Mangrove Forests Rebound, Boosting Coasts and Climate

Mangrove forests, long treated as expendable, are expanding again. Using satellite monitoring that began in 1984, scientists say mangroves are now growing and spreading geographically faster than they are declining for the first time. The study links the rebound to varying regional drivers, noting that Myanmar and Indonesia had been major hotspots of mangrove loss before 2010, but the trend later stabilized. Mangroves matter because they provide habitat for diverse species, store roughly four times more carbon than other land forests, and buffer coasts against flooding, erosion, storms, cyclones and tsunamis.