Bridging Land and Sea, Mangrove forests are magnificent and prolific ecosystems which contribute to the wellbeing, food security, and protection of coastal communities worldwide. In the Mesoamerican Reef Region (MAR) and the Wider Caribbean, Mangroves are the economic foundation of over 134 million people living in the coastal regions. Due to their close relationship with other ecosystems, such as coral reefs and seagrasses, mangroves and the ecosystem services they provide are the conservation pillars of coastal ecosystems. Mangroves also act as a form of natural coastal defense against storm surges, tsunamis, rising sea levels and erosion. Their soils are highly effective carbon sinks, sequestering vast amounts of carbon which is becoming increasingly important in the face of climate change.
Yet mangroves are disappearing three to five times faster than overall global forest losses, which has serious ecological and socio-economic impacts. Mangroves in the Wider Caribbean region (Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems) comprise close to 26% of the global mangrove cover. They have shown a decline of 24% of their extent in the past 25 years. Within this region, the MAR has lost over 110,000 hectares in the past 20 years.
The International Day of Forests (IDF) was first proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on March 21 in 2012, in order to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests. In the face of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, celebrating our forests has become even more important than ever before. The UNEP Cartagena Convention Secretariat is using this year's International Day of Forests celebration to shine a spotlight on the importance of mangrove forests and their restoration. Reef-mangrove-seagrass complexes are found across the Wider Caribbean, which play a fundamental role in the economy and well-being of the Caribbean people, especially in the developing small insular states, which strongly depend on coastal marine resources. Mangroves also interact with two of the most important industries of the region: fisheries and tourism, which generate USD 5 billion and USD 47 billion in revenue, respectively. In addition, mangroves are an important natural barrier that reduce the high vulnerability of the region’s coastlines during hydrometeorological events such as hurricanes, with an estimated value of USD 23,000 to 45,000 per hectare in the Caribbean alone.
Based on the above, the conservation and restoration of mangrove ecosystems is a priority within the Wider Caribbean region. To this end, several strategies have been developed, particularly the one being coordinated by MAR Fund for the MAR ecoregion and the Regional Strategy and Action Plan for the Valuation, Protection and/or Restoration of Key Marine Habitats in the Wider Caribbean 2021-2030 (RSAP), developed under the subprogram SPAW of the Cartagena Convention. Within the framework of this Convention and the UN Decade on Restoration, mangrove restoration is considered a Nature-based Solution (NbS) that addresses the effects of climate change, the conservation of biodiversity, and the economic and social well-being of populations, as well as contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
In order to fulfill the objectives of the regional strategies and international agreements, it is necessary to implement actions that maximize the success of restoration interventions in the MAR and the Wider Caribbean. Together with the “Integrated Reef to Ridge Management of the Mesoamerican Reef Ecoregion” Project (MAR2R/CCAD/WWF-GEF) and the MAR Fund, the UNEP-Cartagena Convention joined efforts to facilitate the preparation of the “Manual for the ecological restoration of mangroves in the Mesoamerican Reef System and the Wider Caribbean”. The goal of this manual is to contribute to the strengthening of local and regional capacities for the ecosystem mangrove restoration and increasing the success of the implemented projects by involving and building agreements between the participating stakeholders.
At the dawn of the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 the outlook on full restoration of the mangrove forests in the Wider Caribbean Region seems uncertain, but together we can act and protect our mangroves.
