Su Myat Win spends her days working on the clam farm in the Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park. She harvest and sells clams to the local hotels. On one hot and humid morning ready, Su Myat Win and 30 other individuals from her village woke up early ready to work as usual. But this day was not like most days. This day the workers started planting new mangrove seedlings along the coast to help restore a protective barrier to the shore and regenerate the ocean.

For the next few hours a congo line formed of people passing saplings from one to the next until 4 boats were filled. The workers boarded the boats and started the journey up river. They passed plots of land already sprouting with new growth and plots of land that has just been planted. After a short trip, they reached an open mudflat. The day before, the team had marked out a perfect grid with white sticks 4 feet apart to show where each sapling should be planted. Each group filled a milk crate with as many saplings as possible. Working in pairs, 1 person digs the hole then the other person plants the tree. It’s a simple system but extremely effective.

The success of this project is directly related to the communities involvement. The local community in the Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park has adopted the mangrove forest as a part of their village and understands how valuable it is to their lives and Mother Earth. Thank you for supporting this project, Su Myat Win and the entire community.