Why mangroves matter
Mangroves store carbon, protect coasts, feed fisheries and support millions of people.
Mangroves are salt-tolerant forests on tropical shorelines. They matter because they store large amounts of carbon, mostly in their waterlogged soils; they protect coasts from storm surge and erosion; they are nurseries for fish and shellfish that feed coastal communities; and they provide poles, firewood, honey and tourism income.
Africa holds roughly 3 million hectares of mapped mangrove, with the largest areas in Nigeria, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar and Guinea. Atlas maps them for every African country that has them (1996–2025) and adds detailed local layers for Lamu, Kenya: species formations, field plots, restoration sites, villages and development pressure.
How to interpret it
Use the Mangrove Change page to see how each country is doing, and the Scenario Lab to explore what loss or restoration would mean for carbon.
Related reading
More in Knowledge Base
- Seagrass meadows: blue carbon's quiet partner
- What Atlas is, and why it is more than a mangrove map
- How mangroves store carbon in their soil
- Monitoring restoration: NDVI, plots and survival
- The Lamu seascape
- Mangrove zonation: why different species grow in bands
- The mangrove species of East Africa
- Community-led mangrove management
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