Mangroves are a crossroad where oceans, freshwater, and land realms meet. They are among the most productive and complex ecosystems on the planet. Mangrove forests provide protection and shelter against extreme weather events, such as storm winds and floods, as well as tsunamis. Mangroves absorb and disperse tidal surges. Mangrove forests are rich in biodiversity providing a habitat for wide varieties of animal and plant species. They are dynamic areas, rich in food. Traditional economic activities vary from fishing and gathering of crustaceans to usages of the trees for timber or tannin production. Research by Barbier (2007) concluded that the economic annual value of just one hectare of mangrove forest (by adding the values of collected wood and non-wood forest products, fishery, nursery and coastal protection against storms) is $12,392. Storage of carbon in mangroves takes place through accumulation in living biomass and through burial in sediment deposits. With living biomass typically ranging between 100-400 tonnes/ha, and significant quantities of organic matter being stored in the sediments, mangroves rival the sequestration potential of rainforests. Globally, half of all mangrove forests have been lost since the mid-twentieth century, with one-fifth since 1980 (Spalding et al. 2010). Conversion into shrimp farms causes 25% of the total destruction, according to UNEP (Botkin and Keller, 2003), happening mostly in Southeast Asia. (wetlands.org/Whatarewetlands/Mangroveforests/tabid/2730/Default.aspx)
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 21:43:52 +0000