The Global Mangrove Alliance is a conservation network that consists of approximately 36 left-of-center organizations including Conservation International, the Nature Conservancy, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Ocean Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and World Resources Institute. 1
The organization aims to halt the deforestation of mangroves across the world and aims to protect and restore 15 million hectares of mangrove habitats internationally by 2030. The Global Mangrove Alliance also aims to expand mangrove habitats by 20 percent by 2030. 2 3
Background
The Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA) is a left-of-center conservation network consisting of approximately 36 organizations, most of which are left-of-center environmentalist organizations. 1
GMA was created at The Economist’s 2018 World Ocean Summit. The founding organizations of GMA, left-of-center environmentalist groups, include Conservation International, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF, also known abroad as World Wide Fund for Nature), the “world’s oldest and largest conservation body” the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the world’s largest nongovernmental conservation organization The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The Global Mangrove Alliance’s founding objective was to expand mangrove habitats by 20 percent by 2030. 3
The organization’s goals include stopping the loss of natural mangrove habitats and restoring already degraded habitats across the world. The organization also states that it aims to integrate mangrove restoration into President Joe Biden’s (D) “Build Back Better” initiative. Additional goals set by GMA include increasing its membership by 50 percent and establishing ten national chapters of the organization. 4 5
The Global Mangrove Alliance works in Africa, North and South America, Asia, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Singapore, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. 6
Affiliated Organizations
The Global Mangrove Alliance states that work conducted by the organization will be in “close partnership and with input” from other left-of-center organizations including the Blue Carbon Initiative, Friends of Ecosystem Based Adaptation, International Partnership for Blue Carbon, Friends of Ocean Action, and Nature 4 Climate, a program of the Nature Conservancy that collaborates with international left-of-center environmentalist groups and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to promote left-of-center environmental policies. 5
GMA and the United Nations High-Level Climate Champions announced the Mangrove Breakthrough initiative in September 2022. The purpose of the initiative is to increase “public, philanthropic, and private finance” for the protection of mangroves. The target of the initiative is to invest $4 billion to protect and restore 15 million hectares of mangroves across the world by 2030. 2
The Global Mangrove Alliance is comprised of approximately 36 left-of-center organizations including Conservation International, the Nature Conservancy, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Ocean Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and World Resources Institute. 1
People
The Global Mangrove Alliance has a team of 17 policy advocates who represent the network and work towards furthering GMA’s goals. The team consists of members of other organizations including three members of Conservation International, which lobbies political authorities to implement environmentalist policies while also promoting private investment in conservationist projects; 7 three members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the “world’s oldest and largest conservation body” which is an environmentalist coalition of governments, NGOs, corporations, and other organizations; 8 six members of the World Wildlife Fund, an international non-governmental organization that focuses on conservation and environmentalism; three members of the Nature Conservancy, the world’s largest nongovernmental conservation organization and ranked 15th on the 2020 Forbes list of the 100 largest U.S.-based charities; 9 10 and two members of the conservation and environmentalist organization Wetlands International. 11
References
- “Our Members.” Global Mangrove Alliance. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.mangrovealliance.org/our-members/.
- “Mangroves for Climate Action: Global Mangrove Alliance launches new State of World Mangrove Report, announces Climate Champion Partnership.” IUCN. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.iucn.org/story/202209/mangroves-climate-action-global-mangrove-alliance-launches-new-state-world-mangrove.
- “The Global Mangrove Alliance: Uniting to Conserve and Restore Valuable Coastal Forests.” Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.worldwildlife.org/projects/the-global-mangrove-alliance-uniting-to-conserve-and-restore-valuable-coastal-forests.
- “About Us.” Global Mangrove Alliance. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.mangrovealliance.org/about-us/.
- “Roadmap 2021.” Global Mangrove Alliance. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.mangrovealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Global-Mangrove-Alliance-Roadmap-2021.pdf.
- “The Global Mangrove Alliance.” Climate Champions. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://climatechampions.unfccc.int/team_member/the-global-mangrove-alliance/.
- “About Conservation International.” Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.conservation.org/about.
- “MacDonaldInstitutional_Reflexivity_and_IUCN-17.02.03.doc.” December 18, 2003. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://perso.uclouvain.be/marc.maesschalck/MacDonaldInstitutional_Reflexivity_and_IUCN-17.02.03.pdf.
- Koutsky, Judy. “Nature Conservancy.” April 30, 2023. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/companies/nature-conservancy/.
- Stevens, Mike. “Who We Are.” The Nature Conservancy in Washington. April 9, 2022. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.washingtonnature.org/ourteam.
- “Experts.” Global Mangrove Alliance. Accessed August 4, 2023. https://www.mangrovealliance.org/experts/.