Mangal
Maputo, May 26 (AIM) – An Emirati company named Blue Forest will fund the replanting of 200,000 mangrove trees in the central Mozambican provinces of Sofala and Zambézia, budgeted at one billion meticais (about 15.7 million dollars, at the current exchange rate), in order to protect the ecosystem and reduce CO2 emissions.
The project, which is expected to reach over 100,000 people, will cover 10 districts of the provinces in question, creating 5,000 jobs during the mangrove replanting.
The project is budgeted at one billion meticais which the project proponents are committed to mobilize, in coordination with the Mozambican government, through the Ministry of Land and Environment.
According to the executive director of Blue Forest, Vahid Fotuhi, addressing the press on Thursday in Maputo, the initiative may be extended up to 20 years.
“We are at this seminar to gather more partners for the implementation of the project. Our vision is to bring sustainable solutions to the communities, looking at climate change and the need for biodiversity protection”, he said.
The initiative can play a key role in improving agricultural performance and fishing activity, with the adoption of internationally recommended best practices.
For his part, the national director of Climate Change at the Ministry of Land and Environment, Jambigua Massinga, said that the selection of 17 projects is underway to help communities find alternative means of survival without depending on the exploitation of mangroves and the practice of slash-and-burn agriculture.
“It is necessary to stop the pressure that exists right now on forests and mangroves. It is also necessary to find alternatives to reduce the practice of slash-and-burn agriculture. That’s why we are looking for projects that can change this scenario”, said the director.
According to the source, the national forest inventory indicates that over 200,000 hectares per year suffer forest degradation in Mozambique and 26,000 hectares of mangrove are also degraded, as result of the production of firewood and charcoal.
(AIM)
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