Mangroves for the People and Environmental Conservation in Asia

Mangroves are among the most significant and valuable coastal ecosystems providing considerable benefits, many goods and services, to humans through forest products, fisheries and medicines. In addition and importantly, they play a major role in ecological and natural disaster protection in coastal areas. Asian people have used mangroves in their lives and economies over a long period of history. Unfortunately, mangrove forests in this region have been under threat of severe destruction especially since the 1980's due to conflicting development purposes. Encouragingly, the mangrove forests areas of Southeast Asia slightly increased while those in south Asia and East Asia have slightly declined over the past decade. Today, intensive management of mangrove forests in Asian countries is evident, especially rehabilitation, protection and conservation. The sustainable management of mangrove forests will not be achieved without close participation of all stakeholders strong technical supporting and strict law enforcement by Governments who look upon their mangrove ecosystems as excellent resources for a world that must find ways of placing a dollar value on natural eco-resources.