Environmental Emigration

In the coastal forests of Southern Guatemala, the people have been forced to immigrate to other regions in search of work because their natural environment has been so severely degraded that they struggle to find ways to support themselves. The water in many of these areas is toxic, and clean water is essential for plant, animal, and human life to survive. 

Era is joining forces with businesses and individual supporters to restore the mangrove estuary and provide jobs to the local communities. Restoring the mangrove ecosystem will provide work right at home for these families as well as access to clean water and food. Restoring the estuary will bring back life to the ecosystems that rely on mangroves, and more fish and shrimp will be able to live in the area, providing long-term economic opportunity to these communities. 

There's still work to be done: additional sponsors are needed to restore all of the mangroves within this area. There is also opportunity to restore the coastal savanna forests that once thrived in this region but now can only scarcely be found. The restoration of these forests will  support agroforestry initiatives to help to restore the soil conditions in the area and make the land arable again so that the communities can thrive long term on their land.

To learn more about this project, you can visit the project’s profile on explorer.land.