Mangrove Forests - Hero in the Climate Crisis!?

Apparently Mangrove forests are like a superhero amongst forests. What most people don't know is that they capture carbon 10x more efficient than regular (terrestrial) forests. About 65% of all fish that we eat globally, has lived in mangroves at a certain stage of their life. Woah!

How do we keep using mangroves and how do we grow them? I've got for you the good, the bad and the ugly:

The bad: Mangrove forests worldwide are declining fast, as they give way to commercial development.

The ugly: Mangrove forests are also heavily polluted with plastic waste, which sucks if you're a fish.

The good: Preservation is totally possible. Especially if you leverage CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) with local community.

How are we going to preserve Mangrove forests?

Here we are last week in Costa Rica, meeting with researchers, a bunch of super smart people from the Imaginal Brain Trust and The Clean Wave. That's the local Costa Rica nonprofit that hosts volunteer beach clean ups to create a zero waste community.

With this group we sourced all our research, existing plans and new ideas into a visual strategic proposal. Let me walk you through it ??

Mangrove Clean up Project | Video Fly Over

What's next?

We are working with a leading paddlesport brand that sources us their latest and greatest kayaks. Our first priority is to leverage the local community to host mangrove clean ups with tourists. Where we are right now we have two mangrove forest estuaries and the are dirtay.

This clean up is a win-win for all. The local community earns a profit while investing in their natural resource. The tourists will have an amazing experience in the Costa Rica lush nature while doing something good for the planet. This will you feel so good. Regenerative tourism - it's a thing.

How can I join?

Don't believe for a second that corporate carbon offset accounting will make any difference in the current global climate crisis. It's great for awareness, but it's little more than numbers doing a happy dance in a spreadsheet.

Do you think this plan, revolving around regenerative tourism, and leveraging tourism sounds good?

Can you see how tying in different groups of people can end up creating a win-win for all? Because that's what we're creating here: solutions that work, now and in the future.

Here are some ways you can help us make this a growing success

1. Attention | Give this article attention with a like or comment. Go to The Clean Wave on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to their feed. High numbers there directly translates to more sponsorships!
2. Spread the word | Share this article. Who knew that a square mile of mangrove forest captures as much carbon as 90.000 cars put out annually. Say whaaaat!? Be cool amongst your friends, casually drop that statistic.
3. Join a beach clean up | Take action in a simple yet effective way. More and more people show up in weekly beach clean ups here in the area. This volunteerism drives sponsorships and scaling up beach cleaning operations. Just 2 hours of your time. You'll mix with locals and tourist and meet great people. Look at the event calendar here.
4. Donate | With your dollars we continue to make this mangrove preservation project a success, inspiring other nations worldwide to follow the same model. Make your contribution here. Have materials and operational gear to share with us? Contact Andy Bermudez ?? [email protected]
5. Corporate Social Responsibility | Want to offset your organization's carbon footprint? Want to inspire your workforce and become 'the place to work'? Do you agree that a mutually beneficial collaboration will strengthen your brand value? Then reach out to learn more about our CSR program, contact Sabrina Napoli ?? [email protected]

From as simple as giving this article a like (no more lurking! ??) to partnering up your CSR for the years to come - it is easy to join the movement and it will have an immediate effect. Hope to hear from you or see you at a beach clean up!

About the author

Jefta Bade is part of the Imaginal Brain Trust. He is here to help nonprofits scale up there positive impact.

In 2100 his daughter will turn 80. He wants to leave her a thriving world, by acting now.