The morning of May 22^nd MAP met with volunteers from Projects Abroad on Koh Klang to work on the abandoned shrimp farm EPIC site #1  in Ban Klong Kum and start a new project replanting a portion of the beach forest at the same property.  At the abandoned shrimp pond, MAP staff led a group of volunteers that continued to transplant sesuvium portulacastrum to the pond wall slope in order to provide a natural “net” to catch mangrove seedlings while at the same time preventing erosion from tidal movement and rain.

Objective: To plant 150 beach forest trees of 5 different species. Mr. Sompoch, MAP’s Technical Adviser, led the group, directing the volunteers on where and how to plant the trees.

In the distance is healthy beach forest. The planting took place left in the grassy area because beach erosion has already occurred.

MAP staff member, Bobby, moving debris away from the base of a planted beach forest tree.

Key Message: Beach forest species are special in their ability to thrive in very sandy, salty, and windy conditions allowing them to grow in areas where other plants including mangroves would not survive. By replanting the damaged beach forest we can help protect the ecosystems behind and the community inland from storm damage and help slow beach erosion.