Growing What We Know On Mangroves

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Bye Bye Plastic Bags

6 min readMay 8, 2019

Our environment is dying, and everyone knows it. News headlines are constantly talking about climate change, global warming, and the plastic problem, but it is so rare that people talk or do something about an ecosystem that could help in the alleviation of climate change — mangroves. It is an ecosystem of great significance, but it is also one that is perishing at our hands.

Mangrove forests are a vital part of our environment, yet year after year, the mangrove forests in our world continue to decrease, possibly because of the lack of education people have on its importance. In line with this, mangroves face serious threats and the impact its destruction has on our country is left unknown and kept quiet. Thus, it is important to educate society on the vitality and necessity of mangrove forests not only in our country, but in our world as well, before any further damage is done.

Mangrove forests are coastal wetlands made up of a dense jumble of trees and shrubs capable of living in salt or brackish water (Dunn, 2018.) The Philippines used to hold 50% mangrove species of the 65 species found in our world, perhaps because mangrove forests thrive in a warming climate. However, throughout the years we have lost more than half of our mangroves due to deforestation, illegal harvesting of mangroves, and illicit creation of fish ponds. Further, most of the mangrove forests have been converted to agricultural land, and are being used for commercial purposes. From housing around 450,000 hectares of mangroves in the beginning, its population in our country has decreased to under 120,000 hectares in 1994 (Garcia et al, 2013.) As of 2017, less than 50% of our mangroves remain. We are losing a necessary component of our environment and nothing is being done about it. In losing our mangroves, we are losing our fight against climate change as well.

But what significance do mangroves hold? What is so crucial about its presence in our country and world?

1. They stabilize shorelines and protect them from erosion.

Living in a country where rain and storms are regular, we need something that can protect our soil from erosion, and mangroves provide that. They hold the capability to do so as they trap sediments flowing down rivers and off the land with their dense, tangled root systems. These stabilize the coastline and prevent erosion from waves and storms. Aside from this, mangroves maintain water quality and clarity in filtering out the pollutants and trapping the sediments from the land.

It has been proven that in areas where mangroves have been cleared and destroyed, coastal damage from storms and typhoons are worse, whereas the coastal damage in areas where mangroves are present is much less. For example, when Super Typhoon Yolanda struck, the areas with mangrove forests suffered much less as the trees protected the communities from the strong winds and waves.

Soil erosion is a common problem found in our country after every storm, thus it is beyond saddening to see that instead of utilizing our mangroves for this purpose, we are destroying them, and with that, further damaging our land.

2. They are extremely productive ecosystems and provide goods and services to the marine environment and to the people, such as food.

Due to their intertwined structure, mangroves are home to a large variety of species, such as fish, crab, shrimp, and mollusks. They even house creatures such as barnacles and provide nurseries for juvenile fish. Because of this, many of the coastal communities depend on these fisheries as a food source. Aside from this, it has been suggested by research that most of the global catch rely on mangroves. Thus, in destroying mangroves, we destroy as well the food source of many of our people.

Aside from this, mangroves are a rich source of alcohol, medicine, tannin, charcoal, timber, and housing materials, all of which are extremely useful to society.

3. Mangroves can store up to four times more carbon than rainforests can.

Climate change is just getting worse, but mangroves can help in finding a solution to this — they act as effective carbon sinks, deterring climate change. This is due to their enormous capacity to store carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, enabling them to reduce organic pollution along shore areas. Mangroves store up to 14% of the world’s blue carbon, or the carbon that marine plants sequester in coastal communities. Mangrove roots are able to slow down tidal waters, allowing organic and inorganic material to accumulate in low-oxygen sediment, therefore storing more carbon. According to Christian Dunn, “when this organic matter dies, a proportion of it forms the sediment underneath the mangrove forest. Stemming from this, carbon dioxide remains trapped as semi-decompose plant matter, and is then unable to re-enter the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. This ensures mangroves can act as giant stores — or sinks — of carbon.” These gases can be trapped in their flooded soils for over a millennia. As the mangroves take in the carbon, the trees and shrubs are able to use it as they grow. The sad thing is, the Philippines is not only losing its mangrove forests, but its rainforests as well, allowing climate change to worsen.

4. In line with the previous point and moving on to a more global relation, mangroves could play a vital role in alleviating climate change.

Yes, climate change, the war a lot of us are trying to win. Recently, studies have shown that mangrove forests are adapting to climate change, as they have been growing beyond their usual range. As the global temperature rises, mangroves are expanding their range beyond the equator. Mangroves take in a significant amount of carbon, and according to research, mangroves could be better and more efficient in storing carbon than coastal habitats. In this battle we face against climate change, we need mangrove forests more than anything, as the levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere are continuously rising. With this knowledge, we then realize the possibility of mitigating climate change if most of the mangroves in our world had not been destroyed.

More than half of our own mangrove forests have been damaged, yet no action is being done. In fact, in cutting down mangroves, their ecosystems release all of the carbon they have stored into the atmosphere and ocean. According to studies, 150 million to 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released annually into the air due to the destruction of mangroves. It is no wonder that the amount of carbon in our atmosphere is continuously increasing! Over 330,000 hectares worth of mangrove forests in our country alone have been cut down. Over 35% of our world’s mangrove forests have been cleared, and are continuing to do so rapidly. Think about how much carbon that has added into our atmosphere and ocean. Not only are we destroying a possible solution to climate change, but making the problem worse. Mangroves can help not only the issues present in our country, but that of the world — we must act now to protect, cultivate, and enrich the remnants of mangrove forests that still exist today.

There is still a possibility of reviving what was once lost. Now is the time to do our part in making this happen.

Sources:

Growing What We Know On Mangroves

1. They stabilize shorelines and protect them from erosion.

2. They are extremely productive ecosystems and provide goods and services to the marine environment and to the people, such as food.

3. Mangroves can store up to four times more carbon than rainforests can.

4. In line with the previous point and moving on to a more global relation, mangroves could play a vital role in alleviating climate change.

Written by T A Y O