For decades, mangroves had been disappearing from Sri Lanka’s coastline, where the salt-water-loving trees were often felled to make way for shrimp ponds and salt pans.
The loss robbed marine life of key spawning grounds and left coastal communities dangerously exposed to storm surges, like the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed 30,000 Sri Lankans.
But since 2015, Sri Lanka’s mangroves have been staging a comeback. A government-led effort has helped to restore 500 hectares of mangrove forests, a number officials hope to raise to 10,000 hectares by 2030.
The United Nations recently named Sri Lanka’s mangrove regeneration programme among its 2024 World Restoration Flagships, an award that recognizes outstanding efforts to rekindle nature.
In honour of International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, which is celebrated every year on 26 July, check out this documentary to learn more about Sri Lanka’s historic mangrove restoration drive.
