Progress report for
Save Our Mangroves Now!
Achievement at a glance
- Save our mangroves now! (SOMN) published a global study of national governance frameworks for mangrove management (http://www.mangrovealliance.org/legal-frameworks-for-mangrove-governance-conservation-and-use/) and hosted four workshops in Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique and Madagascar to build understanding of legal frameworks and challenges for mangrove conservation. This work represents the first concerted effort to address mangrove conservation in the Western Indian Ocean region from a legal perspective. The workshops were held with representatives from all mangrove stakeholders involved in the management and use of mangroves. The global study found that in many cases adequate legislation already exists, but is not implemented due to lack of resources, coordination, and capacity. The outcomes of these workshops and the global study take the form of recommendations for policy making and institutional processes.<br>- SOMN continues to fill current gaps in mangrove knowledge, through research, publication and dissemination of reports on improving mangrove investments, state of mangroves in Madagascar, and sedimentation roles of mangroves in riverine deltas. One of the directly applicable outputs to bridge the science-policy gap was research into the blue carbon stored by mangroves in Lamu towards anchoring it into Kenya’s National Climate Change Action Plan.
<br>- Several events were held by SOMN to raise awareness in international policy makers outside the usual mangrove related audience. For example, one event at High Level Political Forum 2019 showcased the critical connections between humans and mangroves by highlighting the potential of mangroves for climate mitigation, adaptation, food security and economic development at both local and global scales. Other events took place at UNFCCC COPs and Our Ocean, RAMSAR COP13, CBD COP 14, GLF Nairobi in 2018, Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, 11th WIOMSA Symposium and MMM5 in 2019.
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Next Steps
- SOMN is working with partners and donors to look into expanding the time frame of the project with a phase 2 and build on the foundations of phase 1.Beneficiaries
- Final beneficiaries of the increased mangrove conservation efforts by SOMN are coastal communities in mangrove countries, particularly in the Western Indian Ocean region, whose livelihoods rely on mangrove ecosystem services. However, the target audience are decision makers, legal professionals, community leaders, regional mangrove groups and experts, conservation practitioners, local and national authorities and NGO mangrove professionals.
Actions
- We have brought the importance of mangroves in the context of biodiversity and climate change adaptation and mitigation to a wider audience. Nature-based Solutions were featured as one stream under the UN Climate Summit.<br>- We have brought local voices to the international level and informed policy-making by supporting the attendance of WIO mangrove network members and mangrove professionals at a variety of international events.
<br>- Other examples of activities include:
<br>o Collection of mangrove principles that summarize the current understanding of best practice, targeting policy makers and project developers.
<br>o Capacity development through legal workshops.
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