Shekhar Mehta and Baroness Scotland speaking at Cop26
(Picture: Evening Standard)A global campaign to restore mangroves could be a silver bullet in the battle to pull back the oceans from calamity, environment leaders were told at COP26 on Wednesday.
Mangroves in 42 Commonwealth countries were crucial ammunition in nature’s battle to deal with carb. Action was needed to reverse a loss of up to 50 per cent of mangroves due to climate change, said Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Scotland.
Representatives from more than 20 countries and environment groups pledged action at a “sharing critical lessons” meeting brought together by Rotary International (RI).
RI president Shekhar Mehta said he had seen first-hand in the 2004 tsunami the devastation to land and lives that would have been lessoned if mangroves had been protected.
Experts told how mangroves were the ocean’s equivalent of rain forests. “The sea is washing away the coastline because mangroves have gone,” said Mr Mehta. “We are losing our eco-system. Once mangroves die, our marine system and coastal communities will be lost.”
He pledged that Rotary would support projects to restore mangroves and work with local coastal communities in eight countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Tanzania.
It was agreed by the representatives that work would begin immediately on the projects with regular reviews on progress.
