Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sostenibilidad

Just another web-blogs Sites site

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Agriculture and Food Security
    • Climate change
    • Ecosystems and Biodiversity
    • Environmental and Social Safeguards
    • Infrastructure and Sustainable Landscapes
    • Institutionality
    • Responsible Production and Consumption
  • Authors
  • English
    • Español

5 Superpowers Mangroves Have

July 25, 2017 por Sara Valero - Daniella Restrepo Leave a Comment


To commemorate International Mangrove Day (July 26th) let’s take a moment to think about why these wonderful tropical ecosystems are unique and worthy of our protection.

Mangroves are formed by trees that are highly tolerant to salt and that grow in an amphibian environment, with aquatic and terrestrial characteristics. Here are five of their superpowers.

1. Reducing CO2

Mangroves have a great capacity to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They sequester carbon more efficiently and faster (up to 100 times faster) than terrestrial forests. According to experts, mangroves around the globe capture and store 34 million tons of carbon annually. A great contribution to the fight against climate change!

2. Fostering biodiversity

Mangroves serve as a habitat in all their extension. Numerous types of fish, crabs, shrimp and mollusks inhabit their roots. Mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds also find a favorable habitat here, including tigers, crocodiles, monkeys and manatees. Some of the species that live there are endangered, such as the American crocodile found in the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Moreover, mangroves provide a nursing site for several species of fish and crustaceans from nearby coral reefs, and offer them shelter during the early stages of their life.

3. Protecting the coasts

Mangroves are located in coastal areas and act as a protective barrier between water and land, preventing coastal erosion and reducing the effect of waves and tides, particularly during extreme weather events. They act as a powerful shield against storms, hurricanes and tsunamis. Hence, it is said that mangroves not only help prevent climate change by sequestering carbon, but also protect the coasts, their ecosystems and their inhabitants from its effects.

4. Providing sustenance

Currently, almost 60% of the world’s population lives in coastal cities and settlements and many communities depend on the resources and food provided by mangroves for their livelihood. For example, the Sundarbands mangroves (the world’s largest and a UNESCO world heritage site and biosphere reserve), located on the border between Bangladesh and India, are a means of support for the fishing communities in the area. Almost 3.2 million people directly depend on the food and resources provided by this ecosystem, such as timber, medicines and fertile land for agricultural production.

5. Contributing to biotechnology

In recent years scientists have been studying the possibility of transferring genes taken from mangrove species —given their tolerance to salinity— to certain foods, such as rice, to develop new crop varieties that can also be salt-tolerant. This will create new opportunities for farmers located in coastal areas and will be especially important in tackling the global problem of food security and the effects of climate change, which lead to sea level rise and consequent saline intrusion into coastal lands and aquifers.

Despite their superpowers, mangroves are very delicate. To survive, they require a balanced environment, with the right concentration of fresh and salt water. Sadly, we have already lost over 35% of the world’s mangroves and the number keeps increasing. Climate change and rising sea levels associated with it have caused a saline imbalance in the mangrove habitat that makes survival difficult. In addition, deforestation due to the expansion of cities and the need for more land for agricultural crops have had a negative impact on these ecosystems. To top it all off, there is also man-made pollution and overexploitation of resources. All of these represent a threat to mangroves, one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems of the world, and given all the benefits they offer, the importance of protecting them should not be put into question.


Filed Under: Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Sara Valero

Sara Valero is an accomplished Climate Change Specialist with 10+ years’ experience in low carbon development, clean energy, and innovative climate mitigation/adaptation technologies and strategies. Effective in capturing opportunities to build resilience, finance low carbon and resilient solutions, green/nature-based infrastructure and environmental conservation. Able to collect and analyze environmental data and develop environmental strategies. Adept at providing programmatic support and technical advice. Multilingual in Spanish/German (Native), English (Fluent), and French/Portuguese (Intermediate). She holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering with a double major in Mechanical Design and Environmental Science and Technology.

Daniella Restrepo

Daniella works as an external Strategic Communications Consultant for the IDB in topics related to climate change, sustainability, environmental and social safeguards and biodiversity. She has a B.A. in Communications from Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, and an M.A. in International Affairs from American University in Washington D.C.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

SEARCH

Sustainability

This blog is a space to reflect about the challenges, opportunities and the progress made by Latin American and Caribbean countries on the path towards the region’s sustainable development.

SIMILAR POSTS

  • Mangroves could save the world
  • Back to the Mangroves – Wetlands and climate change
  • Suriname’s mangroves are critical for building a more sustainable and resilient future
  • 3 reasons why mangroves and coral reefs are critical for risk management
  • Latin America and the Caribbean forests: large providers of ecosystem services

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Derechos de autor © 2025 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube
    This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
    To learn more about cookies, click here
    x
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT