Restoring ecosystems, reviving hope
In a highly transited region of Colombia, UNHCR’s community-based efforts to restore vital mangroves are bringing hope away from home — and building durable solutions.
In the city of Turbo, in northern Colombia, the neighborhoods of Pescador 1 and 2 have welcomed people displaced from surrounding areas that have experienced conflict. Since 2018, UNHCR has been supporting the local integration process in these neighborhoods, where internally displaced people and people from other countries live together amid a mangrove reserve.
The mangroves — which both provide environmental protection and are at high risk from climate change impacts — have been negatively affected by the divergence between the expanding human population they’re supporting and existing waste management infrastructure. Meanwhile, residents suffer negative health impacts of environmental degradation and have limited access to livelihoods. The need for solutions bolstering the integration and self-reliance of displaced communities is urgent.
So, UNHCR Colombia is working with the communities of Pescador 1 and 2 to identify and test new strategies for mangrove restoration, which will, in turn, contribute to the diversification of opportunities in the green economy. A preserved environment provides a safe space for displaced people and the communities that host them. If successful, this initiative — implemented with the support of UNHCR’s Environment and Climate Action Innovation Fund — will demonstrate that generating conservation-based livelihoods can be an effective strategy for the protection of the people UNHCR works with and for.
Strengthening a committee of mangrove guardians
One of the first steps — after a robust assessment of the environmental and socioeconomic challenges experienced by Pescador 1 and 2 — was to help strengthen an existing community committee that represents both neighborhoods, to ensure it could confidently lead future activities both on environmental restoration and exploration of livelihood options.
The committee — known as “Guardianes del Mangle” (Guardians of the Mangrove) — is composed of 18 community members displaced by the armed conflict in Colombia, as well as artisanal fishermen. All members are determined to continue working for the care and recovery of the wildlife and mangroves in their neighborhoods, raising awareness about the importance of living in harmony with the surrounding ecosystem. The current president of the committee, whose parents were forcibly displaced to the area, has said:
“We made a pact to stop cutting down the mangrove, as it is this ecosystem that has provided us with a place to live.”
A child-led chapter, “Guardiancitos del Mangle”, is also being strengthened, encouraging an intergenerational approach to this work. One 18-year-old member of the group noted:
“With this initiative, we make people aware of the care of the mangrove. … We are the generation of the future. How we live afterwards depends on this.”
Since the project’s conception, the Guardianes del Mangle have been at the center of both planning and action, including setting up their own governance, commitments, and goals. By ensuring a community-led structure is front and centre, this initiative fosters ownership of environmental stewardship, highlights locally informed priorities, and empowers not only the committee members but the community as a whole. Nurturing a peer-led approach has quickly generated credibility for this kind of work within Pescador 1 and 2, enabling the committee to get on with their activities.
A two-part plan: For people and planet
Since the project began, in early 2024, the committee has prepared action plans to lead clean-up days, house-to-house awareness-raising campaigns, and activities to restore existing mangrove trees and plant mangrove seeds. The committee will work alongside UNHCR, the Turbo municipality, and other institutions to carry out this conservation work. Partnerships with a local university have also been developed so that the community can participate in research and training, enabling them to gain and share knowledge about the care of the ecosystem they inhabit.
These activities are related to the first element of a two-part plan: community actions and neighborhood improvements to preserve the environment. With the first activities of the committee to begin this month, a key initial change expected is a reduction in solid waste in this ecosystem, which chokes the flow of water, poses a hazard to important fish nurseries, and releases pollutants. Recognising that environmental clean up efforts are often short lived, the focus will be on establishing a waste segregation and collection system.
The second part of the plan is related to livelihoods. Once the environmental restoration work gains momentum, the Guardianes del Mangle aim to establish the committee as a social enterprise — one that can drive environmentally positive income-generation opportunities for community members. Leveraging the academic partnership, one avenue to explore will be scientific ecotourism. The mangrove ecosystem is recognised as essential for mitigating future impacts of climatic extremes and could be a treasure trove for scientific investigation; potential livelihoods in this space would not only provide income generation opportunities, but would further empower community members to lead investigations into the care of this ecosystem and its contributions to climate action.
Commercialization opportunities that showcase the value of the mangroves is another potential avenue. The committee will establish a seedling bank and support plant propagation, to enable environmental restoration in other locations or the production of sustainable products. In addition, the committee will be trained in waste management and transformation techniques, enabling them to produce useful items for the community and, potentially, to develop related businesses.
Championing durable solutions
The clear focus on improving opportunities for the community and the fact that ideas for potential livelihoods have already been identified is helping to combat the not-uncommon perception that environmental stewardship is in conflict with the economic opportunities and wellbeing of people. Moreover, the Guardianes del Mangle activities complement a broader strategy to develop options for resilience and self-reliance for communities forced to flee.
UNHCR Colombia has been working with the Turbo municipality to register land and property rights for displaced communities in this area. The legal protection this strategy will afford, alongside the access to sustainable economic opportunities in a healthy environment that this project aims to deliver, may reduce the need for further displacement and onward movements of vulnerable groups.
The project’s community leadership and focus on addressing local priorities will retain knowledge and skills in this area, building a foundation for future work and ensuring a positive feedback loop whereby restoring the environment opens up new opportunities.
Read more about UNHCR’s Environment and Climate Action Innovation work here. Read more about UNHCR’s work in Colombia here.
