Colombian community restores mangroves after decades of displacement

Residents of the Pescador 1 and 2 neighborhoods in Turbo, Antioquia, organized a community group to restore the mangrove ecosystem they previously occupied for housing.

Luz Marina Sánchez and her neighbors arrived in Turbo, a municipality in the Golfo de Urabá, Colombia, nearly 50 years ago as displaced people fleeing armed conflict. Because they needed immediate shelter, the community filled the mangrove roots with earth and wood to build solid floors for their homes.

This practice destroyed parts of the ecosystem, which provides natural barriers against tides and serves as a habitat for fish and crabs. In 2016, the community formed Guardianes del Mangle to reverse this damage. The group started by manually removing trash from the roots every Saturday and later introduced environmental education to change how neighbors interact with the coast.

They created the Guardiancitos del Mangle, a group for children, and established the Eco Canje, a program where people exchange recyclable waste for donated goods like books and toys. The organization partnered with the Universidad de Antioquia and ACNUR to use technology in their conservation efforts. They developed a digital plastic footprint calculator to track waste and taught children to build robot prototypes to collect plastic from the mangroves.

While the community has successfully reforested several hectares, residents note that ongoing plastic pollution from the Caribbean and the río Atrato continues to pose a challenge to their work.