Mozambique has approved Africa’s largest mangrove restoration project, which aims to plant 200 million trees over a span of 60 years.
The project, led by UAE-based company Blue Forest, will begin in November, coinciding with the start of Mozambique’s rainy season.
“We will start planting the first of the 200 million mangroves in Quelimane, Zambezia, this November,” Blue Forest founder and CEO Vahid Fotuhi told AFP.
The restoration effort will cover an area of 155,000 hectares (approximately 383,000 acres), which is twice the size of Singapore, Fotuhi explained. The project is expected to restore Mozambique’s degraded coastline while creating 5,000 forestry jobs in the process.
Mangroves are known for their efficiency in capturing carbon dioxide and their ability to stabilise coastlines by reducing erosion. They also provide critical habitats for marine life. Mozambique’s mangrove ecosystem, however, has been significantly damaged by cyclones, flooding, logging, and land clearing.
The MozBlue project spans 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) of coastline in the Zambezia and Sofala provinces. In its first phase, 5,116 hectares of degraded forest will be rehabilitated. Over its 60-year lifespan, the project is expected to remove 20.4 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere. Progress will be tracked by monitoring the growth and survival of the mangroves.
Fotuhi highlighted that 60% of the income from the project will benefit local communities, contractors, and the government. Additionally, some initial carbon credits have already been pre-sold to a European institutional investor, although the company remains unnamed.
Fotuhi has an extensive background in renewable energy and social-impact projects in Africa, having previously worked for BP and other companies focused on clean energy and water generation.
This ambitious initiative is Blue Forest’s first commercial development project and marks a significant step toward addressing environmental and economic challenges in Mozambique.
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