AUC-Led Initiative Plants 50,000 Mangrove Trees Along Red Sea Coast

A 50,000-tree mangrove planting drive has been completed along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, with Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam ordering a study into using mangroves as a form of coastal protection.

The project is being implemented by the American University in Cairo with several partners in Hamata and Safaga, combining mangrove restoration with local economic activities. Sewilam inspected cultivation areas inside Wadi El-Gemal Protected Area near Marsa Alam on September 19th and took part in the final stages of planting.

According to the ministry, each mangrove tree is expected to absorb between 350 and 400 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

Sewilam directed the Shore Protection Authority to study where mangrove planting could be expanded along the Red Sea as an alternative to conventional coastal defences, with the choice of method depending on local site conditions.

The project also includes community-based monitoring, with volunteers planting seedlings, documenting field conditions through photographs and feeding data into geographic information systems to support long-term tracking of the Hamata mangrove ecosystem.

During the visit, officials also reviewed a women-led mangrove honey and beekeeping project in Hamata village, linking conservation work with local income. Sewilam called for the products to be marketed to nearby hotels and resorts.

Mangroves play a role in carbon storage, shoreline protection, fish habitats and wider coastal biodiversity, and the current programme forms part of broader efforts to expand mangrove cultivation along the Red Sea coast.