11/06/2025
🌊 East Africa’s Ocean Restoration Efforts Earn Global Recognition 🌍
The United Nations has officially recognized East Africa’s efforts to reverse ocean degradation as one of this year’s World Restoration Flagships under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
🏅Announced at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, these flagship initiatives are restoring nearly 5 million hectares of marine ecosystems — an area roughly the size of Costa Rica. The recognized projects span three continents, targeting pollution, overexploitation, and invasive species.
Among the three new flagships is a remarkable initiative in the Northern Mozambique Channel, a coral-rich region that holds 35% of all Indian Ocean coral reefs — earning its title as the ocean’s nursery and seedbed.
🇰🇲🇲🇬🇲🇿🇹🇿 AFR100 member countries Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania are leading this charge, collectively restoring over 87,000 hectares of interconnected land- and seascapes. Their work not only safeguards biodiversity but also boosts livelihoods and climate resilience in the region.
This recognition brings global attention — and now potential UN support — to local efforts that are protecting one of the most ecologically and economically vital marine zones in the world.
🌱 The World Restoration Flagships are part of a larger global ambition: to restore 1 billion hectares of degraded ecosystems by 2030. Led by UNEP and FAO, this movement is restoring hope, nature, and prosperity — one ecosystem at a time.
