Mangrove Protectors

"Mangroves are our last line of Defense."

Mangrove Protectors is a community initiative founded by twin sisters Gaurika & Vedika Gautam. It tackles the pressing gap of younger students being unaware about the hidden power of Mangroves and their role in climate change mitigation. We conduct interactive workshops at schools & camps and share our knowledge about these magical tangled roots, building the green stewards & leaders of tomorrow.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Updated April 2026

Web presence

2023

Established

1K 2024

57.2K 2025

9.7K 2026

2

Countries

All students

Target group

Through Mangrove Protectors, we hope to spark a fundamental shift in mindsets using the most powerful tool of education. We aspire to turn environmental learning from abstract textbooks into tangible, action-driven experiences that empower every child as a nature's guardian. The Change We Seek: Climate education today often feels distant, not touching my daily life feel. The facts about "global warming" without local relevance do not appeal. We want schools to integrate hands-on, local-based learning about critical ecosystems like mangroves, starting at age 5-12 when curiosity peaks. Imagine every coastal school with "mangrove labs", flood demos showing roots as storm shields, "blue carbon" games revealing CO2 storage, and propagule crafts linking kids to real restoration. Youth as Leaders: No more passive learners, students become "Mangrove Ambassadors" who lead assemblies, launch petitions, and track clean-ups. This builds skills in advocacy, public speaking, and project management, while nurturing pride in local biodiversity. Systemic Ripple: Teachers adopt our model, embedding mangrove modules into curricula. Schools collaborate on annual "Mangrove Days," scaling to districts. Over time, this creates green stewards, future policymakers, educators, and advocates, who prioritize ecosystem protection. Ultimate Vision: Education where children don’t just learn about nature, but for nature. Reaching 1,422+ kids, we are proving awareness ignites action, leads to all schools

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

We created Mangrove Protectors after a defining moment at COP 28 on winning the ADNOC Sustainable Cup Challenge at the national level. This competition showed us how powerful mangrove-inspired ideas can be, but it also revealed a much bigger gap. We realized that many young students around us did not really know what mangroves are, why they matter, or how deeply their future is connected to these coastal forests. That realization stayed with us, because awareness is always the first step toward protection.

We decided to begin with the most fundamental and powerful tool for change - education. If young people understand mangroves not as distant trees, but as living systems that protect coastlines, store carbon, support biodiversity, and sustain communities, they are far more likely to care, act, and advocate. Through Mangrove Protectors, we wanted to share our knowledge, our experiences, and our enthusiasm in a way that is interactive, relatable, and memorable.
Our goal is not only to spread awareness, but to inspire the next generation of green stewards. We believe young people can become future leaders, policy makers, educators, and environmental advocates when they are given the right knowledge, confidence, and sense of responsibility. By starting with education, we are building a movement that turns curiosity into action and action into long-term environmental leadership.
We emphasize on the role of conservation and protection of these magical tangled roots.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

We conduct workshops in schools and camps across UAE and India with children aged 5-12, the perfect age to spark awareness and curiosity about mangroves. We target schools already passionate about environmental education, as they readily offer space and time for community initiatives like ours.
We coordinate all details and logistics, preparing kits and resources for maximum engagement. This includes assembling flood demonstration kits, DIY mangrove craft materials in batches, chart papers, copies of our contact cards, keeping all ready for dynamic sessions.
Workshops kick off with high-energy introduction, a small PPT showing the images about mangroves, types, their benefits, locations, threats and Blue carbon sequestration through visuals. They create DIY mangroves and dive into practical Flood Demonstration acitvity for touch and feel factor high visual recall.
The response is always phenomenal with young students loving it and participating enthusiastically. Each 45-60 minute session ends with a "Mangrove Ambassador" introduction to Green Pledges leading to committing to actions like school posters, mangrove park visits, family teach-ins with take-home crafts.
Post-workshop, we gather feedback from educators, express gratitude, and stay connected for future opportunities. We have delivered 20 workshops to 1422+ kids, igniting student led awareness campaigns proving its scalable impact.
We believe in the idea of "Catch them Young" and are happy to contibute to the change

How has it been spreading?

Mangrove Protectors has reached 1422+ children through onsite workshop 2700+ Instagram Followers, 800+ Peer Discussions in various clubs, groups and classes we meet and interact, about 80-100 educators in various locations, who have attended our workshops. Online our views are about 45k in the last few days, plus through podcasts, book and informal conversations.
We try and source workshops through school networks, word-of-mouth, social media, cold emails, and recommendations, building momentum across UAE and India.
We conduct workshops collaborating with the Emirates Literature Foundation's "Reading for Pleasure" school network, lending instant credibility. Schools recommend us to their other branches, validating that our work speaks for itself.
We also have conducted workshops with Children's City (Dubai Municipality) on 26th July 2024 & 2025 on the "International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem. Our website, mangroveprotectors.com, shares free Citizen Action Guide.
"Mangrove Ambassadors" showcase projects in assemblies, pulling in green enthusiasts within the schools to spread awareness.
Currently, we are working on a project with YLP Young Planet Leaders Club and will be featured on YAS Young Activists Summit social page.
We are working on highlighting our work through credible channels and this itself serves as a shoutout.
A few awards are also our shining stars. This self-sustaining model, powered by youth advocates ensures a brighter tomorrow.

How have you modified or added to your innovation?

