Importance of Mangrove Ecosystems
The purpose of World Mangrove Day is to raise awareness of the importance of mangrove ecosystems as a unique and vulnerable ecosystem and to provide solutions for their sustainable use and conservation.
Mangrove forests represent less than 1% of all tropical forests worldwide.
Some of the benefits of planting and conserving mangroves trees include;
1. Protecting coastlines by decreasing the risk of flooding and erosion.
2. Supporting livelihoods and reducing social vulnerability by providing resources such as fish.
3.Mangroves can protect coastlines from storm surges, tsunamis, and rising sea levels. 4. Protecting coral reefs, sea grass beds and shipping lanes against siltation and erosion hence increasing resilience to natural hazards.
5. Supporting or conserving a rich biodiversity, since they provide nursery habitat, spawning grounds and nutrients for a variety of fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles etc
6. Mangroves are an important tool in the fight against climate change. They take up to five times more carbon out of the atmosphere than forests on land.
Exploitation and pollution are important drivers of mangrove loss. According to Global Mangrove Alliance, an estimated 67% of mangroves have been lost or degraded to date, and an additional 1% is lost annually. Overall, mangroves are disappearing 3 to 5 times faster than global forest losses. Thus, it is important to protect or conserve the mangrove ecosystem.
Happy International Day of the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem
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