The African Green Stimulus Programme: Restoring Ecosystems, Central to Green Recovery
3 June 2021 (UNEP)* — When African Ministers of Environment voted to adopt a green stimulus initiative in December 2020 that tied environmental incentives to economic and social recovery in a post-COVID-19 world, the mandate to build back better following the pandemic sprang to life.
The African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) is a response to that crisis; it aims to record 100 million hectares of restored degraded forests by 2030. To date, 30 African nations have signed on to AFR100, committing to recover 126 million hectares of deforested and degraded land.
Mangroves are vital to global health, given that they absorb 10 times as much carbon dioxide per acre per year as other trees and their swampy, brackish ecosystems nurture birds and fish while shielding coastal communities from storms and flooding.
UNEP’s research has found that over 67% of mangroves have been lost or degraded to date, including many along Africa’s coast.
Community projects in Tanzania are working with farmers to help restore mangroves on land that has been lost to rice farming, while Mozambique is rallying community support to dig trenches that will allow the flow of tidal water to restore mangroves that were destroyed by cyclones.
Nigeria, meanwhile, launched the “Mangrove for Life” project in 2020 to increase mangrove cover by at least 25 per cent and committed to creating Marine Protected Areas to enhance conservation efforts. Nigeria’s mangrove forests have been devastated by oil production and prospecting in the last 50 years.
“These are all very encouraging initiatives and are a foundation on which we must all build to safeguard Africa’s environment and in so doing the livelihood of its people,” said Koudenoukpo.
“Africa’s environmental health is essential for the future of the region and the planet. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration offers an opportunity for the continent to further consolidate its efforts in protecting nature and the planet.”
Explore UNEP’s work on preserving ecosystems, including forest restoration, blue carbon ecosystems, peatlands, coral reefs. Visit www.decadeonrestoration.org to learn more.
