Abstract

About 2,000 ha of mangrove forests are found around Martinique, most of them being concentrated on the leeward Caribbean coast of the island. Martinican mangroves are threatened by costal development for both housing and commercial purposes, as well as pollution from the watershed (mainly agriculture and sewage) and macro waste. The project “Mangrove Bòkay Nou” is the first project entirely designed and managed solely by a civil-society (youth-focused) organisation in Martinique: Roots of the Sea. . It aims to conserve and restore mangroves impacted by anthropogenic activity, located next to housing and within urban areas. Mid-2022, we launched a nursery of about 400 seedlings of the four main Caribbean species of mangrove trees. Today we have 329 young trees of three of the four species (Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa, Avicennia germinans). Seedlings of the grey mangrove (Conocarpus erectus) did not survive. Throughout the first year of the project, administrative challenges including the cooperation between different sectors (governmental, private, NGOs) led to important delays in the outcomes. The lack of time and involvement of volunteers was also a significant challenge.