Celebrating the women who take care of our mangrove

This month our aim is to spark a wave of salutes to the women who work to maintain our hillsides, especially the mangroves. These fragile ecosystems, and the human societies active within them, were cited as being at high risk in the most recent March 2023* report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Today, almost half the world's population lives in highly vulnerable regions. "Climate justice is crucial because those who have contributed least to extreme weather events are being disproportionately affected," says one of the rapporteurs. And by 2050, around one billion people could be living in areas less than ten meters above sea level. Brazil boasts the largest continuous stretch of mangroves in the world, where the vegetation provides food for millions of people and habitat for hundreds of species. Mangroves help mitigate the impacts of climate change, as they store up to 4.5 times more CO₂ than other tropical forests. And so, as the IPCC emphasizes, sharing best practices can ensure the greatest gains in well-being by prioritizing climate risk reduction for these communities. Therefore, we offer here some initiatives for conservation, research, monitoring, and mangrove experiences. We highlight the work of Marília Cunha Lignon, who talks about Integrated Mangrove Monitoring, and the stories of the Mangrove Mothers, who gifted us with a cookbook, Cozinha-da-Maré.

IMAGEM  https://manguesdaamazonia.org.br/galeria/

text originally published in the newsletter of 'Liga das Mulheres pelo Oceano' - April 2023

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