Forty years ago, the west coast of Madagascar -occupying a stretch of coastline of approximately 1000 km- was still a healthy mangrove, capturing sediments that threaten coral reefs, sheltering highly diverse mollusc and crustacean communities for the biggest benefit of birds, sea turtles, dugongs as well as the Malagasy people themselves. In the last decades, development of urban areas, overfishing, rice farming, salt production and erosion caused by tree-cutting in the highlands threaten this unique ecosystem. This trend can be reverted by planting during low tide millions of seeds which fall off the trees and enable the restoration of the original wildlife and the quality of fishing for local communities.