From Coastal Wisdom to Global Strategy
Long before mangroves became a topic of interest in climate finance circles, Monaqui Porter-Young was learning from the communities who depend on them.
Her work builds on the decades-long mission of Dr. Arne Fjørtoft, whose work through Worldview International Foundation has focused for more than forty years on the intersection of environmental restoration, community empowerment, and sustainable economic development. Dr. Fjørtoft’s leadership at Worldview exposed her to thinking about coastal ecosystems not as abstract environmental assets, but as living systems intertwined with livelihoods, food security, and resilience. Through that work Monaqui Porter-Young began to understand a simple but powerful truth: the most effective climate solutions are often already in place, stewarded by local communities.
That legacy and lived field experience now converge in Panama, where a new chapter of climate resilience and blue carbon development is taking shape.
Mangroves: The Climate Solution Hiding in Plain Sight
Mangroves are increasingly recognized as one of the most powerful natural defenses against climate change.
They sequester carbon at rates far exceeding terrestrial forests, storing it both above ground and deep within coastal soils. Mangroves act as natural barriers, reducing the impact of storm surges and coastal erosion. They sustain fisheries and biodiversity, anchoring entire local economies.
But perhaps most importantly, they deliver mitigation and adaptation simultaneously—something few climate solutions can claim.
For decades, these ecosystems were undervalued, often cleared for development or overlooked in policy frameworks. Today, that is beginning to change.
Mangroves are emerging as a new frontier in climate strategy—and increasingly, as an investable asset class.
Panama: A Proving Ground for a New Model
Monaqui Porter-Young is helping to shape that transition in Panama.
As Chair of Worldview Development USA and Board of Trustees member for Worldview International Foundation, she is advancing a vision that treats mangroves not just as ecosystems to protect, but as natural capital to invest in.
At the center of this effort is Worldview’s on-the-ground team in Panama working quietly but intensively to establish the necessary foundations for long-term restoration projects. Panama offers a uniquely strategic environment for this work. The country sits at the intersection of biodiversity, financial infrastructure, and political will. Its growing engagement with carbon markets and coastal conservation creates a pathway for scaling nature-based solutions in a way that aligns environmental impact with economic incentives.
Within this context, Monaqui Porter-Young is spearheading efforts to position mangrove restoration as a viable, scalable investment opportunity—one that can attract institutional capital while delivering measurable climate and community outcomes.
In this model, mangroves are not viewed merely as protected landscapes. They are infrastructure. Seen through this lens, investment in mangroves is not charity. It is a long term resilience strategy. Worldview’s track record provides the foundation. The organization has contributed to the restoration of more than 110,000 hectares of mangroves and engaged over 140,000 community members globally, demonstrating that large-scale ecosystem regeneration is not only possible, but repeatable .
This reframing, from conservation alone toward integrated ecological and economic value, is what allows mangroves to move from the margins of climate discourse into the center of financial and geopolitical decisionmaking.
In Panama, that experience is now being applied with urgency and intent.
Reframing Nature as Infrastructure
What distinguishes Monaqui’s approach is not simply advocacy for mangroves, but a reframing of how they are valued.
In her view, mangroves are infrastructure.
Mangroves protect coastlines in ways that would otherwise require billions in engineered solutions. They stabilize economies by supporting fisheries and tourism. They generate carbon credits that can be monetized in global markets.
When seen through this lens, investing in mangroves is not charity. It is a strategy.
This shift—from conservation to capitalization—is what allows mangroves to move from the margins of climate discourse into the center of financial decision-making.
A Model Grounded in People
Despite the growing attention on carbon markets and investment frameworks, Monaqui’s work remains rooted in community.
Mangrove restoration in Panama is not treated as a purely technical exercise. It is designed to create rural employment, strengthen local economies, and build long-term resilience in vulnerable coastal regions. It integrates environmental education and prioritizes participation from the communities who live alongside these ecosystems.
This reflects a throughline in her career—from Sri Lanka to Myanmar to Panama—where climate action is inseparable from human dignity.
It is also a continuation of Dr. Arne Fjørtoft’s longstanding belief that sustainable development succeeds only when local communities become active participants and beneficiaries in the restoration of their own environments and economies.
What Comes Next
As global demand for credible, scalable climate solutions accelerates, mangroves are moving from overlooked ecosystems to strategic assets.
The question is no longer whether they matter. It is whether governments, institutions, and private capital can mobilize quickly enough to restore and protect them at a meaningful scale.
Monaqui Porter-Young is working to answer that question in Panama.
Her approach does not rely on reinventing the system. It builds on what already exists—natural ecosystems, community knowledge, and emerging markets—and aligns them in a way that makes climate action investable.
If successful, it offers something the climate space urgently needs: a model that works in practice, not just in theory—and one that can be replicated across the world’s most vulnerable coastlines.
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