Mangrove establishment and rehabilitation projects have had varying levels of success at different locations around
the world. Given the money that has been invested in restoring mangrove coverage, it is useful to map, monitor
and compare results and experiences in different parts of the globe to compare the success of such projects. This study
conducted temporal analyses for 24 mangrove sites from 10 different projects in six different countries (Senegal, the
United Arab Emirates, Madagascar, Kenya, Solomon Island and Indonesia) using satellite imagery and GIS technology
to map and monitor their status. Given that many of the sites were small, very high-resolution satellite imagery (0.45,
0.6 and 1 metre resolution from Worldview, Quickbird and Ikonos, respectively) was used.
Several limitations for detecting mangrove recovery from space have been highlighted, the main one being that the
satellite images should be taken at least three to four years after the complexion of the mangrove recovery, as the size of
the mangrove canopy would otherwise not be large enough to be detected. It also has to be noted that mangroves and
tropical vegetation can be easily confused, and such distinction from space therefore remains challenging. Overall, the
study showed that remote sensing is a good tool for monitoring mangrove recovery.
