Written By: As the climate crisis intensifies, mangroves are gaining long-overdue recognition for their role in protecting both people and the planet. These coastal trees capture and store large amounts of carbon, helping to mitigate the greenhouse gases that fuel climate change. They also boost climate resilience, shielding communities from rising seas and storms while sustaining local livelihoods.
While global conservation efforts have drastically slowed the rate of deforestation, mangrove forests continue to disappear faster than they can recover. Greater awareness and restoration are needed to ensure these mangrove ecosystems continue to stabilize the climate and support life along our coasts.
In this blog, we’ll explore everything you need to know about mangroves, from what they are and where they grow to how they support animals and people worldwide.
Key Takeaways
|
What Is a Mangrove?
Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees or shrubs that grow in the intertidal zones of tropical and subtropical coasts, where land meets the sea. They’re easily recognized by their sprawling, exposed roots, which rise above the ground and water. Mangrove roots take on all sorts of shapes and forms, some arch above the water like tangled stilts, others jut straight up from the mud like pencils.
Scientists currently recognize about 80 species and hybrids of mangrove trees, though efforts are ongoing to refine this classification and reach a consensus on a definitive list.
Sustainable Marine and Coastal Tourism Tips
Mangrove Adaptations
Mangroves thrive in harsh coastal environments where they’re regularly flooded during high tide. They rely on several unique adaptations to stay upright in waterlogged soils, withstand waves, and cope with high salt and low oxygen levels. These adaptations include salt-filtrating leaves, floating seedlings, and sturdy, breathing roots.
| Adaptation | Function |
| Sturdy Roots | Mangrove’s burly roots anchor them in soft, shifting soil, keeping them stable even when submerged under water. |
| Breathing Roots | Mangrove’s above-ground roots act like snorkels, helping them “breathe” in oxygen-poor soils. |
| Salt-Filtration | While saltwater would kill most other trees, mangroves are specially adapted to filter it out. Some species can block up to 90% of the salt at the root level, while others excrete it through special glands on their leaves. |
| Floating Seedlings | Unlike most plants, mangrove seeds start to sprout while still attached to the parent tree. The young seedlings eventually fall off, float in the water, and take root in a new spot. |
Where Do Mangrove Trees Grow?
Mangrove trees grow across more than 56,000 square miles (147,000 square kilometers) of the Earth’s surface – an area roughly the size of Nepal. Southeast Asia holds one-third of this total. The largest mangrove forest in the world is the Sundarbans, which spans over 3,700 square miles (9,600 square kilometers) across southern Bangladesh and eastern India.
Because mangroves can’t survive freezing temperatures, they’re found in warmer climates. Today, they naturally grow as far north as Bermuda and as far south as Victoria, Australia. As climate change warms the planet, their range is expanding into areas that were once too cold for them to inhabit. For example, in 2024, mangroves were documented in southern Georgia in the United States, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of their former range. However, even as mangroves expand into higher latitudes, their total global coverage continues to decline.
Mangrove Forests and Climate Change
Though mangrove forests only occupy a small slice of Earth’s coastline, their presence affects the entire planet. As blue carbon ecosystems, mangroves punch far above their weight when it comes to climate action. They have an exceptional ability to store carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere and helping to mitigate global warming.
Here’s how the process unfolds both above and below the surface.
Mangroves’ dense canopies and woody biomass capture and hold large amounts of carbon above ground. At the same time, their roots slow tidal waters, trapping carbon-rich sediments that would otherwise be carried away. When mangrove leaves fall into the water, they settle into these layers of sediment, along with decaying roots and other organic matter. Over time, layer upon layer of carbon-rich material accumulates.
Mangroves’ real superpower lies in the salty, waterlogged soils they grow in. These mucky, oxygen-poor soils slow decay, so the carbon remains locked away for hundreds or even thousands of years.
The result? On average, mangroves store four times more carbon per acre than tropical land-based forests.
Mangrove Habitat and Animals
Each layer of a mangrove forest — from the leafy canopy to the tangled roots and tidal waters — offers a unique habitat that supports an incredible diversity of wildlife. Young fish, sharks, and crabs find refuge among the mangrove roots, safely hidden from predators until they’re ready to venture into open waters. Meanwhile, larger animals, such as crocodiles, patrol the channels in search of prey, basking on the muddy banks when the tide recedes. Above the surface, animals like monkeys, sloths, and tigers find food and shelter among the mangrove trees, while coastal birds nest and feed throughout the forest.
Coastal Protection from Mangroves
Mangroves act as natural barriers, protecting coastal communities on the frontlines of climate change against worsening impacts. They absorb the force of storm surges and waves, reducing wave height by more than 66%. Mangroves can even weaken tsunami waves. The denser the wall of mangroves, the greater the protection.
