My first time at a mangrove left me so speechless that it remains one of the coolest travel experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve visited mangroves four times, and the last time I went, I learned more than just about the absolute beauty of a mangrove. I discovered the importance of mangroves in fighting climate change and the reasons why they matter so much to the natural world.
An estimated 20% of all mangroves worldwide have been lost in the last 40 years due to human activities and natural retraction, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. I’d like to cover this topic because I was so blown away by this experience, and I believe education is one of the first ways that we can help fight against the loss of mangroves. When I first started visiting them, I didn’t realize how important they were.
Key Takeaways
What is a Mangrove?
First, I’d like to clearly define what a mangrove is because if you’ve never encountered one before, you may not know what it is. Being far inland in the cold reaches of Minnesota, I had never encountered a mangrove before in my life. A mangrove is a group of trees and shrubs that live along the coast and there are about 80 species around the world. In the strictest sense of the word, there are only 54 true mangrove species.
These trees grow in difficult-to-survive areas where the oxygen is low and the amount of salt would kill other plants.
When you eat the leaf from the mangrove, it is salty.
Mangroves usually grow in brackish water, and they take in extra oxygen to remove the salt. These tropical plants can adapt to loose and wet soils, and even when submerged under a tide, they can survive.
You can spot a mangrove because of the visible roots from the tree going down into the water and preventing the dirt and sand from the coastline from washing away. Mangroves also serve as nurseries for fish species.
Fun Fact: Mangroves, a type of rainforest, serve as a nursery for two endangered fish species including the rainbow parrotfish and the goliath grouper.
What Mangroves Do for Us
If you’re asking yourself, “Why mangroves are important,” climate change continues to worsen throughout the world due to the increasing carbon dioxide.
Mangroves capture the carbon dioxide from the air and use it to grow their tree branches and leaves. Eventually, the tree branches fall off capturing the carbon dioxide and recycling it back into the mud, taking the carbon with it and serving as an effective tool to fight against climate change.
They matter for climate change, but they also improve the water quality that flows from rivers and streams and back into the ocean environment. Coral reefs and seagrass beds depend on the water purifying that comes from mangroves. Mangroves can filter 80% to 90% of the phosphates, nitrates, and suspended liquids flowing in the water.
Water clarity throughout the waters near mangroves improved dramatically due to mangroves. When I visited the mangrove, that was what blew me away was the clarity and color of the water. I saw little jumping beetles in the water, and there was so much wildlife there.
What Action Can We Take to Save the Mangroves?
Love and education are the first steps toward protecting the wonder and beauty of our global mangroves. I knew nothing about mangroves before, but what instantly made me love them was just visiting one and seeing the beauty of them. Then, I wanted to protect them.
If you don’t care about something you’re not going to protect it, so the first thing I would recommend is to go visit a local mangrove if possible. They’re hard not to love. In the United States, you can find mangroves at the following locations:
The place to find 90% of the mangroves in the United States is in Florida because of the tropical climate. If you’re in a landlocked state, but you travel every once in a while to an area with a mangrove, the trip is well worth it. Recognizing their importance is the first step.
Another simple way to protect mangroves is to tell others about how cool mangroves are and why they’re worth protecting.
The more people who understand their importance, the more actions world governments will take to protect them.
People should also understand why you don’t disturb certain parts of mangroves because taking fuel from them or using them to build things will destroy them and ultimately hurt the whole planet. Some mangrove communities set a rule for where every mangrove tree that you use for something, you need to plant two in its place.
Finally, you can volunteer at a mangrove to plant mangrove trees and shrubs or give to a local charity that supports and protects them. Earthday.org is one example of a non-profit organization that has helped to plant mangrove trees in the past, even if it isn’t their only focus. In the past, they planted 2 million mangroves in the Sunderbans of India to fight climate change.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The moment I visited a mangrove, I was totally awestruck at how absolutely cool they were. Mangroves are a type of tropical rainforest, which explains why every time I’ve been to one, it rains. They serve as a breeding ground for local shrimp, prawns, crabs, snails, fish, and shellfish.
An estimated 27% of the world’s mangrove forests can be found in Southeast Asia, and there are more mangrove species in this region of the world than anywhere else.
Some believe that they moved west from Southeast Asia and came to India, East Africa, and finally, North, Central, and South America. Today, mangrove forests are one of the most threatened habitats in the world, which is why it's important to raise awareness.
