A World Without Mangroves?

AT A MEETING OF WORLD MANGROVE EXPERTS HELD LAST YEAR IN Australia, it was unanimously agreed that we face the prospect of a world deprived of the services offered by mangrove ecosystems, perhaps within the next 100 years. We are greatly concerned that the full implications of mangrove loss for humankind are not fully appreciated. Growing pressures of urban and industrial developments along coastlines, combined with climate change and sealevel rise, urge the need to conserve, protect, and restore tidal wetlands. Effective governance structures, socioeconomic risk policies, and education strategies are needed now to enable societies around the world to reverse the trend of mangrove loss and ensure that future…