This natural defense provides tangible benefits for people living along the coast. Each year, mangrove forests shield roughly 15 million people from flooding and prevent over $65 billion in property damage.
Mangroves’ intricate roots also stabilize shorelines, mitigating beach erosion. By trapping sediment and organic material, mangroves also help shorelines rebuild and recover naturally after extreme weather events.
Mangrove Tourism
Mangrove tourism provides travelers with the opportunity to explore these remarkable ecosystems up close. Visitors can kayak their waterways, gliding through shaded mangrove tunnels and maze-like channels. Guided boat tours and nature walks along mangrove boardwalks offer another way to spot the wild animals these forests support. Some well-known mangrove tourism destinations include the Sundarbans in India and Bangladesh, the Everglades in Florida, Phang Nga Bay in Thailand, and the Kinabatangan River in Borneo.
The Bakhawan Eco-Park in the Philippines shows how mangrove restoration can lay the groundwork for community-based tourism. What began as a reforestation project has become a 550-acre mangrove forest where visitors stroll the park’s boardwalk, glide across its waters on a bamboo raft, and learn about conservation.
Healthy mangroves also mean healthier oceans and thriving marine tourism. Mangrove forests nurture many of the fish that divers and snorkelers encounter on nearby coral reefs. By filtering sediment and runoff, they improve underwater visibility and keep waters cleaner, creating better conditions for coral growth and marine life.
Around the world, this connection between mangroves and tourism supports jobs and generates significant economic value. Tourism in the Sundarbans mangroves contributes an estimated USD 53 million to Bangladesh’s economy each year. Globally, mangrove tourism is believed to attract tens to hundreds of millions of visitors annually and is a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Fishing and Food Security
Just as mangroves support reef tourism, they are also a cornerstone of coastal fisheries and food supply. Many fish species prized by anglers and fisheries, such as snappers, seatrout, and red drum, spend their early lives in sheltered mangrove nurseries. In doing so, mangroves help replenish nearby fishing grounds and sustain healthy fish stocks.
By maintaining healthy mangrove habitats, coastal communities secure sustainable fisheries, affordable seafood, and materials like poles and timber for traditional boats. Mangrove ecosystems are therefore crucial to global food security and local economic stability.
Mangrove Loss and Threats
Despite their value, an estimated 20–35% of the world’s mangrove forests were lost between 1980 and 2010. While the rate of loss has slowed, it continues today. Over the past two decades, the world saw a net loss of over 700,000 acres (284,000 hectares). Today, half of the remaining global mangrove area is at risk of collapse.
Major threats to mangroves include:
- Clearing for agriculture and aquaculture to make way for shrimp farms, rice fields, and oil palm plantations accounted for more than 40% of recent global loss.
- Coastal development and tourism also take a toll, as mangroves are removed to build hotels, restaurants, and beach clubs along the shoreline.
- Climate-related stress from rising sea levels, stronger tropical storms, and increased erosion is already causing mangroves to retreat or die back in many regions.
- Overharvesting of mangrove wood for construction, boat materials, charcoal fuel, and firewood adds additional pressure.
Mangrove Restoration and Conservation Solutions
Mangrove restoration is one of the most effective ways to tackle climate change while strengthening coastal resilience. When degraded mangrove areas are restored and protected, they regain their ability to store carbon and continue to provide flood protection, fish nurseries, and other ecosystem services. Restoring the 2.7 million acres (1.1 million hectares) of restorable mangrove coasts could remove 930 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere — the equivalent of taking 217 million cars off the road for a year.
However, this restoration is estimated to cost more than $10 billion in implementation expenses alone. Carbon offsets can help bridge this gap by channeling funding directly into mangrove planting, monitoring, and community management.
Projects like Mikoko Pamoja in Kenya show how carbon offsets can fund community-based efforts. There, communities heavily reliant on fishing protect and restore mangrove forests, directly benefiting their main source of food and income.
Mangrove planting is also part of the Rimba Raya project in Indonesian Borneo. Local villagers have planted tens of thousands of mangrove seedlings along Borneo’s coast, complementing efforts to conserve nearby peat swamp habitats.
Take Action to Protect Mangroves
Mangroves remind us that nature offers some of the most powerful tools to fight climate change. You can help protect these coastal guardians and the benefits they provide:
- Download our Sustainable Marine and Coastal Tourism Tips to learn how to explore these habitats responsibly.
- Offset your travel emissions through our carbon calculator to support mangrove restoration and other climate solutions.
Keep exploring our Blue Carbon resources to learn how mangroves and other coastal ecosystems support healthy oceans, communities, and the climate.
