conservation is therefore critically important for conservation, climate change mitigation and the protection of coastal areas, while providing local communities with important sources of income and value creation. This tripartite venture with African nations is a key driver here. We welcome the chance to work with United Arab Emirates as a strategic partner and offer African countries the optimum support they need to preserve, restore and ensure the sustainable management of their mangrove forests. An essential part of the new venture is a strong focus on developing the local economy as well as regional value chains.”

Background

Mangrove conservation in projects from the International Climate Initiative 

For many years now, Germany has worked directly and indirectly with numerous bilateral, regional and global projects to engage in the conservation, preservation and sustainable management of mangroves. Currently, more than 50 projects from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) are contributing directly and indirectly towards these goals worldwide with an overall volume of EUR 600 million. 

Germany welcomes the proactive role taken by United Arab Emirates in the formation of the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC). Since 2023, Germany has also been a member of the alliance, and is now also supporting the Mangrove Breakthrough and working towards its goals.

Since 2021, for example, the International Climate Initiative (IKI) has been successfully helping to protect the Colombian Caribbean coast  in a project there, as significant sections of the coastline are increasingly threatened by coastal erosion. At the same time, however, ecosystems that naturally serve to protect coastlines – namely mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass beds, beach and dune vegetation – are being overused and damaged.

By using nature-based solutions, the project is working to reduce the susceptibility of local communities to extreme weather events and sea level rise. The primary focus here is on mangrove forests, coral reefs and seagrass beds.

As part of this project, tree nurseries in 25 rural communities have already cultivated seedlings from native mangrove species and used them to restore more than 330 ha of mangrove forests. For a further 630 ha of mangrove forests, collaborative projects with indigenous communities were used to develop participative conservation and management models. These measures have also contributed to the restoration of natural water cycles, while a blue carbon project has also been used to achieve certified and registered reductions in emissions, with the benefits being enjoyed by local communities. All in all, the project measures are contributing to the stabilisation of 175 km of coastline and resulting in immediate improvements to the living conditions of around 40,000 people.

Mangrove Breakthrough

The Mangrove Breakthrough is an initiative that forms part of the Breakthrough Agenda within the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Ambition and aims to protect 15 million ha of mangroves worldwide by 2030. This is to be achieved by an overarching financing goal of USD 4 billion for its implementation. 

The Mangrove Breakthrough was introduced at UNFCCC COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at an event hosted by an alliance of early sponsors. The Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) supports the Mangrove Breakthrough, and was launched during COP27 by Indonesia and United Arab Emirates. By engaging with MAC, the member countries underline their commitment to the restoration of mangrove ecosystems, and to climate change mitigation, knowledge sharing and innovation, as well as networking with the aim of international cooperation on nature-based climate solutions.
 

BMUV press release (German)

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