Stella's Story: Supporting Her Children's Education Through Mangrove Restoration

At Eden: People+Planet, we're partnering with local communities to design and implement restoration projects to enhance biodiversity, while generating longterm socioeconomic benefits to strengthen communities' long-term resilience.

One such community is Mariarano in Madagascar, where Stella and her husband settled with hopes of supporting a better life. As fishermen, they relied on the sea to feed their family and meet daily needs, but as deforestation worsened, their income from fishing became unreliable.

This instability prevented them from covering necessities, including growing education costs for their three children. When Eden launched its mangrove restoration project in 2020, it provided local community members with additional livelihood opportunities and financial stability. Stella joined our team and now plays a vital role in restoring Mariarano's mangrove forests by collecting, sorting, and planting mangroves during high tide, and clearing deforested areas for replanting at low tide.

"There has been a significant change in the forests here," Stella observed. “The speed of deforestation in the past 10 years has been high since I arrived in Mariarano.”

In addition to her work with Eden, Stella's family continues to fish for crabs, helping them meet their everyday needs. She hopes that through ongoing tree planting and restoration efforts, sustainable resources will continue to increase and provide livelihood opportunities and education to more communities like hers.

“I am so happy to contribute to this project because it will bring the resources back,” Stella says. ”I can support my children who study in Mahajanga town. I can pay their school fees, house rent, and food from my wage at Eden.”

With your dedication and support, together we are helping families like Stella's. Thank you for making a lasting difference for people+planet.