Mangroves forests are critical coastal ecosystems that provide shelter to hundreds of species, store five times more carbon than land based forests and help protect coastal communities and cities from cyclones and tsunamis.
For decades these precious biomes were destroyed to leave place for fisheries or more homes. As the BBC reports :
From the 1980s to 2010, over 12,000 sq km (4,600 sq miles) of mangroves were cleared or destroyed across Asia, Africa and the Americas – an area the size of Jamaica.
The total net losses – the forest lost and not replaced – since the 1980s have now been reduced to around 849 sq km (328 sq miles).
But for the past 15 years or so, mangroves have been growing back globally. According to a study from the University of Tulane (Louisiana) published in Science :
Mangroves declined globally before 2010, but have mostly recovered since then, with both forest loss and degradation (declining canopy cover) rates slowing over time. Mangroves are mostly expanding into new habitats, but also regenerating in former habitat, suggesting hope for ecosystem recovery.
The key message is that Nature can quickly bounce back to its former glory and beauty if we let her alone and stop destroying everything to make a quick buck.
As climate change worsens and as El Nino may very well be record strong, regenerating Nature might be our best bet to adapt our world to a fast warming world and to mitigate the worst heatwaves, droughts and floods.
Image credits : Adam Gilley on Unsplash
