Mangroves as secret weapons in the fight against climate change
Located where the sea meets land, mangroves provide a natural barrier for coastal communities and whole ecosystems from storm surges, flooding and erosion. Alongside their living biomass, mangrove soils are carbon-rich, sequestering and storing carbon at great depths. Mangroves are incredibly efficient carbon stores, locking away up to 3–4 times more carbon on an area basis than their terrestrial counterparts, and act as nurseries for fish. Mangrove trees have amazing adaptations to their salty and flooded habitat. There are approximately 70 true mangrove species – Rhizophora mangle is just one of the mangrove tree species that make up mangrove forests. Mangroves are unfortunately highly threatened and largely overlooked by the global community for their potential role in climate change mitigation.
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