"Mangroves are life, ecosystem services, and economic hope"
Statement from the Government of Ecuador on World Mangrove Day 2017
On World Mangrove Day 2017, governments from tropical regions rich in mangrove habitat issued statements recognizing the important role these forests play in daily life and nature.
Ecuador has 162,000 hectares of mangrove under conservation at the national level. On the Ecological Capayas Mataje Reserve, located in the Ecuadorian coast region, it can be found mangrove trees from about 60 meters tall, consider to be the tallest around the world.
The mangrove is the home of a large number of species and offers significant opportunities for the development of local economies based on the collection of crab and seashell, strengthening the food sovereignty of the population.
Through the Program Socio Manglar and the Sustainable Use and Mangrove Custody Agreements, the country empowers the exclusive use of the resources of the mangrove ecosystem to ancestral and traditional users that inhabit these zones. Thereby we stimulate the protection of this fragile ecosystem, compromising the citizens into the care of the mangrove.
Mangroves are life, ecosystem services, and economic hope for thousands of people in Ecuador. That is why we support the Global Mangrove Alliance and we are fully committed to join efforts for the conservation of mangroves worldwide.
Tarsicio Granizo
Minister of the Environment of Ecuador
