Mangrove restoration center vital in walking the talk

Walk along any tropical coastline today and you will notice something vital missing. The tangled, salt-tolerant forests that once buffered shorelines, nursed fisheries and locked away carbon at rates terrestrial rainforests could never match are vanishing. Since 1985, more than one-fifth of the world's mangroves have been lost — a hemorrhage that has accelerated rather than slowed. This is a security threat in plain sight.

So, when the International Mangrove Center convened its inaugural council meeting in Shenzhen on Sunday, it was a practical admission that something must be done to protect and restore these essential ecosystems. The center, the world's first intergovernmental global organization dedicated to mangrove conservation, was proposed by China at the Ramsar Convention meeting in November 2022. Within four years, it has not only become a reality, but has eight member states and 13 signatory countries, spanning Asia, Africa and the Americas — the world's main mangrove regions.

This is not rhetorical grandstanding. It is a functioning institution with a secretariat in Shenzhen, a strategic plan and a council that has just appointed a secretary-general. During its four-year preparatory phase, the center compiled global reports on mangrove resources, conducted research on blue carbon policy and hosted six international training workshops for 137 participants from 30 countries.

The ecological stakes are staggering. Mangroves are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth. Though they occupy less than 0.5 percent of the global coastal area, they account for nearly 14 percent of total carbon burial in the ocean — a disproportionate contribution. Their carbon storage capacity can reach up to 1,000 megagrams of carbon per hectare, with burial rates exceeding 180 grams carbon per square meter per year. Yet between 1985 and 2020, the global mangrove area declined by 21.6 percent — from 17.35 million hectares to 13.61 million hectares — while carbon stocks fell by 16.5 percent, equivalent to a potential loss of 4.13 petagrams of carbon dioxide. That is not an abstract number. That is climate breakdown accelerated by human negligence. Warming oceans now threaten restoration efforts, and by the end of the century, rising sea surface temperatures alone could shrink mangrove areas by an additional 150,000 hectares, inflicting annual welfare losses estimated at $28 billion, with Asia bearing 65 percent of the burden.

This is precisely why the International Mangrove Center matters. It is designed to facilitate joint research, capacity building and demonstration projects — practical measures that can help member states improve their conservation and management capabilities. Representatives from Madagascar and other member countries have already signaled their intent to use the platform for policy dialogue, technical cooperation and experience sharing.

China's own record in mangrove restoration underscores its seriousness. Since the start of the century, the country has expanded its mangrove area by 44 percent, reaching 31,700 hectares, making it one of the few nations to achieve continuous growth in mangrove cover over that period. It has enshrined mangrove protection in law and implemented five-year restoration plans that convert aquaculture ponds back into coastal wetlands.

The Ramsar Convention Secretariat has praised China's role in establishing the center, and rightly so. When the Chinese representative pledged to work with member states on joint research and demonstration projects, it was not an empty promise. The center's very existence is proof of follow-through.

The International Mangrove Center is a practical answer to a global challenge. That, in the end, is what a responsible major country should contribute to the world.