 Mangroves are breeding grounds for myriad marine species and an essential resource for coastal human communities. They filter water, sink carbon, trap sediments, stabilize soil, improve water quality and protect coastlines from erosion and storms, providing ecosystem services to millions of people around the world. Healthy mangroves can provide huge environmental, social and economic benefits. Local community participation is key to mangrove protection and sustainable management. The Coastal Fisheries Initiative works with local and ancestral communities to conserve, monitor and reforest mangroves along the coasts of Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru and Senegal. The people are living here. They're living in the forest. They are living in the forest. When we were here, we were all living in the forest. The mangrove was not safe for the people. It was a woman's life. People were living in the forest. When the mangrove was in the forest, they were all living in the forest. When you're on a trip, you need to be careful. Cravit was neglected. They say this is a place where the people are living. And there is the same place where they live. And they have no reason to be breaks. But Cravit was neglected. I have a lot of parents. I want to live here. Cravit lives here. In Ecuador, thousands of small-scale fishes work in the mangrove forests of the Gulf of Gayaquil, which cover 126,000 hectares. Lauren is a harvester and fisher from Puerto El Morro in the Gulf of Gayaquil. She says that over the past five years, shellfish have become scarce due to mangrove deforestation and she is fighting for regulations to protect Patas de Mula's clams. Empowering women in fisheries value chains plus sustainable mangrove management plus an ecosystem approach that lets organisms replenish themselves and nature do its job equals thriving coastal communities.