Progress report for
Taking Action to Increase Mangrove Habitat 20% by 2030
Achievement at a glance
The Global Mangrove Alliance is a unique platform to accelerate a comprehensive, coordinated, global approach to mangrove conservation, restoration, and sustainable use at a scale that matters. Based on a global analysis of the threats to mangroves and opportunities for conservation, the GMA is building a global movement of civil society organisations, technical experts, government agencies, corporations, funding agencies, foundations and community groups to jointly work towards the ambitious goal of increasing global mangrove cover by 20% by 2030, with defined underlying targets for boosting their value for biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, food security and human wellbeing. The GMA will use its collective strengths and partnerships to address the barriers to large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration through several streams of work, including through:<br>
<br>Finance: develop novel and diverse valuation and financing mechanisms that help take mangrove ecosystem conservation and restoration to scale.
<br>
<br>Improving policy: work with governments to develop integrated management plans that consider the multijurisdictional nature of mangrove conservation and restoration.
<br>
<br>Building capacity: build awareness among policymakers, financing institutions, NGOs and others of the multiple benefits and cost effectiveness of conserving and restoring mangroves for climate change adaptation, mitigation and human well-being.
<br>
<br>Proof of Concept: develop real-world examples of integrating mangroves into national-level management plans, and local scale demonstrations of improved human well-being due to mangrove conservation and restoration.
<br>
<br>Knowledge Sharing: develop the knowledge and tools required to integrate mangroves and their ecosystem services into national level mitigation, adaptation, disaster risk reduction and land-use strategies.
<br>
<br>The Alliance will work locally, regionally and globally to secure commitments from its partners, governments, and the private sector to halt and reverse mangrove loss. The GMA is proud to announce that over the last year 12 partners have joined the Alliance, including newcomers Blue Ventures, the Mangrove Action Project, RARE, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Zoological Society of London, and the National Audubon Society, surpassing our interim target to bring on ten new partners by 2020. In addition, nine governments to date - Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Honduras, and Brazil - have endorsed the GMA. Our next steps are to acquire restoration pledges from multiple regions by 2020 to work towards our global goal of increasing the area of mangrove habitat 20 percent over the current extent by the year 2030.