Empower Communities to Adapt to Climate Change

After listening to the radio drama, I started talking to my friends and colleagues about how to preserve the mangrove and the environment. Something I didn't care about [before]. - Ahmed*, Chinde, Mozambique 
 

The locally crafted stories that are foundational to PCI Media’s work are empowering communities to change behaviors today that improve the planet's health and resilience to the climate crisis.  

In coastal regions of Mozambique, where severe storms pose a frequent threat, mangrove forests are critical to human and ecosystem survival. These forests prevent coastal erosion and protect food sources. However, these forests and the protections they provide are being depleted because many coastal communities rely on mangrove wood for cooking.  

Working with communities and national and local partners, PCI Media developed a radio drama that promoted new behaviors to protect these forests.To ensure we prioritized the voices and needs of the community, our research included conversations with community members to learn about their daily lives, their dreams and aspirations, and most importantly, their relationship to the mangroves-- which the program aims to restore.   

Based on community input, our radio drama and community theater scripts weave in local stories and mythology — like magical women who can control crocodiles and ceremonies that control the weather. This input, when combined with research insights, creates narratives that resonate with audiences and enable them to adopt behaviors that protect mangrove forests.

As a result of the radio drama, over 70% of listeners reported learning something new or changing their behaviors.  

Listeners also reported increasing their knowledge on environmental protection and mangrove conservation, changing the way they behave in conservation areas and discussing what they learned with friends and community members. 

As we see again and again, when stories are created by and within communities, change has a lasting impact.  

Thank you for being a partner with PCI Media in programs like this one that improve the health and resilience of our planet as together we work for a healthier, more sustainable and just world.  

*Name changed for privacy