Report

The importance of Mangroves to people: A call of action

18 March 2014

Tropical mangroves around the world connect our land and its people with the sea, providing millions with food, clean water, raw materials and resilience against future climate change impacts including increasing storm intensity and sea level rise.

Together with coral reefs, seagrass meadows and intertidal mudflats and marshes, these complex interconnected ecosystems are home to a spectacular range of visiting and resident species of birds, mammals, invertebrates and fish, all of which helps to maintain the ecological functioning of mangroves. In turn, this rich mosaic of biodiversity supports people through fisheries, tourism and cultural heritage. This publication provides a timely synthesis of the importance of mangroves to people.

It highlights that in spite of the mounting evidence in support of the multitude of benefits derived from mangroves, they remain one of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet, being lost at a rate greater than coral reefs and tropical rainforests. This has potentially devastating effects to mangrove biodiversity and in turn, the food security, protection and livelihoods of some of the most marginalised coastal communities in developing countries, where more than 90 percent of the world’s mangroves are found.