TEHRAN – The first global assessment of mangroves by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified mangrove forests in the Persian Gulf as vulnerable (VU) overall.

The mangrove forests are classified as ‘vulnerable’ in Changes in Geographic Distribution, ‘least concern’ in Restricted Geographic distribution, ‘least concern’ in Abiotic components, and ‘least concern’ in Biotic components of ecosystems, ISNA reported.

The IUCN assessment results can be the basis for national and regional decision-making and intervention. The results indicate that planning, ongoing monitoring, and integrated management of these ecosystems should be prioritized. Otherwise, these ecosystems are likely to move into a more dangerous category.

Mangrove ecosystems are crucial for biodiversity conservation, providing essential goods and services to local communities and mitigating the impact of climate change. For this reason, understanding the risk of ecosystem collapse has serious socioeconomic implications.

According to data published in various sources, the total extent of mangrove forests in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman is about 250 square kilometers, with Iran having the largest share with 138 square kilometers.

Mangrove forests in Iran mostly consist of the Avicenna marina, known as Hara, named after the 11th-century great Iranian scientist Avicenna, or Abu-Ali-Sina. Hara forest area covers more than 27 thousand hectares.

The forests spread from Nayband Bay in the southwestern Bushehr province to Govater Bay in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province on the coast of the Sea of Oman.

More than 90 percent of these forests, both in terms of quality and quantity, are located in the southern Hormozgan province, such as  Khamir Port and Qeshm Island, although there is a part in the Khor Azini site, in Sirik county in Hormozgan, which hosts rhizophora mucronata species.

Contamination from oil, gas, and petrochemical industries in the vicinity of mangroves, effluent from aquaculture farms, timber harvesting, livestock grazing, and substandard construction, unregulated tourism, plant pests, reduced freshwater inflow due to dam construction, and agricultural pesticides are among the main challenges faced by mangroves.

The world’s mangrove ecosystems cover about 150 thousand km2 along mainly tropical, sub-tropical, and some warm temperate coasts of the world. About 15 percent of the world’s coastlines are covered by mangroves.

Threats menacing mangroves are evolving rapidly:  degradation from wood exploitation, deforestation for agriculture and shrimp farming, and indirect impacts from dam construction altering freshwater and sediment fluxes. Today, mangroves face additional challenges due to climate change, including sea-level rise and an increased frequency and severity of cyclonic storms.

According to the first global assessment, fifty percent of Mangrove Ecosystems units are at risk of collapse (in the IUCN threat categories of Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN), or Critically Endangered (CR); equally, they represent 50 percent of the world’s mangrove area. And one out of five are at severe risk of collapse (either Endangered or Critically Endangered). The other units are Near Threatened (NT), Least Concern (LC), or Not Evaluated (NE).

Mangrove ecosystems are exceptional in their ability to provide essential ecosystem services to people, including coastal disaster risk reduction, carbon sequestration and long-term storage, and ecological support for fisheries and biodiversity. 

As of today, global mangroves store almost 11 billion tons of carbon, which is almost three times the amount of carbon stored by tropical forests of the same size, protecting 15.4 million people, and USD 65 billion worth of property per year from coastal disasters. In 2050, this could rise to 15.5 million and USD 118 billion because of population growth and a rise in property values.

Support 126 million fishing days per year, providing a key source of food for human populations living near coasts and beyond, along with valuable employment provided by millions of fisheries-related jobs.

MT/MG