That one and a half day summit felt like being an F1 car in a pit stop, right in the middle of a race– with the race being our urgent fight for the environment. It refueled my passion for conservation and allowed me to make some adjustments in how I view/approach challenges that come with it. These are things that I simply can't learn from theory alone-- it's something I only get to realize by listening to the lived stories of real people who have made a tangible impact.

As I write this, I’m reflecting on my barely legible notes from the summit, and I'd like to share a few key thoughts that truly stuck with me (marked in all caps, encircled, or with exclamation points!! in my notebook):

“You can start saving them by knowing about them.” I first learned about mangroves at a marine summer camp in high school. I learned that they were the frontliners of the coast, the filters, and the refuge of all sorts of creatures. This knowledge led me to join clean-ups, planting initiatives, and ultimately the Mangrove Youth Summit. It’s wild to think that all of the things I’m doing now began by a simple dissemination of information – which just proves that knowledge indeed holds so much power. And so, it is important to make this knowledge accessible to more people, so we can collectively drive meaningful change. But once people know about mangroves, how do we actually get the “big people” to care?

“Ecosystem services are indirect benefits -- how do we make people appreciate that?” Mangroves offer various ecosystem services: fisheries, coastal protection, and climate change mitigation, to name a few. Yet, their worth is often recognized only once they’re gone. One thing I learned from one of the keynote speakers during the panel discussion was to make people realize the “equivalent economic values” of our mangals (see: PENCAS Act). At first, I found it disturbing – it’s as if we are reducing nature to just an economic asset, as if its value was not inherent to begin with. However, I realized that to make others understand their importance, we must speak in their tongue; in terms they can relate to (like money). So where do we begin making a real impact?

“Always partner with the communities from beginning to end!” As someone focused more on the academic side of mangrove conservation, the summit instilled in me the importance of connecting with the community. At the end of the day, we are doing this not for ourselves but for them and with them.

And as youth, I know for sure we may not have all the answers, but we sure do have the guts to inspire, mobilize, and capacitate communities in becoming better stewards of nature.