26/07/2026
Tree planting donation programmes can sometimes feel like a good deed and a simple way to reduce carbon emissions. One click, a few cent, and somewhere in a distant region, a tree is planted. However, what often remains unseen is that the change brought about by your donation, and its impact, goes far beyond carbon capture. Chiara Stichling, who recently wrote her Master's thesis in the Malizia Mangrove Park, can certainly testify to that.
You may actually have met Chiara. Last year, during The Ocean Race Europe, she spoke to visitors about the Malizia Mangrove Park and supported the team in collecting donations for the project in exchange for a Team Malizia T-shirt.
Shortly afterwards, she travelled to the Philippines to begin her research on the organic carbon stored in mangrove soils. It did not take long for her to confirm that the scientific and environmental value of these mangroves is immense. What surprised her just as much, however, was their importance for the local communities.
Livelihoods. Relational value. Hope. A place to come together. Necessity.
Communities in the Philippines are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. They are already living with the consequences of stronger storms, rising seas and increasing environmental uncertainty. For them, planting mangroves is not an abstract environmental action. It is a necessity for survival.
Now, after returning from the Philippines, Chiara reflects on the experience with mixed feelings.
"It is an incredible feeling to see that I am fulfilling the promise I made to people in Kiel, that their donations are reaching the Philippines and are being turned into real action," she says. "But at the same time, every donation also reminds me that there is still far too much CO₂ in the atmosphere, and far too little being done to reduce it."
Today, on World Mangrove Day, we highlight these great trees to show how climate action can create benefits far beyond carbon storage, protecting biodiversity, strengthening coastal resilience and supporting the communities who depend on these ecosystems every day.
https://www.team-malizia.com/news/from-kiel-to-the-philippines-how-mangroves-turn-promises-into-impact
