Women Restoring Life to the Mangroves

July 26th is celebrated in El Salvador and around the world as Mangrove Day, honoring all the benefits and services this ecosystem provides to humanity, but also raising awareness of the destruction and threats facing mangroves.

As a community organization located on the western coast of El Salvador, AMBAS has developed a series of activities to support the Barra de Santiago mangroves. This is why, together with socially and environmentally responsible companies, we have planted 400 mangrove seedlings in approximately 1,000 square meters of our restoration sites.

The mangrove seedlings have been developed in our nursery and will support the diversity of mangrove species planted on the site. We also took the opportunity to showcase the results we, as an organization, are achieving in mangrove restoration and the functionality the ecosystem is achieving over time.

We continue to work on water restoration, opening more than 700 linear meters of canals in the project area to date. The work has been accomplished thanks to community support led by the women of the AMBAS Association.

This action aims to create appropriate conditions on the site so that the mangrove seedlings we plant during the rainy season can establish and develop there, thus restoring the natural vegetation of the mangrove forest.

At our restoration site, we are managing six tree species characteristic of salt marsh forests. These species are able to survive in flooded areas and with salinities that other plant species cannot withstand. These conditions allow these ecosystems to absorb more CO2 than terrestrial ecosystems, making them key allies against climate change.