Mangroves provide crucial services to humanity, including food, coastal protection, fisheries support, and carbon sequestration (1). However, up to 35% of mangrove area has been lost since the 1980s, primarily due to coastal development (2). Mangroves are protected under a plethora of international agreements, and they are key to meeting commitments of the Paris Climate Agreement and mitigating the impacts of a changing climate on coastal communities (3). Despite warnings about the ramifications of losing mangroves (4), conversion and degradation still occur (5), especially for smaller mangrove patches.