Donating mangroves against climate change

Nearly 80.000 mangroves have been planted with Boris's new book `Allein Zwischen Himmel und Meer` © Holly Cova

Nearly 80,000 mangroves have been planted with Boris's new book "Allein Zwischen Himmel und Meer", which bundles one mangrove with each copy sold. This makes the Malizia Mangrove Park Project jump over the mark of 500.000 mangroves and that means that 50% of the target number of the Park has been reached.

5 months ago, Boris Herrmann published a book called "Allein zwischen Himmel und Meer" co-written with writer Andreas Wolfers which talks about the adventures during the Vendée Globe round-the-world race, its ups and downs and Team Malizia's scientific mission during the race.

Since its publication, more than 78.000 books have been sold. Each book is bundled with one mangrove, which means that for each book sold one mangrove is planted. In this week the Malizia Team put the numbers of the sales together and paid out the money for more than 78.000 additional mangroves to the Malizia Mangrove Park Project. This will bring this project well over the mark of 500.000 mangroves! The target of this project is to plant one million man-groves in the area of the Malizia Mangrove Park which is located in the south of Mindanao, the southernmost island of the Philippines. It also means that 50% of the target number has been reached.

Background Information: Reforestation as a means of climate protection

In the second half of 2020, Boris Herrmann has started a reforestation project for mangroves in the Philippines together with the German-Philippine environmental organization Mama Earth Foundation. Under the name of his racing team "Malizia", the mangrove forest in the Malizia Mangrove Park on the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines is being reforested. Man-grove forests grow along tropical and subtropical coasts and, along with tropical rainforests, are among the most species-rich and adaptable ecosystems on earth. But their existence is endangered. Over the last 40 years, about one third of the world's mangrove stocks have been destroyed.

Why mangroves? Mangroves are enormously important for reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. Mangrove forests absorb at least as much CO2 per unit area as tropical rainforests - some studies even speak of many times the amount of a forest of the same size on land. In addition, man-groves, which can grow in fresh or salt water, form a strong natural barrier against erosion and provide food and income for over 120 million coastal inhabitants worldwide. Only in recent years has the understanding spread that this ecosystem is enormously important and worth protecting. In the meantime, their importance as a means against climate change has been recognized and they are often placed under nature conservation.