Mangroves to the Rescue!

                      (Beauty, biodiversity, carbon benefits)

Mangroves are wonder trees! Growing along coastal areas, they provide habitat for all manner of

sea creatures, are a buffer against sea level rise and coastal erosion, can take the punch out of

on-coming cyclones and tsunamis, and sequester carbon at four times the rate of rainforest!

 

Tragically, the world has lost about a quarter of its mangroves over the past 50 years to

“development": from shrimp farms and beach resorts to firewood gathering.

 

NCP is developing a new partnership in Malaysia, in the Sabah region of the island of Borneo,

one of the most biodiverse yet exploited natural areas on earth. Threats to mangroves there include

aquaculture, lumber production and, in particular, oil palm plantations. While 30 percent of Sabah

has protected status (compared to 17 percent of land in the USA), 40 percent has been converted

to palm oil production.

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Mangroves not only absorb carbon at an annual rate of 27 pounds per tree, but combined with the

soil beneath them, store 450 tons of carbon per acre over 25 years. To put that in perspective,

450 tons is equal to the amount of carbon emitted by driving a car around the world – 3.5 times!

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NCP will also be supporting "regular" reforestation of areas destroyed by farming and logging, and in 

particular restoring what had been orangutan habitat. The population of these great apes has declined by 

150,000 since the palm oil boom got started 25 years ago. Palm oil is in half of the products at the store - 

see which ones here. 

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NCP will be restoring 75 acres of mangroves along with forests degraded by an illegal oil palm 

plantations. We will provide an annual grant of $15,000 per year for four years, which will

eventually plant tens of thousands of forest and mangrove seedlings.

 

We’re inviting you, your class, club, congregation,

scout troop to join in this campaign!

 

The cost? $2 per seeding to plant and maintain them.

The benefits? $60=30 trees=13,500 pounds of CO2 (trees plus soil, over 25 years) – or the

emissions from a year’s car driving (12,000 miles @ 23 mpg).

$200=100 trees=35000 pounds – or the carbon footprint of the average person in the USA

(17 tons).

 

It’s all part of our Two Million Tree Campaign, with its goal of planting 200,000 trees per year

for 10 years – and part of preserving a livable climate for future generations.

 

As always, 100 percent of donations to our Special Projects go to the programs themselves.

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Donate here or by check to NCP, 117 Nature Road, Blue Ridge, VA 24064.

Thanks in advance for any help with this exciting new opportunity!

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