Fishery depletion, fresh-water scarcity, and deforestation are affecting rural coastal communities in much of Mexico, which has lost at least 25% of its mangroves since the 1980’s.

Starting in Baja California Sur, and in collaboration with SEMARNAT, local fishing villages, and multiple other NGOs, we are embarking on a massive endeavor to create regenerative blue economies and restore vast areas of degraded mangrove & seagrass habitat, with a goal of growing 1 billion mangroves in Mexico alone.

Desertification affects an estimated 1/3 of Spain’s agricultural lands.  In Andalucía this is due primarily to unsustainable water use, and salinization.  This photo, taken July 2021, illustrates a 50% fall in rice production in the region, despite proximity to a river.  Why?  The river is salty, and the wells have run dry.

This was once a marsh, on the banks of the Guadalquivir River.  Earthworks have dried it up, ostensibly for agricultural production, but the soil is too salty for any traditional crops.  Using seawater we can make these lands productive again!

These tidal marshes were once a staple of the Phoenician and Roman civilizations, producing salt for centuries.  But they have fallen into disrepair and attempts to make them productive led to the destruction of seagrass groves in the bay of Cádiz.

Deforestation, fishery depletion, coastal erosion, and soil salinization are driving forced displacement and poverty in the Keta and Songor regions.

The degradation-poverty cycle will continue unabated without the creation of regenerative economies that directly address both.

In partnership with villages in the Keta and Songor region, we are launching a combined mangrove restoration & regenerative economic development program, targeting 7,000 hectares of highly degraded and saline land.

1000 miles of coastline bordering the oldest desert on earth provides a serious opportunity for Regenerative Seawater Agriculture.  With seawater as an infinite resource, RSA has the potential to convert these desolate landscapes to highly productive systems that benefit biodiversity, sequester carbon, and create the foundation for new rural economies.