The Investable Mangroves & Restorative Blue Foods Manifesto
During Climate Week Zurich, the “Investable Mangroves & Restorative Blue Foods Manifesto” was officially launched for the first time at Blueyou.
by Admin
The initiative, led by Blueyou, Vlinder and Restor in collaboration with The Mangrove Breakthrough, aims to establish restorative mangrove aquaculture as a scalable, investable solution that delivers climate, biodiversity and sustainable development outcomes.
René BenguerelMangroves are among the most powerful nature-based solutions for climate resilience, biodiversity conservation and food security. Through this Manifesto, we want to demonstrate that restoring mangrove ecosystems is not only an environmental imperative but also an attractive and investable business opportunity. Now is the time to act together and at scale.— René Benguerel, CEO of Blueyou.
Under the theme “Investable Mangroves: Unlocking the Business Case for Mangrove Restoration,” representatives from business, science, finance and conservation explored how mangrove restoration can become a viable asset class. Discussions focused on regenerative aquaculture models that combine carbon sequestration, biodiversity enhancement and sustainable livelihoods for coastal communities.
Speakers and experts included René Benguerel (Blueyou), Tom Kagerer (Vlinder), Thomas Elliott (Restor), Alexia Semov (Fair Carbon), Ronald Tardiff, Beatrice Casamenti, Jean-Damien Bogner, Christina Senn-Jakobsen, Gillian Rutherford, Jonas Walker, Patrick Nussbaumer and Ignace Beguin Billecocq, who shared perspectives from across finance, sustainability, science, impact investing and regenerative value chains.
The panel discussion was moderated by Karime Brecailo Abib (AdvantiKA – Responsible Results), who guided the conversation on how nature-based solutions can move beyond pilot projects toward large-scale implementation and investment.
Experts at the Investable Mangroves Event
A Vision for 2040
The Manifesto outlines an ambitious vision: by 2040, one million hectares of degraded coastal landscapes will be transformed into thriving blue food habitats. Of this area, 600,000 hectares of mangroves will be actively restored and maintained.
According to the Manifesto, this transformation could generate annual sequestration of 6–7 million tonnes of carbon, resulting in approximately 180 million tonnes of carbon sequestered over a 30-year period.
In addition, the initiative envisions the issuance of USD 8–9 billion in blue carbon credits, the production of 800,000–900,000 tonnes of additional seafood annually, and improved livelihoods for 10 million people in marginalized coastal communities.
A Call for Cross-Sector Collaboration
At its core, the Manifesto is a call for pre-competitive collaboration among businesses, investors, researchers, policymakers and civil society organizations. Signatories commit to raising awareness of restorative mangrove aquaculture, developing project pipelines, improving enabling conditions and mobilizing blended finance to support large-scale implementation.
The Manifesto states:
“As signatories to this Manifesto, we pledge to champion restorative mangrove aquaculture as a nature-based solution for mitigating climate change, promoting future-proof blue foods and driving prosperity in coastal communities. We will engage in precompetitive partnerships for raising global awareness, highlighting the unique benefits of mangrove restoration at scale, fostering cross-sector collaboration, unlocking critical enablers, driving project pipeline, and mobilizing blended finance to scale solutions that benefit people and planet.”
Growing Momentum for the Regenerative Blue Economy
The event highlighted the growing momentum behind regenerative blue economies. Participants emphasized the need for stronger cross-sector collaboration, the increasing interest in nature-based investments and the readiness of scalable solutions that deliver measurable benefits for climate, biodiversity and coastal communities.
The launch of the Investable Mangroves & Restorative Blue Foods Manifesto was one of the key moments of the event and sparked discussions on how regenerative aquaculture can be scaled to one million hectares by 2040. The initiators see the Manifesto as the starting point of a global movement to restore degraded coastal ecosystems while creating new economic opportunities for millions of people.
Thank You and Invitation to Join
We would like to thank all partners, organizations and individuals who signed the Investable Mangroves & Restorative Blue Foods Manifesto during the event and demonstrated their commitment to the future of restorative mangrove aquaculture.
The Manifesto is a call to collective action. Organizations, investors, researchers, policymakers and practitioners who would like to support the initiative, build partnerships or actively contribute to its implementation are warmly invited to get in touch. Together, we can accelerate the restoration of mangrove ecosystems and the development of a regenerative blue economy.
