Mangroves give cause for conservation optimism, for now

Abstract

Mangrove forests are found along the shorelines of more than 100 countries, and provide a wide range of ecosystem services that support the livelihoods and wellbeing of tens of millions of people. Despite their importance, loss of global mangrove area has been so substantial that twelve years ago academics warned of “a world without mangroves” [1]. This seminal work highlighted the large historical loss of mangroves, suggesting that they had declined faster than almost any other ecosystem, including coral reefs and tropical rainforests. The authors predicted that if nothing was done, the world could be deprived of mangroves and their ecosystem services by the end of this century. Such rates of mangrove loss reflect a broader global environmental crisis, with intergovernmental groups such as the International Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recently predicting the catastrophic loss and degradation of ecosystems globally [2]. However, we report that compared with other ecosystems, the global loss rate of mangrove forests is now less alarming than previously suggested [3]. This gives cause for conservative optimism among broader projections of environmental decline.