Mangrove Replanting and Habitat Rehabilitation
Two larger mangrove nurseries and ten household nurseries will be established in the frame of this project in the wetland areas Maduganga and Madampe. Here a sufficient number of plants will be grown in order to restore in total ten hectares of mangroves in the two wetlands (approx. 2,200 plants are needed per ha). The Nagenahiru Foundation carries out workshops for women managing household nurseries. The mangrove nursery in Pathamulla is used as a mangrove demonstration and education site. More than 5,000 seedlings are grown at Pathamulla at any given time. Various autochtone mangrove varieties have been selected and tested, including species such as Rhizophora mucronata, Bruguiera gymnorhiza and Xylocarpus granatum.
Seven of the planned ten household nurseries are already established. The nurseries provide new livelihoods for local women who lost their income with the destruction of the Tsunami. In the first phase various mangrove species are grown over a period of six months. Subsequently a second production of mangroves will be realised. The families receive a small amount of money for each plant successfully grown. Later the families receive a second instalment. After this first phase, a part of the nursery will be used for growing economically viable plants such as fruits, in order to ensure a long-term income and self-sustainability of the nurseries. Three families are engaged in each nursery.
