Mangrove nursery and seedling care

what we do

Mangrove Nursery & Seedling Care

Every mangrove restoration site starts here: a community-run nursery producing seedlings strong enough to survive transplanting and Kenya’s tidal conditions. Twende Green Planet’s Mangrove Nursery & Seedling Care programme trains and supports the nursery operators whose work underpins our wider Mangrove Restoration and Coastal Ecosystem Restoration programmes.

Mangrove propagules are collected from healthy parent trees at the right stage of maturity. Timing and source both affect seedling survival later.

• Propagule collection from healthy, locally-adapted parent trees
• Species selection matched to each restoration site’s salinity and tidal conditions
• Collection timed to natural propagule drop
• Quality sorting before any propagule enters the nursery

Nursery beds are built and tended to match mangrove seedlings’ specific tidal and salinity needs, very different from a standard tree nursery.

• Nursery bed construction suited to tidal flushing
• Salinity-appropriate watering and shade management
• Pest and disease monitoring
• Staggered planting for a continuous seedling supply
• Record-keeping on germination and survival rates

Nurseries are run by trained community members, not outside contractors. This is where several of our Coastal Enterprise & Cash Crop Trainers Programme graduates put their skills to work.

• Community members trained in nursery management
• Nursery income shared with the operators who run it
• Peer mentoring between experienced and new nursery operators
• Nurseries linked into the wider Twende Coastal Trainers Network
• Basic record-keeping and reporting skills built alongside horticultural ones

A seedling only moves to a restoration site once it meets clear readiness criteria. This is what separates a nursery that produces survivors from one that just produces seedlings.

• Readiness assessed against height, root and stem criteria
• Hardening-off period before transplanting
• Transport and handling timed to minimise stress
• Handover coordinated with the receiving restoration site
• Post-transplant survival tracked back to nursery of origin

What the Nursery Programme Covers

From Propagule to Restoration-Ready Seedling

Every seedling moves through four connected stages:

Sourced from healthy parent trees, matched to each site’s conditions.

Tidal- and salinity-appropriate nursery management.

Trained community members run and earn from every nursery.

Clear criteria before a seedling ever reaches a restoration site.

Why This Works

The First Link in Every Restoration Site

A restoration site is only as good as the seedlings that go into it. Investing in nursery quality and community ownership here is what makes every downstream restoration programme possible.

• Community-run: nursery income and skills stay with the people who do the work
• Feeds directly into Mangrove Restoration and Coastal Ecosystem Restoration, the programme underneath both
• Linked to the Coastal Enterprise & Cash Crop Trainers Programme as a real enterprise skill graduates can use
• Readiness criteria, not just planting counts, decide when a seedling moves to site

Why This Works

Frequently Asked Questions

Because a restoration site is only as strong as the seedlings that go into it, weak or poorly-timed seedlings are the single biggest cause of restoration failure.

Trained community members, not outside contractors. Nursery management is a real, paid skill, and one several of our training programme graduates go on to practise.

From healthy, locally-adapted parent trees, timed to natural propagule drop and matched to the salinity and tidal conditions of the restoration site they’re destined for.

It varies by species and site conditions, but every seedling is assessed against height, root and stem readiness criteria before it’s ever cleared for transplanting.

Yes. Nursery income is shared with the community operators who run each nursery, alongside the training itself.

Nursery management is one of the real skills taught in that programme’s Nature-Based Enterprise Training phase. Graduates often go on to run or work in these community nurseries.

The Pipeline

Where Every Restoration Site Begins