Mangroves Land

Regeneration Project

Discover more on how we're restoring the Brazilian Northeast coastline by planting more mangroves in Alcântara, Maranhão.

Planting Mangroves: Project objectives

Greenpaw is proud to collaborate with our project partners, RAIN, and the local community; The Quilombos of Alcântara, a joint effort to restore coastal ecosystems by planting mangrove seedlings. Greenpaw and RAIN work directly with a team of experts who were born, raised, and educated in Brazil, partnering closely with the community to collect and propagate native mangrove seeds. The team combines traditional ecological knowledge with innovative restoration methods to rehabilitate degraded coastal areas impacted by deforestation, climate change, and human activities. Our goal is to regenerate hundreds of hectares of mangroves, restoring them to their natural state and creating new habitats for biodiversity

Project updates

Get the latest updates on our current projects.

  • 2024

    March 2024 marked the beginning of our journey to fund the Cerrado and Mangroves project. It was then that we solidified our partnerships and began working with RAIN, setting the foundations for something truly impactful. Over the next several months, from March to December, we worked tirelessly—and successfully secured funding to plant 5,330 trees.


    Now, as we step into 2025, the real magic begins. The planting season kicks off this January, and we can’t wait to see the first seedlings take root. More updates to come as the year unfolds—onwards and upwards!

  • January 2025

    Progress continues at an incredible pace. We’re planting the first batch of seedlings of the season! Stay tuned, as we’ll be sharing some snapshots of the mangrove restoration efforts soon.

  • February 2025

    Updates coming soon.

  • March 2025

    Updates coming soon.

Project Aims


At Greenpaw, we regenerate degraded mangroves using a ‘whole-system approach.’ This dynamic, ecologically based land management system, grounded in traditional wisdom, diversifies and sustains production while delivering social, economic, and environmental benefits. Additionally, it enhances biodiversity and improves soil health.

  • Regenerate Mangrove Lands

    Coastal areas are under constant pressure, with 35% globally lost since 1980. We are working to restore these lands by planting saplings and ensuring they thrive and succeed.





  • Providing for Biodiversity

    Thanks to their intricate root systems, they provide nesting, nursery and feeding grounds for many aquatic organisms, including juvenile fish of thousands of species, oysters and mussels, mudskippers, lemon sharks, and manatees. Above the ocean surface, mangroves also provide critical habitat for cranes, eagles, monkeys, and even tigers.



  • Creating Oxygen & Locking in Carbon

    These essential mangrove coastal ecosystems sequester up to 4x more carbon than any other biome, including the Amazon.

  • Cultural Preservation

    This approach respects and preserves the cultural practices of the community, fostering a harmonious connection between tradition and innovation.

  • Shoreline Protection

    Mangroves offer a wide range of ecosystem services such as shoreline protection and water filtration and desalination, while providing habitats for crucial marine species.



  • Improving Soil & Water Quality

    Planting mangroves enhances soil quality and improves water quality throughout the region, extending its benefits to the Amazon and beyond.

Why are Mangroves so Important?

In addition to their enormous carbon-storing capacity, mangroves offer a wide range of ecosystem services such as shoreline protection and water filtration and desalination, while providing habitats for crucial marine species.

Safeguarding these areas not only mitigates the effects of climate change but also preserves the livelihoods of local communities who depend on the resources that mangroves provide. When people have poor economic opportunities the ecosystem suffers, and when the ecosystem provides economic sustenance people work to regenerate it.

Where do your donations go?

As we collect mangrove saplings from the mangrove area, every £1 donated is pooled together with thousands of other £1 contributions. Collectively, these donations cover every aspect of the process, from the initial planting mangrove sapling in the ground to ensuring the mangrove sapling success, allowing the area to thrive and mature for decades and even centuries.

Here’s how every £1 contributes to the regeneration process:

Supporting Local Communities

Donations pay wages for locals to collect

and plant seeds.

Transportation Costs

Funding covers travel by boat and other transport to planting sites

Essential Equipment

Includes items like wellies and tools for planting.

Food & Refreshments

Sustains workers during seed collection and planting.

Plant Establishment

Ensures new plants thrive and succeed post-planting.

Monitoring Your Impact

Covers photography, interviews, and reporting to track progress.

Administrative Support

Greenpaw and RAIN’s operational costs,

with trustees volunteering their time.

Planting Season

November to February/March, during Brazil’s rainy season, funded by donations gathered throughout the year.

This Projects Impact


Since our launch on 1st March 2024 to 31st December 2024

5330

Trees Planted

2

Hectares Regenerated

144

Tonnes of C02e offset

75,000

Mangroves planted by 2030

History, Culture, Heritage and Geography:

The Quilombos of Alcântara:

Communities founded by formerly enslaved people are called Quilombos; their populations were made up of enslaved people who escaped before slavery was abolished in 1888, and by those liberated (often without compensation) afterwards.

The Local Communities


The Quilombos of Alcântara mingled their ancestral African traditions and blood with local Indigenous communities, creating a uniquely rich cultural heritage that makes them the ideal stewards for the work of regeneration, and a shining example of resilience. They maintain a deep knowledge of local ecology and traditions that allowed them to survive through centuries of oppression and marginalisation, and we have a lot to learn from them that can help us approach global challenges.

Alcântara

Alcântara's history goes back to the early years of Brazil itself. In the early 1600s, the Tupinambá and Tapuia peoples lived on these coastal and rural lands, which later saw colonisation by the French and Portuguese; they would bring 5.5 million enslaved Africans over the next three hundred years.

Help Us,
Help Others 

Regenerate land and offset your carbon with our project partner RAIN and Associação Quilombo Kalunga.

Support now

Working with project partner: RAIN

RAIN works with community-led projects that follow traditional techniques deeply rooted in their history and landscapes. RAIN believe that people are an integral part of the natural world, and that conservation does not go far enough.

By engaging and partnering with local actors, RAIN is fostering a network and a movement where communities lead the way in restoring landscapes and preserving cultural traditions. www.rainreforest.org

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