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Good practice Imported

Mauritius's National Mangrove Propagation Programme — Three Decades of State-Led Coastal Restoration

Mauritius · Albion · See the Mauritius profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 58% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 1995, Mauritius's state fisheries research centre has propagated over 400,000 mangrove seedlings across roughly 20 hectares on all four coasts, restoring nursery habitat for the fish stocks about 70% of the national commercial catch depends on.

400,000+ seedlings
Mangrove seedlings/propagules planted (1995-present)
~243 ha
Total mangrove cover
~70%
Commercial fish species dependent on mangrove nurseries
Mauritius's National Mangrove Propagation Programme — Three Decades of State-Led Coastal Restoration

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Albion Fisheries Research Centre, Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping
Period
1995–present
Keywords
coastal ecosystems, fisheries, blue carbon, climate adaptation

Context

Mauritius lost much of its mangrove cover to reclamation and coastal development during the twentieth century, prompting the Ministry of Fisheries to launch a dedicated Mangrove Propagation Programme in 1995, now run by the Albion Fisheries Research Centre under the Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping.

Activities

The programme combines nursery-reared seedlings with direct propagule planting across 21 identified sites on the west, north, south and east coasts.

Results

Over 400,000 mangrove seedlings and propagules have been planted across roughly 20 hectares, bringing Mauritius's total mangrove cover to about 243 hectares. The UN SDG Partnership registry records that around 70% of the country's commercial fish species depend on mangrove sites as juvenile nurseries.

Conclusions

The restored area remains modest relative to Mauritius's roughly 180 km coastline, and an independent 2026 academic study found decadal mangrove dynamics still uneven across sites, arguing for a national restoration-target framework rather than site-by-site propagation alone.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Albion Fisheries Research Centre nursery/planting teams

Conditions for success

  • Site selection across multiple coasts
  • Legal backstop (2023 Fisheries and Marine Resources Act bans mangrove removal)

Common failure modes

  • Decadal academic monitoring found uneven site-level survival, some sites losing cover

Commonly funded by

LIFE Programme National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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