The Resilient Coasts – Caribbean Sea project, funded by the Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation, began in spring 2024. It is a collaboration between eight countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, in partnership with SEI.

The project uses a stakeholder-driven “living labs” approach, creating real-world testing environments where local stakeholders co-develop and assess solutions to enhance coastal resilience and support livelihoods. Beyond the central aspect of mangrove rehabilitation, the project will also examine novel funding mechanisms such as blue carbon credits, blue bonds and other blended finance vehicles.

With the launch of the first living lab, the work has now entered an exciting new phase. This collaborative platform is designed to explore how sustainable ecosystem management – particularly of mangroves – can serve as a nature-based solution to pressing coastal challenges.

“We are very pleased to be involved in the mangrove rehabilitation efforts at Montecristi and capture lessons from the experiences there. The aim is to learn more about locally led conservation that combines scientific research with traditional local knowledge,” says SEI’s Karina Barquet, Head of SEI’s Water, Coasts and Ocean team.

Barquet hopes that the living lab will improve the understanding of how to operationalize community-led mangrove conservation as a nature-based solution for coasts. Insights gained will inform innovative climate finance strategies and coastal protection measures against threats like hypersalinization.

Collaboration and community involvement

Located along Montecristi Province’s coast, the living lab is set within a landscape rich in mangroves, coral reefs, dunes and wetlands. Fieldwork will be conducted in partnership with the Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral (IDDI) and the local NGO AgroFrontera, both of which have extensive experience in local climate adaptation and resilience efforts.

Active community involvement is central to the project, including participatory monitoring and restoration activities. Pedro Zuccarini from IDDI emphasizes the role these coastal ecosystems play for the local community, not least as buffers against climate change impacts. “The living lab will strengthen capacity among local stakeholders and contribute to alternative and sustainable livelihoods, building on the available ecosystem services. Hopefully, the results will be scalable and replicable in other parts of the world,” Zuccarini says.

Broader implications for coastal resilience

SEI researcher Lucia Licero has also visited the living lab and believes its insights will be valuable for other communities in the region: “The living lab in Montecristi is a big step forward in community-led efforts to restore coastal ecosystems and deal with climate change. This project is all about bringing the seascape in the wider Caribbean back to life and promoting sustainable practices, which helps both the environment and local folks,” she says.

SEI is building a community of practice around coastal resilience, including the applications of nature-based solutions. The Resilient Coasts project helps raise awareness about the critical role of coastal mangroves, salt marshes, coral reefs and seagrass meadows in strengthening both structural and ecosystem resilience against coastal climate change impacts. Despite growing scientific understanding of their importance, these ecosystems are still disappearing in many places.

“More people need to understand how coastal ecosystems can improve the resilience of the Caribbean and other island regions that are hard hit by hurricane storms, sea-level rise and periods of drought. Coastal wetlands are also vibrant biodiversity hotspots, offering critical habitats for countless marine species and sustaining the livelihoods of millions of people. Now we need to make sure that long-term mechanisms for their maintenance are put in place from the start,” says Barquet.