A group of women in Nigeria have been restoring mangrove trees in areas affected by logging, oil spills, and invasive plants.
As Mongabay reported, Ogoni women from coastal villages have planted at least 2.6 million mangrove trees since 2018. The local government has recognized their restoration efforts and hired some of the women to apply their knowledge to an oil spill restoration project.
The Niger Delta has the largest mangrove forest ecosystem in Africa and some of the continent's largest gas and oil reserves.
Oil spills have polluted water sources and impacted women's livelihoods over the past 50 years. Countless mangroves have been destroyed in extracting dirty energy from the Earth, leading to devastated crops and fishery habitats.
The Lokiaka Community Development Centre trained women whose jobs were affected by the impacts of coastal oil spills and mangrove deterioration. The organization taught approximately 300 women skills in mangrove reforestation, including direct planting and transplanting saplings from nurseries.
"Now, I can teach people how to plant mangroves," one of the women, Glory Basi, shared. "I have benefited a lot. We didn't even have fish, periwinkles, or crabs in our rivers. But now, because Lokiaka trained us how to plant mangroves and restore them back, all these things have been restored."
Not only are the women restoring mangroves, but also their livelihoods.
Many of the women are seeing new income opportunities as they restore habitats for marine species and aid the growth of local fruits and medicinal remedies. Even after planting the trees, ongoing maintenance and monitoring will be needed.
Meanwhile, they are making their communities more resilient to floods and extreme storms through mangrove restoration. Mangroves have deep cultural significance, are essential lifelines for fishing and farming communities, and play an important role in reducing pollution levels.
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Lokiaka estimates that the newly planted trees will survive at 80% to 96%. Over the next five years, it hopes to plant 5 million mangrove trees in the region.
"The mere fact that the swamp is now greening again is a happy scene for the beneficiary communities," said Martha Agbani, Lokiaka's executive director.
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