Living Blue Planet Report

Living Blue Planet Report page 16

Figure 12: Estimated

change in extent of

mangrove cover by

region and worldwide

from 1980 to 2005.

Adapted from The

world’s mangroves

1980-2005 (FAO, 2007).

0

5

10

15

20

World

South

Oceania America

North & Central

Africa Asia America

Mangrove losses 1980-

Extent of mangroves by region 1980-2005 (Area million ha)

-14% -25% -23% -10% - 1 1% - 1 9%

2005

2000

1990

1980

Between 1980 and 1990, the global annual rate of net

mangrove loss was 1.04 per cent. This fell to 0.66 per cent between

2000 and 2005 (FAO, 2007). Many governments are increasingly

recognizing the importance of mangroves, which has resulted in

better protection, management and restoration. Legal protection,

natural regeneration and planting programmes have enabled places

such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Sundarbans Reserved Forest of

Bangladesh to increase their mangrove cover (FAO, 2007).

The importance of mangroves to fish populations is

undoubted: numerous species rely on them as nurseries, for

example. However, there is not enough data to develop an index

for mangrove-associated species. More research is needed to

understand the relation between these populations and the

condition of the mangroves.

Key