On the coast of Guyana women started beekeeping and at the same time help to preserve the mangrove forests that protect the coast from floods, reports Alertnet. The mangroves stabilise sediment and play an important role in coastal protection, essential for a coastline vulnerable to rising seas and heavy storms, problems experts link to climate change.

The European Union and the government of Guyana and the European Union funded the scheme which is aiming to strengthen the country’s sea defences and giving local women the opportunity to earn a living from keeping bees, which live in the mangroves.

The project aims to give women an economic stake in preserving the mangroves and thereby help protect some of the country’s prime agricultural land on the coast from flooding.