Mangrove experience

The mangrove beach clean-up is close to Fumba Town. The Fumba community set out for a beach clean-up and recently planted over 1,500 mangrove seedlings to combat coastal erosion. More than thirty sacks of plastic waste were collected on a seafront stretch of about three kilometers. “It was quite an experience”, said Andrew Amani of the Urban Care Clinic who initiated the action. “Mangroves here are standing very densely, it was almost a bit frightening to get lost within them.”

Supported by green organizations like Permaculture Design Company, Recycle at Otzi, Chako Company, and 2 Winds Paddle Sports, more than 60 adults and kids took part, among them many villagers of Nyamanzi and Dimani. An estimated 67% of historical mangrove habitat has been lost or degraded worldwide., environmentalists say. One of the biggest threats to mangroves is the tourism industry.

Mangroves absorb up to five times more carbon than land-based forests. Tanzania houses one of the largest coastal areas of mangroves in Africa, with forests stretching along 1,424 kilometers of coastline from the border with Kenya in the north and Mozambique in the south and around the isles of Zanzibar.