What mangroves do for people (ecosystem services)
Mangroves protect shorelines, feed fisheries, supply wood and honey, filter water and store carbon.
Scientists group the benefits of nature into ecosystem services. Mangroves provide all four kinds.
Provisioning: poles for building, firewood and charcoal, tannin, honey, medicines, and fish, crabs and prawns caught in the creeks.
Regulating: they slow waves and reduce storm-surge damage and shoreline erosion, trap river sediment so it does not smother reefs and seagrass, and store carbon.
Supporting: they are nurseries for juvenile fish and shellfish, nesting and feeding habitat for birds, and shelter for crabs, mudskippers, monkeys and in some places dugongs and sea turtles in the adjacent waters.
Cultural: places for ceremonies and traditions, tourism such as boardwalks and kayaking, and education.
Why this matters for data. A hectare of mangrove is not only a carbon number. When Atlas shows a loss near a village (see Mangroves near villages), it is also showing a loss of fish nurseries, wood supply and shoreline protection for the people living there.
Related reading
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- Seagrass meadows: blue carbon's quiet partner
- East African coastal forests
- Organisations and community involvement in carbon projects
- Mangroves and fisheries
- Mangrove zonation: why different species grow in bands
- Mangroves as climate adaptation, not only mitigation
- Salt marshes and tidal flats
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