apple: Apple to help protect and conserve mangroves in Maharashtra – Times of India

As part of its work to support communities impacted by climate change, Apple today announced a new partnership to protect an important mangrove ecosystem in the Raigad district of Maharashtra.
Back in 2021, Apple awarded a grant to the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) in 2021 to work with the local community to protect a 2,400-hectare mangrove forest in the region, which provides an important buffer against the most dangerous impacts of climate change.
In a news release, Apple said that through the partnership, AERF will enter into conservation agreements with local community members, offering support in exchange for conserving and protecting the mangroves on their land.
“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.”
According to Apple’s news release, 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.
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.