Spotlight on Jan De Nul’s AquaForest project

In Ecuador, Jan De Nul maintains the access channel to the port of Guayaquil. Using the sand and silt dredged from this channel, the company joined forces with local and international partners to construct a mangrove island.

Mangroves are extremely valuable ecosystems: they store carbon, serve as water filters, are biodiversity hotspots and protect coastlines from erosion and flooding.

Remarkably, mangroves can store up to four times more carbon than tropical forests, making them powerful allies in the fight against climate change.

By combining these functions, they significantly enhance the resilience of coastal communities. But since 1980, 50% of Ecuador’s mangroves have disappeared.

In 2023, Jan De Nul launched the AquaForest project together with partners from government, science and industry.

AquaForest is intended as a blueprint for mangrove restoration, which can be implemented on a large scale and in different regions worldwide. The 50-hectare island in Ecuador is the first example.

Jelle Evenepoel, Manager Marine Environmental Department at Jan De Nul: “Our approach is based on innovative eco-engineering, tailored to the local ecosystem. This enables us to create optimal conditions for mangrove growth like soil quality, water dynamics, drainage, mangrove density, and the protection of young trees with temporary structures like permeable bamboo walls.”

At the end of last year, Jan De Nul completed the works and, together with local organizations, planted 12,000 trees and 10,000 seedlings.

Another 11,500 seedlings were added in February 2025. A local expert in mangrove restoration, Fundación Calisur, monitors the growth and health of the mangroves every quarter. This shows that 90% of the trees and seedlings are surviving, which means some 30,000 trees are growing today.

In fact, they speak of the largest horizontal growth in their 16 years of mangrove restoration projects. They say this is due to the optimal conditions the island design creates for the mangroves.

The growth index, based on the number of branches, leaves and offshoots, is more than three times higher than what Fundación Calisur observes on average at other local mangrove restoration projects.

These findings highlight the importance of eco-engineering and of a carefully designed ecosystem and multidisciplinary collaboration in nature restoration projects.