#WorldMangroveDay: Importance of Protecting Our Mangroves — by @kingadindu
2 min readJul 26, 2020
Mangroves provide essential habitat for thousands of species. They also stabilize shorelines, preventing erosion and protecting the land — and the people who live there — from waves and storms.
According to UNESCO, Mangroves are rare, spectacular and prolific ecosystems on the boundary between land and sea. These extra ordinary ecosystems contribute to the wellbeing, food security, and protection of coastal communities worldwide. They support a rich biodiversity and provide a valuable nursery habitat for fish and crustaceans. Mangroves also act as a form of natural coastal defense against storm surges, tsunamis, rising sea levels and erosion. Their soils are highly effective carbon sinks, sequestering vast amounts of carbon.
Key points
- In Nigeria mangrove is highly threatened.
- Shoreline protection is very important.
- We need to know the population of mangrove we have lost then we can start talking about sustainable solutions.
- There should be a policy for all our mangrove activities. This should be the government work.
- Vulnerable in the communities are the one suffering — we need to find a sustainable solution for them.
- We cannot conserve when we are damage the ecosystem.
- Opportunities in mangroves are so numerous — this is the time for us to maximize the opportunity and build resilience.
- We need to start channeling our effort toward mangrove.
- Let’s increase effort in educating the people in the community.
- We need to start taken SDGs 13&14 very serious.
- We need to start teaching our farmers sustainable fish farming so that it can help them to preserve the ecosystem.
- Government should start making effort in working with key stakeholders that will support our ecosystem.
Protecting natural ecosystems like mangrove forests not only helps preserve biodiversity, it also helps preserve a vital resource for local communities.
