Mangroves gain ground globally, marking turnaround after decades of loss

After decades of losses, new data show the world’s mangrove forests are beginning to rebound. It marks a modest but significant turnaround for the salt-tolerant coastal trees and shrubs, which provide vital ecosystem services, including carbon storage, habitat for thousands of species and protection from storms and erosion. Global mangrove cover increased by 477 square kilometers (184 square miles) between 1985 and 2025, according to the latest Global Mangrove Watch (GMW) data released in July. Restoration and stronger protections drove the modest net gains, which represent a 0.3% increase over four decades. The new assessment follows a separate study, published in June, that reached a similar conclusion about overall growth in mangrove cover. GMW, a mapping initiative of the NGO consortium known as the Global Mangrove Alliance, has tracked mangrove gains and losses since 2011. In this third update, researchers used 10-meter (33-foot) resolution satellite imagery and machine learning to map changes in mangrove cover across 108 countries. It’s the first of the updates to span a 39-year period, from 1985 to 2024, according to Lammert Hilarides, the GMW program lead at the Netherlands-based NGO Wetlands International. The previous version only tracked changes in the data since 1996, covering about 24 years. “The importance of tracking changes in mangroves lies in the need to have accurate information if you want to successfully halt loss, protect and restore mangroves,” Hilarides told Mongabay by email. He added that the new data show significant differences between regions, countries and the timing of gains…This article was originally published on Mongabay