Mangrove Protectors has evolved gradually based on real-world feedback, scaling from basic awareness sessions to a sustainable youth-led ecosystem.
Key Modifications:
Originally, our strategy was one-size-fits-all, but with popularity, we now split into two Tailored Tracks:
1) "Little Roots" (Age 5-8: crafts, simple demos)
2) "Ambassador Track" (Age 9-12: data visuals, advocacy planning).
Feedback shows younger kids needed more play while older ones crave creativity &. leadership, leading to boosting engagement to 40% increase.
New Additions:
We added the Youth Ambassadors program at a later stage, helping us build capacity in schools and saving the hassles of logistics and effective time management, freeing us for expansion.
Digital Layer: Added free Virtual Green Pledge Certificate downloads (500+), Instagram Reels (45K views), and an art & poetry contest to tap into after school and holiday hours.
Action Tracker: Post-workshop follow-up with personal communication to track feedback for improvement. Logging data prudently for records and scaling plans in future.
Cultural Adaptations: UAE sessions emphasize flood protection, mangrove park visits
India ones highlight Sunderbans, MISHTI proramme, Tiger Project and threats faced in the indian continent.
Customisation is the key to success and visible progress.
Results: Retention jumped to about 98%. These tweaks make Mangrove Protectors a scalable movement turning kids into ecosystem guardians.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

If you want to try Mangrove Protectors, here is our suggestions
For Schools: Start with first contacting Mangrove Protectors, call us or email us for an introductory workshop. We look forward to such requests and they mean the world to us. We will customise in every possible way to suit your needs. Post the workshops, once you have an idea, we will handhold you through school-level activities, from flood demos to ambassador pledges. Ofcourse, you are more than welcome to visit our website and social media to further enhance your awareness about these silent saviour trees and maybe get a peek into the world of mangroves and their eco-systems and how they help mitigate climate change.
For DIY Route: Visit mangroveprotectors.com, download free guides, read facts & blog, plan your action strategy assemblies, park visits etc, and share with us for feedback and support.
For Individuals: If you are an environmental enthusiast worried about climate change, follow us on Instagram. We share tips on individual contributions, advocacy, daily habits that help to build the movement.
For Collaborators: Connect to us through our various channels, we are excited to share our journey and inspire the community at every level.
We are open to suggestions, feedback, new ideas, collabs, till the time the main focus is Mangroves.
These pathways ensure everyone can join, whether through a guided workshops, self-start resources, or social inspiration. Let us protect the mangroves together!

Media

We were live on 100.3 FM Radio Dubai, sharing Mangrove Protectors and our message of mangrove conservation and protection, offering listeners across the city deeper insight into local climate and environmental awareness.

Implementation steps

Mangrove Protectors Workshops

To launch Mangrove Protectors in your school, follow these 6 simple, proven steps: 1. -Contact us for introductory workshop with your your details
2. -We train your school students
3. - Youth ambassadors conduct in-school activities
4. - Expand reach within school & create more ambassadors
5. - If Possible,Appoint sustainability in-charge educator
6. -Sustain & scale Thus, One workshop transforms into a self-sustaining school movement, ready to create green stewards, "It is the will to do".

Contact us for an introductory workshop by sharing your school details, age group, and preferred dates. We will then arrange a first session tailored to your students, designed to introduce mangroves in a fun, engaging, and age-appropriate way. These workshops teach children concept of Climate Change, Rising Seas, Global warming, conservation, coastal occupations etc in a kids friendly language with live relatable examples. Chart activity is very popular and children love it to show creativity.

We train your school students

We train your school students through a hands-on workshop where they learn about mangroves, climate, and conservation in a fun, interactive, and memorable way. Using simple demonstrations, activities, and visuals, students understand why mangroves matter and how they protect both people and nature. Our Popular Flood Demonstration box exhibits in a engaging visual way, how mangroves ptotect against floods and the hidden benefits which are extended by these tangled roots treees. Supporting always.

Youth ambassadors lead activities.

Youth ambassadors lead activities. Selected students, who show the most enthusiasm, curiosity, and confidence during the workshop. We then train them to become young leaders who can speak about mangroves in a simple and engaging way. They lead school assemblies, share short presentations with classmates & school wide awareness activities with all ages
They also organize peer-to-peer activities such as quizzes, poster-making sessions, classroom talks, and small campaigns on mangrove conservation.

Expand and create more ambassadors.

As the message spreads, more students become interested in joining the initiative and taking part in the activities. This creates a ripple effect, where one group of ambassadors inspires another. Over time, the program grows beyond a small team and becomes a school-wide movement. More students start speaking about mangroves, climate, and conservation in their own circles. This helps the initiative reach the whole school in a natural and lasting way. This is shared with other school branches.

Appoint a sustainability in-charge educator, if possible.

A sustainability in-charge educator helps guide the program within the school and keeps everything organized. This teacher can coordinate schedules, support student ambassadors, and make sure activities continue smoothly after the first workshop. They also help connect the initiative with school events, assemblies, and classroom learning. Having one dedicated educator makes the program more consistent and easier to sustain over time. It also ensures that the initiative becomes part of the school

Sustain & Scale

With a strong base of students and a supportive teacher, the program becomes something that can continue year after year. New ambassadors can be trained from each batch of students so the initiative keeps growing naturally. Regular activities, assemblies, and classroom engagements help keep mangroves and conservation visible in school life. This creates long-term awareness instead of a one-time impact. Over time, the school becomes a place where environmental action is part of everyday culture.