Our Mission
At The Mangrove Project, we are dedicated to the restoration, protection, and sustainable management of mangrove ecosystems across Central America. These vital coastal forests are not only rich in biodiversity but also play a crucial role in climate resilience, carbon sequestration, and supporting local livelihoods. Our initiative aligns with global efforts such as the 7 Seas Initiative and the Phoenix Project, aiming to create a unified front in combating environmental challenges by 2025.
In loving memory
Dr. Meenakshi “Mina” Venkataraman
8 June 1972 • 9 September 2026
Rotarian, ecologist, and lifelong champion of the world’s mangroves
The Mangrove Project dedicates its work to Mina Venkataraman, who made certain that mangroves always had a voice in the room. From the creeks of coastal India to the global stage of Rotary, she turned patient, practical advocacy into forests that are still standing today.
Mina served as a Director of the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group from 2021 to 2024, led its Projects Division, and became the founding Chair of ESRAG South Asia. She was a Rotary Foundation Cadre adviser for the environment, convenor of the Rotary Friends of Environment mangrove team, and a guiding hand behind the 2022 Mumbai Symposium on Mangrove Restoration, the launch of the iRotree tree data platform, and mangrove rejuvenation along the Sundarbans coast.
She was generous with her time, direct in her counsel, and always willing to help a club halfway around the world get a project off the ground. Everyone who planted with her learned the lesson she taught by example: restoration is not a season of work, it is a way of living.
“Mina gave herself to these forests and to the people who live beside them, and she gave her time freely to anyone willing to help. The kindest thing we can do now is keep her hands in the soil. Wherever you are in the world, I ask you to dedicate a mangrove restoration project in her name. Plant it, name it for Mina, and tell us where it stands, so that her work keeps growing on every coast.”
Rotary Mangrove Grants
Mangrove projects seeking support right now
These Rotary global grants are listed for the 2025 to 2026 Rotary year on the Rotary Grants site. Clubs and districts can pledge support to any of them, and each is a place where a project could be dedicated in Mina’s name.
Shoring the Shores by Mangroves
One hundred thousand mangroves planted along the vulnerable coastline of two villages in the Sundarbans, protecting 2,274 households from flooding and storm surge while rebuilding nesting ground for birds and wildlife.
Host club: Rotary Club of Salt Lake Metropolitan Kolkata, District 3291
International partner: Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., District 7620
Biorock Indonesia
Biorock technology to regenerate degraded coral reefs and protect eroding coastlines, paired with sustainable mariculture and mangrove carbon work that creates blue economy jobs for the local community.
Host club: Rotary Club of Bali Action, District 3420
International partner: Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., District 7620
Living Treasure
A protected nursery inside the mangrove for black conch, with monitoring, planting and harvest training that restores the population and lifts the livelihoods of about 150 people in a local fishing cooperative.
Host club: Rotary Club of Aguadulce, District 4240
International partner: Rotary Club of Las Vegas WON, District 5300
Source: the Rotary Grants site at matchinggrants.org. No mangrove grants are listed for the 2026 to 2027 year yet. Club contacts are on each grant page.
Planted in her name
Projects dedicated to Mina
Clubs, partners and communities anywhere in the world can dedicate a mangrove project in her memory. Send us the details and we will publish it here, so the map of her work keeps growing.
A mangrove project in the Galápagos
Several Rotary clubs have already expressed interest in funding a mangrove restoration project in the Galápagos dedicated to Mina. The Rotary Club of Newport Beach is now looking for partner clubs to form a committee and turn that interest into a funded project on the water.
Lead club: Rotary Club of Newport Beach. Partner clubs and districts are welcome to join.
Join the committeeAdd your own project
Planting, protecting or funding mangroves somewhere else in the world? Dedicate it in Mina’s name and it will appear here with its location, its people and its story.
Dedicate a project in her nameAlready have a Rotary global grant? Add the grant number on the form and we will link your listing straight to it.
Our network
Projects and partners we work alongside
The Mangrove Project is one strand of a wider body of Rotary and community work across oceans, rivers, forests and coastal towns. Every link below is a live sister project.
Ocean and coast
- 7 Seas InitiativeSeven biosphere reserves across Latin America and the Caribbean
- 7 Seas FoundationFunding arm for restoration and community work
- Rotary ReefCoral restoration in Bocas del Toro, Panama
- The Turtle ProjectSea turtles, whose hatchlings shelter in mangrove roots
- Tijuana River ProjectWhat flows down a river ends up on the coast
Restoration and climate
- The Phoenix ProjectHealthcare, clean water and ecosystem revival by sea
- The Tree ProjectsReforestation in Panama and beyond
- The Alluvium ProjectTurning river plastic into funding for restoration
- Carbon Advisory CoalitionPlain language guidance on carbon markets and blue carbon
- The Mexico ProjectRestoration and water work across the border region
- The Panama ProjectReefs, reforestation and community development
Rotary and getting involved
- Rotary Club of Newport BeachThe global service club behind this work
- Building Bridges Through RotaryCross border environmental partnerships
- 100 Projects in 100 CountriesWhere a project dedicated to Mina can be registered
- Volunteer TourismTravel to a planting site and put roots in the mud
- Growing Green LeadersYouth climate education across North America
- Ayuda InternationalHumanitarian partner in the field
The 7 Seas Initiative focuses on restoring mangrove ecosystems across seven biosphere reserves in Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes areas like La Encrucijada in Mexico, Darién in Panama, and Xiriualtique-Jiquilisco in El Salvador. The project emphasizes community involvement, combining local knowledge with scientific expertise to ensure effective and sustainable restoration efforts.