Apple to protect 2400 hectare of mangroves in India

To become carbon neutral across its entire global supply chain by 2030, Apple is now protecting the mangrove ecosystem — and the livelihoods that depend on it — in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. Apple awarded a grant to the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) in 2021 to work with the local community to protect a 2400-hectare mangrove forest in the region, which provides an important buffer against the most dangerous impacts of climate change. It is a part of Apple’s work to support communities around the world most impacted by climate change.  

“The fight against climate change is a fight for the communities around the world whose lives and livelihoods are most threatened by the crisis, and that’s where we’ve focused our work — from Colombia to Kenya to the Philippines,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. “Our new partnership in India continues this momentum, helping a community benefit economically from the restoration of the mangrove forests that protect against the worst impacts of climate change.”

Through the partnership, Apple says AERF will enter into conservation agreements with local community members, offering support in exchange for conserving and protecting the mangroves on their land. The ultimate goal of the partnership is to help transition the local economy to one that relies on keeping mangroves intact and healthy.  

Through the new partnership, AERF will also engage Conservation International to verify the climate benefits of the mangroves, accounting for the carbon sequestered in both the trees and soil. In addition to protecting coastal communities from climate impacts like the unpredictable monsoons and rising tides that threaten the Raigad district, mangroves act as carbon sinks that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their soil, plants, and other sediment. 

Dr. Archana Godbole, director of AERF said “Though mangrove conservation issues are diverse and different in each place, here in our project area, opportunities are also many. Training our young, enthusiastic team as well as local communities for blue carbon will surely help us travel a long way to achieve mangrove conservation in this vibrant coastal area along the Arabian Sea.” Blue Carbon is generated by healthy mangrove ecosystems that can store more carbon in their soil, more than land-based forests.

AERF will also apply learnings from Conservation International’s pilot blue carbon project in Cispatá, Colombia, launched in 2018 to their work in Raigad, with plans to establish a model that can be scaled across India. 

In addition to protecting the existing mangroves in the area, Apple's grant supports the restoration of mangroves across a 50-hectare area where they have degraded, as well as the purchase and distribution of portable bio-stoves that allow people to cook without cutting down mangroves for firewood.