Mangroves, long seen as casualties of coastal development, are quietly clawing their way back. A new global study published in Science finds that since 2010, Earth has actually added more mangrove forest than it has lost—reversing decades of net decline driven by fish farming, agriculture, and urban growth. Researchers credit tougher protections, shifting public attitudes after disasters, and mangroves' own ability to rebound once chainsaws stop, the BBC reports. Indonesia's mangrove losses have leveled off, Myanmar's coverage is growing, and more detailed satellite imagery suggests previous assessments missed substantial regrowth of the hardy coastal trees and shrubs.
With the regrowth, mangrove coverage has returned to 1980s levels. "After decades of loss, we're finally seeing a global turning point for mangroves," says lead author Zhen Zhang from Louisiana's Tulane University. In Indonesia, he says, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami led to greater "public awareness about the importance of protecting mangroves." There was a similar shift in Myanmar after 2008's Cyclone Nargis. The comeback matters: mangroves can store up to five times more carbon than many land forests and buffer coasts from storm surges while sheltering young fish.
But the picture isn't uniformly positive. West and Central Africa remain destruction hot spots, and some new mangrove growth appears fueled by nutrient runoff tied to deforestation and mining upstream. "This is good news for mangroves—there are more of them than we thought, and they are showing their resilience," says study co-author Pete Bunting from Aberystwyth University in Wales. "But it is only really good news if it is not a complete mess upstream." Long-established mangrove forests, however, are becoming healthier, researchers say. The share of dense, carbon-rich mangrove canopy has risen nearly 20% since the 1980s. "We are moving in the right direction," Zhang says.
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