Women Oyster Farmers Fight to Save Sierra Leone’s Mangroves | World News

Along the coastline of Sierra Leone, disappearing mangrove forests are threatening the livelihoods of oyster harvesters who have depended on them for generations. Women who once collected oysters directly from mangrove roots now wade deep into muddy waters as oyster populations decline.Mangroves are critical ecosystems that protect coastlines from erosion, flooding and climate change while supporting biodiversity and food security. But rapid urbanisation, deforestation and land reclamation around Freetown and nearby coastal communities have destroyed large areas of mangrove cover.This video explores how climate change and human expansion are impacting Sierra Leone’s oyster farming communities, while activists and conservation groups work on mangrove restoration and sustainable oyster farming projects to protect the future.Watch powerful visuals from Sussex Beach, White Man’s Bay, Aberdeen Creek and Kolleh Town as local communities fight to preserve their coastline and way of life. In this video: 00:00 – Sierra Leone’s mangrove forests rapidly disappearing00:40 – Women oyster farmers struggle as oyster populations decline01:20 – Conservation groups push mangrove restoration projects