Restoring nature with fishers in Bitung
In Bitung, we work with fishers who catch skipjack tuna one by one. And because this tuna is Fairtrade certified, a premium also goes back to their community. This time, the fishers chose an onshore project: planting new mangroves. In doing so, they're helping life move forward, both along the coast and out at sea.
Fairtrade Premium: the community decides
All our cans of skipjack are Fairtrade certified. What does that mean? For every can of Fairtrade tuna we buy, we also pay the fishers a Fairtrade Premium: extra money that goes directly to the community. And they decide for themselves what to do with it.
That can go, for example, towards better facilities or community projects. Think of the food stall the Mama Mama group started earlier this year (read more here). But it can also go towards restoring nature, as in this case.
Together with our Fairtrade partner AP2HI, fishers from Bitung set to work planting new mangroves.
A nursery for life at sea
Mangroves grow along tropical coastlines, right on the boundary between land and sea. There, they form a natural defence against, among other things, erosion and flooding.
But they're just as important underwater. Among their roots, young fish find shelter and food before heading further out into the ocean.
Fish species that later serve as important bait fish for the tuna fishery also grow up here.
By restoring mangroves, the fishers are investing both in the nature around their own community and in the life at sea their fishery depends on. After all, every fisher taking part in this project catches tuna on the boats we work with in Bitung.
It all comes full circle.
