The world’s mangrove forests are bouncing back. That’s good news for our coasts and climate

Mangroves are perplexing coastal plants that thrive in saltwater, but they've been cleared at an alarming rate for decades. Between the nineteen-eighties and twenty-ten, the world lost over twelve thousand square kilometers. But per The Conversation, new satellite data reveals something unexpected: for the first time, mangrove forests are expanding faster than they're disappearing. Since twenty-ten, they've rebounded by more than two thousand square kilometers. Policy changes following the two-thousand-four Indian Ocean tsunami and two-thousand-eight Cyclone Nargis strengthened protections in Myanmar and Indonesia, reversing decades of loss. In Australia, rising sea levels are allowing mangroves to spread inland, with new growth on mud flats and abandoned aquaculture ponds. Mangroves store four times more carbon than ordinary forests and protect coastal communities from storms. Yet the picture is complex: while expanding in some regions, they're degrading in others, so continued protection and restoration remain critical to securing their climate and coastal benefits.

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