Story | 13 Feb, 2020

Blueyou business partners with mangrove trees to turn a profit

The swirling question posed by any business wanting to take part in nature conservation is how to make it profitable. In Indonesia, the “Selva Shrimp” project is on the way to proving that small-scale farming with active nature conservation can create livelihoods for local communities. At the same time, heavily degraded ecosystems are being revived.

The Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility (BNCFF) is financing and supporting the Selva Shrimp project in Indonesia to becoming a self-sustaining, profit-making business partnership between Indonesian private business, Indonesian communities, and Swiss private enterprise. Conservation and restoration of Mangrove ecosystems is an integral part of the model. Without it the same money would not be there to be made.

There may be no secret ingredient, but if we list what IUCN has done together with the Blueyou business in the project, we might see the beginnings of a blueprint for future possibilities:

  • Return Mangroves to aquaculture farms by turning the current model for farming in the area upside down: from 5% Mangrove, 95% farm land to 60% Mangrove, 40% farm land
  • Modify existing farming practises to zero-input systems (no antibiotics, no feed, no chemicals), while reversing negative impacts from decades of problematic aquaculture practices
  • Triple the income for local farmers
  • Introduce a sustainable, guilt-free seafood choice for consumers
  • Increase the local communities' protection against sea level rise and natural disasters
  • Bake in the goal: to roll out the model to the entire region, conserving and restoring 150,000ha of mangroves, while supporting a resilient local economy that helps to feed the world.

The Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility (BNCFF) is an initiative of IUCN and supports impact businesses such as Blueyou and conservation projects with commercial potential to become profitable.

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The Selva Shrimp project

Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility (BNCFF)

Blueyou