Reviving Haiti & Colombia's Mangroves

INTERIM REPORT

The project goal, to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities in Nippes and Cite Soleil, Haiti as well as in Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia is in the framework of the Naitonal Plans on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation under the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) partnership.

To date the following indicators have been achieved:

Haiti: Delays have occurred in Cite Soleil, Haiti in some of the project activities during the first year due to the markedly complicated and volatile situation in the country. 

• Baseline economic situation of target groups identified in baseline study. 20 beneficiaries (5 w, 15 m) identified and trained for beekeeping; 58 people (2 w, 56 m) trained in fisheries and 12 fish sellers (12 w), 16 associations (6 existing, 10 newly created) assisted in legalization, including 5 of fish sellers; 250 plots selected for wood energy; 9 AVEC groups (small savings groups) created and 5 of them (25 participants) already trained. All activities were carried out in Nippes.

• Analysis of mangrove areas, geolocation of habitats, transport routes and hydrographic networks will be carried out; establishment of 2 mangrove nurseries in Nippes; training of 10 nursery staff (8 w, 2 m).

• 2 mangrove committees have been established in Nippes and training for 26 people (6 w, 20 m) has been ongoing since October 2021 in collaboration with the MPA of Baradères-Cayemites. In Cité Soleil, the members of the planned committee have already been selected. Since the planned activities cannot be implemented as planned due to the security situation, the members of the committee will be closely involved in the development of the amendment and the future implementation.

• After the departure of the social worker who was supposed to support the conception for public relations and trainings, the project team now continues to work on knowledge transfer and awareness raising of the target group. For this purpose, already developed materials about the importance of mangroves are used and with 3 public campaigns 12,276 people (6,407 w, 5,869 m) were reached. The vacant position of the social worker, who was supposed to accompany the development of the educational materials, will be filled as soon as possible.

• Cooperation agreement with ANAP was signed in June 2021 and the technical committee was established in August. This committee, composed of ANAP and AHAAMES staff, has already conducted 2 field visits to review and analyze project implementation.

• In 2021, there were 21 digital meetings between ABIUDEA and AHAAMES teams to strengthen knowledge sharing.

• A collection of good practices is currently taking place, e.g. the establishment of decentralized mangrove committees in the communities, to strengthen ownership. Exchanges between communities in Baradères and Petit Trou are taking place to ensure knowledge transfer and support awareness raising among target groups.

Beneficiary Stories:

Lucintha Arisma from Baradéres, a training participant for mangrove rearing, said to our staff, "Let me explain to you the different types of mangroves. I'm very proud to teach everyone about this precious resource that I have in my home and I'm happy to take care of it and protect it."

Betty Prudent from Baradéres is a member of one of the volunteer groups for the protection of the mangroves. She says, "I have been taking karate lessons with my colleague so that I can be ready all night to stop people from cutting down the mangroves and take them to the police. We are very grateful for the support we get from the project in our fight to protect the mangroves. Because they are our source of life."

Colombia: The project has developed satisfactorily and shows that the beneficiary communities are making good progress in the technical and soft skill training processes. The communities have understood the importance of the renaturation and protection of the mangrove forests in their area and have developed a collective awareness. It is important to continue to work on diversifying income opportunities for the stay-at-home mothers who need a lot of support to build their businesses. The goal is to organize these mothers into associations where they can self-manage and help each other. The progress in mangrove production is very convincing. Due to the seasonal low availability of seeds at times, the planting of seedlings is being done in a responsible and sustainable manner. Planting began in the first half of 2022. 

• Baseline study with 400 interviews on the socio-economic conditions of the population; 12 training sessions for beneficiaries on recognition and identification of strengths and weaknesses (including economic) and group cohesion. Selection of the land for the construction of the recycling plant, tendering and contracting with construction service providers.

• Elaboration of the renaturation plan for the mangroves and surrounding ecosystems and selection of the renaturation area. Applying for official permission to work in the national park from the relevant authority. Start of the monitoring activities of the hydrometeorological conditions of the Ciénaga.

• The Renaturalization plan for the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta  was submitted to the National Park Authority for approval of interventions in the Ciénaga protected area; with the participation of several local organizations and public schools in the community, an environmental protection and awareness network was created.

• Training for 150 people in the care and planting of mangrove seedlings, the collection of seeds, the preparation of the substrate and the general benefits of mangroves. Participants were the population of the municipalities, but also school children from Tasajera and Isla del Rosario, since the transfer of knowledge to the younger generations has a special value.

• in 2021, there were 21 digital meetings between ABIUDEA and AHAAMES teams to strengthen knowledge sharing.

• Good practice examples are collected and published at the end of the project with the lessons learned from the project.

Beneficiary Stories:

The project has been very positively received by the target groups. Says Ivon Ojeda, one of the householder mothers from Tasajera. "We want to pass on our knowledge to our children and motivate them to take care of the ecosystems, the mangroves and the swamp. Because they belong to all of us and our children need them to empower themselves, as we did before them. We want to pass on this legacy of life to our future generations. "

Yesenia, also one of the women from Tasajera, adds, "Our mangroves are planted with the soil of our Ciénaga Grande, they grow with the water of the sea and the love of our land. Then they are planted out and bring life back to our ecosystem."

Links:

• Our commitment to the SDGs
• Localizing Humanitarian Action Key to Sustainable Change
• Biodiversity, Community Empowerment and Sustainable Development