PROTECTED & ASSISTED NATURAL REGENERATION (ANR)

Removing barriers to natural regeneration includes reducing competition through weeding, mulching, and planting fast-growing species with wide crowns and large leaves to shade out herbaceous grasses and weeds. Strategies to reduce disturbances include protection from livestock grazing and establishing fire breaks to minimize risk during the annual burning season. We also attempt to augment multiple regenerative pathways by attracting seed dispersers with fruits, nectars, and shelter structures like bird perches, as well as selecting sites within 5km of natural forest to enhance seed rain and dispersal.

MANGROVE RESTORATION

As of December 2021, we have expanded our work to include mangrove landscape restoration in the south of Thailand, fitting with Conserve National Forest’s mission and vision. CNF has already restored mangrove sites in the provinces of Krabi and Satun where our work continues, and are currently working on restoring sites in Phang Nga

Communities along the coast of southern Thailand depend on mangrove forests, as it protects their livelihood by maintaining healthy supplies of fish and shellfish while also functioning as a protective barrier from the ocean. Mangroves operate as hatcheries for invertebrates and a wide variety of fish species. They provide shelter for young fish from predators and a warm, calm aquatic environment for them to grow in. This, in turn,  safeguards a steady population of fish that can be caught by the local fisherman.

Mangroves are not only important but highly unique. They have adapted to grow where other trees are unable to. These adaptations are:

Physical Stability:

Mangroves have “prop roots” that descend from the trunk and branches that provide structural stability and anchor the tree to the ground. Additionally, pneumatophores are lateral roots that grow upwards out of the mud and water to allow for the intake of oxygen and, subsequently, respiration.

Salt Tolerance:

Mangroves’ tolerance to salt means they are able to not only survive, but thrive in harsh saline environments. The red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle, has the ability to exclude salt uptake via a  filtration process that takes place on the surface of the root while the white mangrove, Laguncularia racemose, excretes salt through its leaves.

Reproductive Adaptation

Mangroves have a unique way of producing, known as vivipary, whereby the seeds germinate into seedlings while still attached to the tree.

Ensuring the conservation of mangrove forests is ensuring our own safety and livelihoods.

Click here to read our planting report from Krabi, February 2022.