The earthquake and tsunami catastrophe which hit Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Nias Province on December 26, 2004 caused extensive damage. The damage has not only been physical; the disaster has created a traumatic and impoverished society, and has altered the environment as well.

Coastal areas became a focus for reconstruction and rehabilitation activities, as these areas suffered the greatest damage; for example 70 percent of the small-scale fishing fleet has been destroyed. In addition there have been severe impacts on the other means of livelihoods such as aquaculture, agriculture and small enterprises. A wide range of rehabilitation activities have been conducted by NGOs as part of their livelihood programme.

Livelihood and ecosystem

In addressing these issues, Green Coast provided a unique combination of approaches: livelihood recovery through ecosystem restoration. The project has three main components:

1. Assessment of the potential for ecological restoration to contribute to livelihood recovery.
2.Science-based policy and communications.
3.A small grants facility to demonstrate the win-win solutions.

The project has been implemented as a collaboration between the Wetlands International Indonesia Program (WIIP) and WWF-Indonesia with advice from GEF-Small Grants Programme