Fisherman Andre da Silva Santos, 47, NGO Guardioes do Mar's mangrove restoration coordinator Laiudo Malafaia and Instituto Mar Urbano's Director Ricardo Gomes navigate in Caceribu River which flows into Guanabara bay, as they take part in the Green Guanabara Project, which restored around 12.5 hectares of mangrove and planted a total of around 30,500 trees to preserve marine biodiversity and clean rivers, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil March 17, 2023. Photo Credit: Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
Environment BrazilClimate Resilience Milestone: Thousands of Mangroves Planted Here
Over the last four years, thousands of mangrove trees have been planted in a previously deforested area in one of Brazil’s environmental protection areas, thus serving as a prime example of a natural means to improve climate resilience.
“To plant a tree in this mangrove is an act of environmental recovery and also an act in the fight against climate change,” states Ricardo Gomes, a director at the non-profit Instituto Mar Urbano.
Thirty thousand trees have been planted in the Guapimirim environmental protection area, some towering at four meters in what was once a deforested area. Mangroves are a vital ecosystem to protect against floods. They slow sea water from advancing into riverbeds during storms by soaking it up, thus stabilizing soil that could get washed away. Without mangroves, the city of Porto Alegre could be underwater by 2100 and the Guapirimim protected area as soon as 2050.
