With the planting of 29,000 mangroves, Nuquí is betting on reforesting an ecosystem linked to its identity

The Colombian Ministry of Environment reported on Tuesday that the community of Nuquí, a municipality on the shores of the Gulf of Tribugá in the Colombian Pacific, and members of the Los Riscales Community Council planted 29,000 mangrove seedlings in order to restore this ecosystem that provides multiple ecosystem goods and services for the fishing community.

This strategy, which involved 156 children, adolescents and adults from this village, which is known to be one of the birthplaces of humpback whales, is linked to the purpose of the national government to plant 180 million trees before the end of 2022, a goal that already exceeds 65 per cent, and which has been supported by communities in different regions of the country.

“Colombia is committed to the restoration and recovery of degraded areas, and today, with the support of the Government of Chocó, the Mayor's Office of Nuquí, the Institute for Environmental Research of the Pacific (IIAP) and Codechocó, we reaffirm that commitment. Nuquí is an example of conservation and reflects the strong link between the community and the mangrove swamp, an ecosystem that has unimaginable biological potential. We welcome this initiative, which adds to the country's goal of planting 180 million trees by 2022 ″, said Environment Minister Carlos Eduardo Correa.

At the same time, the Environment portfolio acknowledged that it has been adopting comprehensive management of these ecosystems, through initiatives such as the National Program for the Sustainable Use, Management and Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems, with which progress has been made in the zoning of more than 290,000 hectares of this important ecosystem that is habitat thousands of species of native flora and fauna.

For his part, the director general of the IIAP, William Klinger Brahan, assured that the initial goal of reforestation was exceeded in the territory of the biogeographic Chocó, formed by the region from Córdoba to Nariño, the initial goal of reforestation was exceeded, recording the planting of 1,587,000 native trees, of which 73,000 were in the municipality of Nuquí, including 43. 000 were planted with the support of community councils and the rest with indigenous reservations.

“We proposed a strategy not only for training in reforestation processes, but of in-depth knowledge of mangroves, of community monitoring; we are leaving that capacity in place so that the community can continue to work on this purpose,” said the director of the Pacific Environmental Research Institute.

In this regard, the Ministry of Environment recognized that for the populations of the Colombian Pacific such as Nuquí, and Tribugá, where the construction of a port was planned, mangrove represents more than an ecosystem, because communities find them as part of their culture, economy and tradition, which is why restoration represents” almost initially for their survival as a community”.

“The mangrove is a cradle room for fish, pianguas and shrimp, it is very important for us; with mangrove we get many things for the livelihood of our families and our children, that's why we do reforestation. If Tribugá breathes well, all of Colombia will breathe better,” concluded Nuquí resident María Saturnina González.

KEEP READING