Sharing Lessons on Mangrove Restoration - MFF Regional Colloquium

The colloquium was an opportunity to examine the available scientific information and knowledge on mangrove restoration and to debate contrasting viewpoints and to identify sustainable solutions to complex conservation challenges stemming from the diversity of ideas and perceptions among different resource users and interest groups pertaining to mangrove ecosystems; address the inadequacy of meaningful information and to seek sustainable solutions to the complex problems currently encountered, not only from science, academia, lobby groups, industries and governments representatives, but also through a society-wide dialogue.

The colloquium was structured on presentations from MFF member countries and other countries in the Asia Region on their experiences from mangrove projects, particularly in relation to the improvements to coastal ecosystems and livelihoods of people, with a special reference to ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems information for building knowledge on the economic significance of mangroves.

Some of the pertinent questions that were examined include:

1. The economic and financial values of mangroves, and the need for restoration;
2. New planting and restoration – the basic tenets including geo-morphological context of coastal ecosystems,  interest in mangroves, impacts of mangroves in their natural state and planted (or cultivated) state, impacts of mangroves on other economic activities/sectors such as fisheries, agriculture, tourism, biodiversity, hazard mitigation, and urban planning (in terms of flood protection and drainage);
3. Demonstration of benefits of mangrove restoration activities, and examination of and intended or unintended harmful effects of such activities on the ecosystem;
4. Mangrove planting based on simplistic thinking and insensitive to physical geography, to geomorphology and the complexity of ecosystem structure and functioning;
5. The need for accommodating the collective voice from primary resource users of mangrove ecosystems in mangrove projects;
6. Guidelines for good practices, monitoring indicators, and accountability mechanisms; and
7. Examination of the predictable relationships between mangroves and impacts of climate change, specifically in regard to protection from coastal hazards (e.g. cyclones, erosion, floods, in their role as bio-shields, etc) and food security (e.g. drainage, soil salinization, water-logging, etc).