Soyo - One hundred and thirteen thousand mangrove trees have been planted since 2020 in the coastal zone of Zaire province by the environmental organisation OTCHIVA, Association for the Protection and Restoration of Mangroves, as part of its project to conserve these ecosystems’.
OTCHIVA technician, Mateus Filho, told ANGOP that this figure is the result of various campaigns to repopulate and conserve these ecosystems, carried out over the last four years in partnership with the Zaire provincial government.
He estimated that 80% of the mangroves planted had survived the bad weather and were continuing their normal course of growth, pointing out that Zaire province has the largest mangrove conservation area in the country.
At the time, he highlighted the importance of these ecosystems, as they act as nurseries for various marine species, stabilise the soil and prevent erosion, as well as barriers against storms and floods, among other benefits.
The environmentalist guarantees that his organisation will continue with this mission, which has the support of some oil companies operating in the region, with the aim of achieving environmental balance and sustainable development.
The OTCHIVA technician was speaking at the end of another day of planting 50,000 mangroves in one of the mangrove conservation areas in the city of Soyo, with the direct participation of a group of more than 200 boy and girl scouts.
Considered to be blue carbon ecosystems, mangroves are 10 times more efficient at absorbing and storing large quantities of carbon than terrestrial ecosystems, which makes them essential for combating climate change.
The province of Zaire has a 250-kilometre coastline that runs through the municipalities of Soyo, Nzeto and Tomboco. PMV/JL/MRA/DOJ
