Are there risks in a restoration project?
Of all blue carbon ecosystem projects, mangrove restoration has gained the most momentum, covering a range of geographical sites and scales — from local community efforts to revitalize a few tens of square meters of forest, to large-scale planting programs involving a million mangrove seeds [1].
These projects do come with risks, and many have been unsuccessful due to improper location selection, incorrect species matching, inadequate regeneration techniques, and failure to actively involve coastal communities in the process while resolving socioeconomic and institutional barriers to effective restoration, such as land ownership or lack of funding.
However, done right, planting and restoration of these ocean trees has clear economic and ecological benefits [2], enabling us to reduce emissions and supersize impact for wildlife, coastal communities, and all of us. You can learn how Only One approaches their projects to protect and revitalize mangroves on their Projects page.
- Su, J., Friess, D. A., & Gasparatos, A. (2021), A meta-analysis of the ecological and economic outcomes of mangrove restoration. Nat Commun 12, 5050. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25349-1.
- Mongabay (2021), Mangrove restoration done right has clear economic, ecological benefits. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/mangrove-restoration-done-right-has-clear-economic-ecological-benefits/.
About the author
Vasiliki I. Chalastani is a PhD candidate at the Laboratory of Harbour Works, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. Her thesis, “Optimization Approaches for Marine Spatial Planning,” aims to develop tools for optimal use of the marine environment through reconciliation of human activities and conservation features. Previously, following her undergraduate studies as a civil engineer at NTUA, Chalastani pursued her MSc, “Water Air Pollution and Energy at Global and Regional Scales,” at École Polytechnique, Paris, France. While in France, she has completed an internship at the Laboratoire Océanographique de Villefranche and at École Normale Supérieure on ocean-based solutions. From 2018 to 2019, Chalastani acted as a consultant for the Alternate Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy of Greece, Nektarios Santorinios. In 2018, she worked for the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), Paris, with Alexandre K. Magnan, on the issue of climate change adaptation. In 2019, Chalastani worked for the Saudi Red Sea Project, developing a preliminary marine spatial planning initiative, under the supervision of Carlos M. Duarte. She is a member of the National Chamber of Engineers and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN), Greece.