Mangroves are semi-aquatic plants that make up some of the most dynamic and complex ecosystems on our planet. Found along two-thirds of the planet’s tropical coastlines, they are an intricate network bridging life between land and sea. Mangrove forests are host to many rare, threatened, and iconic species and home to millions of people who depend on coastal ecosystems for food and livelihoods.
But this critical ecosystem is disappearing quickly. Since 1940, approximately half of global mangrove cover has been lost. During the 1970s-1990s, especially high rates of land conversion for shrimp farming may be accountable for 30-50% of this habitat loss.
