The Mermaid Project is a women-led, Netherlands-based NGO working worldwide to restore marine ecosystems: mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, marine turtles and sea lions. Its approach is science-based and carried out together with local communities.
Agriculture & Soil
The Mermaid Project is a women-led NGO, based in the Netherlands and active internationally in vulnerable coastal and marine areas. The team brings academic backgrounds and scientific knowledge, and combines Dutch expertise in water management and international cooperation with local ecological knowledge on the ground.
The organisation focuses on protecting and restoring mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, marine turtles and sea lions. The goal is always the same: to apply the most effective, evidence-based techniques so that ecosystems and the species that depend on them stay resilient for the long term.
Core activities:
restoring mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass meadows
protecting marine turtles and sea lions
carrying out scientific research and monitoring
giving local communities, and especially women and youth, real decision-making power and leadership over the work
The Mermaid Project works with communities, not for them. In this way conservation becomes shared ownership.
Coastal and marine areas are among the richest nature on earth. They protect the coast, store large amounts of carbon and are the nursery for countless species. Yet these areas are under heavy pressure.
Mangroves and coastal nature are disappearing. Deforestation, coastal development and climate change damage mangrove forests. This leaves coastal communities more vulnerable to erosion, flooding and biodiversity loss.
Marine ecosystems fall out of balance. Coral reefs, seagrass meadows and marine turtles are under pressure. When these links weaken, the nurseries for fish and the natural storage of carbon disappear too.
Local knowledge goes unused. Conservation is too often designed without the people who live from the sea. Women and youth in particular, who play a key role in food security and passing on knowledge, are left out. Without them, restoration is less fair and less lasting.
Healthy seas and coasts mean a healthier planet, and stronger communities that depend on them.
When you shop as usual through Terry, part of the shop's marketing budget goes to The Mermaid Project, as a donation and at no extra cost to you.
Your contribution helps to:
restore mangroves and other coastal nature
bring coral reefs and seagrass meadows back to health
protect marine turtles and sea lions
train and involve local women and youth in the restoration
Take the first project in Tanzania. There, The Mermaid Project restores native mangroves that hold the coast in place, store carbon and give fish a nursery. A restored area of 250 m² is expected to capture around 2.5 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime, and the work is done together with the local community, with paid work and training for women and youth.
In this way you support not a single tree, but a whole coastline that makes people and nature stronger together.
The Mermaid Project was set up by a team of women with scientific backgrounds, driven to make conservation fairer and more effective. The organisation works on several fronts at once: mangrove restoration, coral reef restoration, seagrass meadow restoration and the protection of marine turtles.
The first concrete project takes place on the coast of Tanzania, where mangrove forests are under pressure. There, the team replants native mangrove species together with the local community. Residents are not simply employed, they hold real decision-making power: as custodians of local ecological knowledge, they are trained to lead the restoration and manage the monitoring data.
The Mermaid Project is a partner of 1% for the Planet and combines Dutch knowledge of water and cooperation with the knowledge of the people who live on the coast. In this way conservation shifts from charity to shared ownership.
Supporting through Terry is a great first step. Want to do even more? You can also:
Donate directly to The Mermaid Project through their website.
Follow the.mermaidproject on Instagram and share their work with people around you.
Are you a student? Ask about the scientific scholarships and research internships.
Tell others about the importance of healthy seas, coasts and mangroves.
The Mermaid Project is an NGO registered in the Netherlands (chamber of commerce 99520559) working internationally in coastal and marine areas. It is led by women with scientific backgrounds and is a partner of 1% for the Planet. Its work is science-based and carried out together with local communities.
Your contribution goes to the restoration work of The Mermaid Project, such as the mangrove restoration on the coast of Tanzania.
Support The Mermaid Project with every purchase
hop as usual through Terry and help coasts, seas and the communities that depend on them.
