Mozambique has approved Africa's largest mangrove restoration project, with 200 million trees to be planted over 60 years, the promoter who obtained the license said on Thursday (06)..

Called "MozBlue", the project's mission is to restore Mozambique's degraded coastline and create around 5,000 forestry jobs.

In a VOA publication, Gulf-based Blue Forest said it will start work in November, adding that it obtained the license after about two and a half years of feasibility studies.

"We will start planting the first of 200 million mangroves in Quelimane, Zambezia, in November, in line with the start of the rainy season in Mozambique," Blue Forest founder and CEO Vahid Fotuhi told AFP, noting that the project aims to cover an area of 155,000 hectares (more than 383,000 acres), twice the size of Singapore.

Mangroves are one of the most efficient plants in the world at capturing carbon dioxide and their tangled roots stabilize coastlines and reduce erosion, while also providing shelter for fish and other creatures.

Mozambique has an extensive mangrove ecosystem that has been damaged by cyclones and floods, as well as by logging and deforestation.

"Over its 60-year lifespan, the MozBlue project is expected to remove around 20.4 million tons of CO2, contributing to climate change mitigation efforts," concluded Fotuhi.

(Photo DR)