Mangroves gain ground globally, marking turnaround after decades of loss.
New Global Mangrove Watch data show world mangrove cover rose by 477 square kilometers over roughly four decades, a modest net gain after long-running losses, though results differ widely by country.
Global mangrove cover grew by 477 square kilometers (184 square miles) over about four decades, according to the latest Global Mangrove Watch (GMW) data released in July. The figure is a net increase of 0.3%. Mongabay reported that it marks a turnaround from the losses that have predominated for years. A separate study published in June reached a similar conclusion about overall growth in mangrove cover.
GMW is a mapping initiative of the Global Mangrove Alliance, a consortium of NGOs, and has tracked gains and losses since 2011. For this third update, researchers combined 10-meter resolution satellite imagery with machine learning to map changes across 108 countries. Lammert Hilarides, the GMW program lead at Wetlands International, said it is the first update to span 39 years. The previous version began in 1996 and covered about 24 years.
The gains were uneven. India added the most, 1,180 square kilometers (456 square miles), followed by countries including Australia, Pakistan, Senegal and the Philippines. Indonesia, which holds a fifth of the world's mangroves, recorded the largest net loss at 2,043 square kilometers since 1985. Myanmar, Malaysia, Nigeria and Cuba followed. Hilarides said Indonesia's net decline has slowed since 2010, and that since 2015 it has been among the three countries with the most growth. The Caribbean and Central and North America saw gains from 1985 to 1995 but a declining trend in the last five years, for reasons Hilarides said are still unknown.
Ramasubramanian R., a mangrove restoration scientist at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, attributed India's recovery to policy, engineering and community action. The government stopped felling mangroves and protected most wetlands. From the late 1980s, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh dug fish-bone canals that let tides flow in and out and create soil conditions suited to mangroves. Livelihood programs, including alternatives to mangrove firewood and payments to communities for planting, also helped.
A 2024 Global Mangrove Alliance report names the main drivers of loss as conversion of land for aquaculture, rice, oil palm and urban growth, along with pollution and over-harvesting. In Nigeria's Niger Delta, Nnimmo Bassey of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation said about 260,000 barrels of crude oil have spilled annually for nearly seven decades. He said, "A restored mangrove forest would restore fisheries, economy and livelihoods."
Mongabay notes that many mass planting projects have failed to produce healthy forests. The Global Mangrove Alliance calls community-based ecological mangrove restoration the best practice, which stresses community ownership and mangrove ecology over tree-planting quotas.
Note: The page gives the period as 1985 to 2025 in one place and 1985 to 2024 (39 years) in another, so this brief describes it as about four decades.
At a Glance
- Global mangrove cover rose by 477 square kilometers, a 0.3% net increase, according to Global Mangrove Watch data released in July.
- India added 1,180 square kilometers of mangroves, the largest net gain of any country in the data.
- Indonesia had the largest net loss, 2,043 square kilometers since 1985, followed by Myanmar at 1,458 square kilometers.
- The update used 10-meter satellite imagery and machine learning to map 108 countries over a 39-year period.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.