Protecting Mangroves – The Mangrove 40 Initiative

Programme Partner: UBS Optimus Foundation

Region: Global

Coastal communities across the tropical belt of the planet bear most of the burden from climate change. The rapid loss of natural ecosystems and their protective value is increasing their vulnerability. Mangrove ecosystems save US$65 billion a year in avoided losses due to storms; they sequester four times more carbon dioxide than terrestrial forests, and can double the incomes of local communities by increasing marine biodiversity. But 50% of all mangroves have been lost globally, with the fastest rate of deforestation in Asia than any other type of forest.

UBS Optimus Foundation and Earth Security are developing the Mangrove 40 (M40) Initiative - which connects the 40 locations around the world that concentrate the majority of remaining mangroves on Earth. It proposes an ambitious opportunity to build a cost-effective solution to coastal protection that is particularly well suited to Asia, while providing an enormous carbon sequestration opportunity.

The M40 Initiative is an action alliance of philanthropists, governments, companies, investors and non-governmental organisations to scale innovative financing for mangrove restoration projects at scale. Philanthropists'support will be used to create innovative funding alliances, identify and build a pipeline of more than 500 nature-based investment projects in key M40 locations, and develop an investment mechanism that by 2024 enables private and public funders to collaborate on projects across the entire M40.