UWC Thailand is an international school in Phuket working in partnership with Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) to restore mangrove forests along the Phuket coastline, replacing those cleared for beachfront development, charcoal production and shrimp farming.
Mangroves are among the most effective ecosystems on earth: they sequester carbon, trap marine pollution, protect coastlines and support exceptional biodiversity in tropical waters. The school runs a Mangrove Restoration Centre where students collect and cultivate seedlings before working with the DMCR to plant them along the coast.
Mangrove seeds are viviparous, germinating on the parent tree and then producing propagules that root on contact with sediment. Dream For Trees funded the mangrove seedling nursery at the UWC school in Phuket,
Dream for Trees funded a full year of nursery operations, enabling the centre to grow and prepare the seedlings that make each planting event possible. These planting outings are almost a “rite-of-passage” for the school’s community, a bonding experience with both nature and each other. The students plant between 500 and 1,000 seedlings during each planting trip.