Restoring mangrove forests not only enhances their ability to sequester and store carbon but may also reduce greenhouse gas emissions that would have otherwise continued for decades after certain disturbances, such as the loss of soil organic carbon following drainage for aquaculture ponds. Monitoring mangrove restoration, however, remains challenging. Mangroves grow gradually, and therefore restoration is challenging to monitor on shorter timescales, as gain may not be detected until mangrove trees reach a certain level of maturity. Moreover, the establishment of mangrove trees does not always indicate restoration of the ecological functions of these ecosystems, and in some cases, the addition of mangroves can lead to negative consequences (e.g., the loss of other coastal ecosystems) or short-lived gains if tree-planting is not implemented appropriately.
Still, available global estimates indicate that the world gained approximately 180,000 hectares (ha) of mangrove forests from 1999 to 2019, but only 8% of these gains (15,000 ha) can be attributed to direct human interventions, such as mangrove planting or other restoration activities. Although mangrove gain due to direct human interventions does not indicate whether establishment of these mangroves restored the ecological function of these ecosystems, it does provide the best available proxy for mangrove restoration.
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Note: Murray et al. (2022) estimated that a gross area of 180,000 ha (95 percent confidence interval of 0.09 to 0.30 Mha) of mangrove gain occurred from 1999 to 2019, only 8 percent of which can be attributed to direct human activities, such as mangrove restoration or planting. We estimated the most recent data point for mangrove restoration by taking 8 percent of the total mangrove gain from 1999 to 2019 (15,000 ha). Historical data were estimated using maps derived from remotely sensed data, and accordingly, they contain a degree of uncertainty.
Learn more about the methods for estimating mangrove restoration (including the known limitations) in the most recent State of Climate Action report.
A detailed assessment of the accuracy of these data can also be found in Murray et al. (2022).
Restoring mangrove forests not only enhances their ability to sequester and store carbon but may also reduce greenhouse gas emissions that would have otherwise continued for decades after certain disturbances, such as the loss of soil organic carbon following drainage for aquaculture ponds. Monitoring mangrove restoration, however, remains challenging. Mangroves grow gradually, and therefore restoration is challenging to monitor on shorter timescales, as gain may not be detected until mangrove trees reach a certain level of maturity. Moreover, the establishment of mangrove trees does not always indicate restoration of the ecological functions of these ecosystems, and in some cases, the addition of mangroves can lead to negative consequences (e.g., the loss of other coastal ecosystems) or short-lived gains if tree-planting is not implemented appropriately.
Still, available global estimates indicate that the world gained approximately 180,000 hectares (ha) of mangrove forests from 1999 to 2019, but only 8% of these gains (15,000 ha) can be attributed to direct human interventions, such as mangrove planting or other restoration activities. Although mangrove gain due to direct human interventions does not indicate whether establishment of these mangroves restored the ecological function of these ecosystems, it does provide the best available proxy for mangrove restoration.
—
Note: Murray et al. (2022) estimated that a gross area of 180,000 ha (95 percent confidence interval of 0.09 to 0.30 Mha) of mangrove gain occurred from 1999 to 2019, only 8 percent of which can be attributed to direct human activities, such as mangrove restoration or planting. We estimated the most recent data point for mangrove restoration by taking 8 percent of the total mangrove gain from 1999 to 2019 (15,000 ha). Historical data were estimated using maps derived from remotely sensed data, and accordingly, they contain a degree of uncertainty.
Learn more about the methods for estimating mangrove restoration (including the known limitations) in the most recent State of Climate Action report.
A detailed assessment of the accuracy of these data can also be found in Murray et al. (2022).
