Africa-Press – Angola. Twenty thousand mangrove seedlings and seeds were planted this Friday, in the Tapo Community, Ramiros district, in Luanda, in an event guided by the Vice-President of the Republic, Esperança da Costa.
When speaking about a mangrove reforestation campaign, as part of the celebrations of February 2nd, World Wetlands Day, he said that the event aims to conserve and protect all wetlands in the world.
Esperança da Costa encouraged society to preserve the environment, in order to ensure the balance of ecosystems.
The Vice-President of the Republic stressed that commitment to environmental issues is a priority on the Executive’s agenda.
He mentioned that mangroves occur along the entire coastal zone of the country, with eleven wetland sites of national interest, hence the need to do all the work to recover these ecosystems.
“Mangroves are fragile ecosystems, but they play an important role in the life of the national and international community of all humanity”, he highlighted.
The minister also explained that mangroves support the biodiversity that constitutes and create conditions for the subsistence of communities, as well as protecting the sea coasts from extreme weather events.
Esperança da Costa also said that they play a crucial role in mitigating climate change and are authentic carbon consumers.
On the other hand, he said that he expects greater results from the scientific arm of universities on the occurrence of mangroves across the entire region of the country, from Cabinda, Zaire, Cuanza-Sul, Benguela and Namibe.
With these studies, we want to understand, he highlighted, what the true ecological structure of mangroves is and to make an assessment of degraded and healthy areas so that we can intervene with well-designed programs.
He also recalled that mangroves provide great interest and can be chosen as international wetlands, with tourist purposes.
Esperança da Costa said that the tourism segment is linked to scientific research, in order to find value in the country’s development, as well as in the conservation and preservation of self-sustainability.
On the occasion, the president of the environmental association Otchiva, Fernanda René, explained that failure to preserve mangroves risks the disappearance of several marine species of commercial value.
He mentioned that ecosystems are of great importance in climate change and it is mangroves that store carbon dioxide and play a major role along the coast, preventing erosion and flooding.
He added that they are natural basins that serve to retain rainwater.
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