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Background on destruction of mangrove habitats

The knock-on effect

Destroying habitats often has dramatic knock-on effects. Take the widespread destruction of mangrove forests to provide wood and wood chips or to make way for such developments as aquaculture, road building and the spread of towns and cities. This hits fisheries, as mangroves are vital breeding areas and nurseries for many fish, crustaceans and molluscs. It increases the flow of sediments, normally trapped by mangrove roots. And it makes coasts and their peoples more vulnerable to storms – turning natural events into human disasters – as intact forests provide effective buffers against them.