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MANGROVE ARE AL E  XTENT

ORITY ON

S1 2

RI

RE

TH

EF

S FOR HEAL

What

What Is It?

BENCHMARK

Mangrove areal extent is a measure of the area (e.g.,

No net decrease in current mangrove

in hectares or km2) covered by mangrove vegetation.

habitat. Any losses should be offset by

Key species include Conocarpus sp. (buttonwood

natural growth or restoration projects.

natural

mangrove), Laguncularia sp. (white mangrove),

Priority

Priority conservation areas need to be

Rhizophora sp. (red mangrove) and Avicennia sp.

(black mangrove).

identified and formally protected.

identi

TA R G E T

Expansive mangrove habitats can be found along

much of the MAR's mainland coastline as well as

Restore mangrove cover to 1990

Restore

in many of the coastal lagoons, watersheds, and

levels.

levels.

offshore cayes (islands).

RED FL AG

Why Do We Measure It?

Why

Any decrease in current mangrove area.

Mangroves have a significant ecological role as

physical habitat and nursery grounds. Mangrove

How Do We Measure It?

ecosystems are a mosaic of different types of forest,

with each providing different physical habitat, niches,

Remote sensing (by satellites or aircraft) is used to

microclimates and food for a diverse assemblage of

estimate the areal extent of mangrove forests.

animals.

Usefulne s s

Usefulness

Mangrove forests are undergoing dramatic changes

in the Mesoamerican Reef region.  Some forests

Remote sensing provides an up-to-date, efficient

are being cleared for commercial development and

way to track the change of mangrove forests over

residential land uses. Others have been extensively

time. Keeping track of these changes is essential for

damaged by hurricanes.

sustainable coastal forest management, ensuring

the many ecological benefits of mangroves are

Mangrove habitat extent is a key indicator, tracking

maintained.

how much of this critical habitat is still available

versus how much has been lost (when historical data

Landsat satellite images provide relatively inexpensive

are available).

and consistent coverage of the entire MAR for annual

monitoring programs, although data processing time

must also be considered. There are a number of

Cinthya Flores / WWF

regional programs (e.g., CATHLAC) already working

with these data. Aircraft-based sensors have greater

spatial resolution for detailed needs, ground-truthing,

or monitoring of areas of high development pressure,

major construction projects, etc., but the cost is

generally higher.

Status

St atus

There are approximately  3,500 to 3,650 km2 of

mangrove forest within the MAR ecoregion37. This

estimate is based on a compilation of various national

habitat maps rather than a regionally consistent

protocol. The compilation relies on Landsat satellite

imagery from different years, different processing

protocols, and some data from digitized maps where

processed satellite data were not available.

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