Mangroves
Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)
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Abstract: This topic brief examines mangroves as highly specialized coastal ecosystems found in tropical and subtropical regions across more than 120 countries. The document describes mangroves' ecological characteristics, including their salt-tolerant trees and prop roots, and their critical importance for carbon storage, biodiversity, fisheries, coastal protection from storms and sea-level rise, and blue-carbon markets. It highlights that mangroves store 4-5 times more carbon per hectare than tropical rainforests, yet more than one-fifth have been lost since 1980 due to commercial activities, agriculture, shrimp farming, and unsustainable harvesting. The brief documents CIFOR-ICRAF's extensive work on mangrove research, restoration and management across seven African countries including Kenya, and multiple Asia-Pacific nations, addressing both adaptation to climate change and mitigation through carbon sequestration.