A TOTAL of 10,000 mangroves have been planted along the Indian Ocean coastline in Zanzibar to commemorate the World Environment Day and support blue economy drive in the isles.

Manshik Shin, country director of the Korea International Corporation Agency (KOICA) said this in a statement released yesterday.

He said each mangrove planted represents a commitment to a better future, where natural resources are preserved for generations to come.

The mangroves were planted by KOICA Alumni Tanzania (KOAT) in collaboration with community members as Tanzania joined the rest of the world to mark the day.

This year, the theme of World Environment Day is ‘Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience’. 

According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40 percent of the planet's land is degraded, directly affecting half of the world's population.

“Today, in commemoration of WED, KOAT through KOICA, would like to commend the government of Zanzibar for the great efforts for environmental conservation and climate change adaptation in the isles,” he said  

The Republic of Korea also aims to raise awareness in communities about nature conservation by planting mangroves along the coastline as part of strengthening the blue economy in Zanzibar.

The main objective of this capacity-building intervention is to support the communities, including women and youth to realize the importance of nature conservation.

According to Shin, the Republic of Korea has been collaborating with the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries in Zanzibar to promote development.

Shin said, KOICA's priority includes addressing climate change and environmental issues and they collaborate with the government of Zanzibar to safeguard the environment.

KOICA sent 15 Zanzibar government officials for capacity building programmes in Korea to support Zanzibar marine multi-species hatchery centres on production of sea cucumber, mud crab, milkfish, and feed production.

Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow (CIAT) programme is a technical support and fellowship programme of KOICA and up to date, more than 2,000 Tanzanian government officials have been sent to Korea to pursue long and short courses to enhance their capacity and strengthen partnership between the two countries.