Restoring critical coastal ecosystems

Major investment in coastal protection

MADAGASCAR: A landmark initiative to enhance climate resilience by restoring critical coastal ecosystems and improving livelihoods across vulnerable regions has been launched in Madagascar to benefit four key coastal regions.

Climate impacts have already been shown to threaten the regions of Boeny, Menabe, Diana, and Atsimo Atsinanana where livelihoods and biodiversity are now at risk.

Madagascar’s coastal ecosystems—mangroves, coral reefs, and coastal forests—serve as natural buffers against rising seas, intensifying cyclones, and coastal erosion. Yet these ecosystems are under growing pressure from deforestation, overfishing, and a changing climate.

Coastal zones support more than 75% of the local population by providing, for example, marine species for fisheries or valuable non-timber forest products.

The project, Scaling Up Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Coastal Areas in Madagascar, will be executed by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development with a USD 7.1 million grant from the Global Environment Facility and a cofinancing of USD 27 million.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) assisted the government with developing the project and will act as the implementing agency, as a continuation of a long-standing partnership on resilience-building and strengthened environmental stewardship.

The new project aims to enhance the resilience of both ecosystems and communities through nature-based solutions, conventionally referred to as ecosystem-based adaptation.

Restoring coastal integrity

In close coordination with the Regional Directorates for Environment and Sustainable Development (DREDD), the project will support integrated coastal zone management structures, enhance national and local adaptation coordination, and provide revised tools and plans to integrate EbA at the regional and municipal levels.

The initiative will restore 3,000 hectares of mangroves and coastal forests and rehabilitate 2,000 hectares of degraded watersheds using community-based approaches. Over the course of the project, almost 100,000 people are expected to benefit directly from ecosystem-based adaptation interventions.

It will also support the creation of 20 ecosystem-based businesses, with a focus on empowering women and youth through access to training, technical support, and equipment. These businesses will span climate-resilient sectors such as sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, beekeeping, ecotourism, and rainfed agriculture.

Official launch

An official high-level launch ceremony was held yesterday, bringing together representatives from national ministries, UN agencies, civil society, and development partners.

In her opening speech at the ceremony, the Secretary General of Environment and Sustainable Development Hahitantsoa Tokinirina Razafimahefa, said: “Restoring mangroves means protecting the coastline, supporting sustainable small-scale fishing, creating natural carbon sinks, and preserving nesting sites for rare species. In other words, it means acting on adaptation, mitigation, food security, and biodiversity conservation—all at once.”

Paz Lopez-Rey, UNEP’s Programme Management Officer for the new project, said: “The project will strengthen local governance for integrated coastal zone management, while ensuring the integration of ecosystem-based adaptation into key regional and municipal planning tools. But it will go further than that; it will lead to a national strategy to scale up ecosystem-based adaptation in other vulnerable coastal areas of the country.

PHOTO: Volcanic crater of Nosy Be island, Crater Bay Madagascar. (Adobe Photostock)