Mangroves are one of the most impressive ecosystems on the planet.
They interface the ocean and the land, forming a thin line of trees
that protect the coastal areas…. much like our skin protects us.
They not only provide us protection against hurricanes or erosion.
They provide us with many other ecosystem services.
They purify the water by filtering it through the sediments,
provide nurseries for fish and other species, and sequester carbon.
Some mangroves are ancient ecosystems. These forests have been growing on top of themselves
for more than 2,000 years, accumulating and storing massive amounts of carbon in their roots.
However, there is a problem. We have been losing large amounts
of mangroves in the last five decades.
50% of these ecosystems have been lost so far.
And now, more than ever, we have an urgent need to protect them.
The first time I dove in a mangrove forest was unforgettable.
I was able to see all the roots of the trees. I was impressed with this spectacular habitat for
so many species. And I was able to observe the habitat of a juvenile yellow snapper.
We learned that the larger the mangrove forest, the more abundance of yellow snapper.
Additionally, were able to demonstrate that all other species showed the same pattern.
Since then, I have been able to demonstrate these mangroves produce
11,000 tons of fishery products on an annual basis for local communities.
That equals products worth almost $20 million dollars in the region.
Just one hectare of mangroves every year produces around $37,500 in fishery products.
We can quantify other services as well, like carbon sequestration.
The organic material is captured in its root system and by different processes.
Scientists can extract samples of sediments,
study the samples and analyze how much of carbon is being sequestered every year.
Estimating carbon and using the economic valuation of carbon sequestration,
my research team has been able to show that Mexico
should prioritize the conservation of different forests along the Mexican coast.
In the same way that we can estimate fisheries or carbon sequestration revenues, we can estimate
the economic value of all the ecosystem services that mangroves provide to humans.
The United Nations has named mangroves as the superheroes in the fight against climate change
and many sustainability goals are based on mangrove protection.
The State of the World’s Mangroves 2021 report shows that the rate of mangrove loss has declined.
That means that in the eighties and the nineties,
the speed of how we were losing mangroves was faster than today.
Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that we are not losing mangroves.
The drivers for this loss have been industrial activities. Agriculture,
aquaculture, the world’s growing demand for Palm oil for food and industrial products. This demand
is growing, especially in mangrove-rich countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.
So how do we not only protect, but also restore mangroves around the world?
My proposal is to introduce a model of solution-oriented science,
rather than a model where scientists only describe how we are losing mangroves.
As scientists we need to be a voice in the public arena. We need to be central to
not just informing but organizing and enacting needed action plans.
What I am proposing is the first Center for Mangrove Science Diplomacy.
We need scientists, their knowledge, their stories,
and their unique local efforts and experiences of protecting these extraordinary mangrove forests.
We need to find scientific leaders to stop mangrove deforestation collectively,
and to halt the trends that we have been seeing in the last 50 years.
Thirteen countries in the world have 70% of the mangrove cover.
It’s a small number of countries.
These make it possible to create the a new network of scientists
and a center to help us with diplomacy to address mangrove habitat destruction.
Scientists can help us address climate change.
They can help with changing theories and also create the roadmap to protect mangroves.
Scientists can be the ones that help create policy and produce solutions and outcomes,
and not just provide the underlying data.
If we are able to create a network of scientists and leaders across the 13 countries,
with ten experts per country in four regions, we can create the first network designed
to tackle the threats of mangrove deforestation.
The center that I am proposing has three key elements.
Communication training for scientists and an organized global communication campaign.
Local and global platforms to support to participation in international forums.
And regional coordination hubs to help create roadmaps for policy solutions and protection.
The cohort of experts would include different disciplines.
Botanists, ecologists, and conservation biologists, as well as political scientists,
sociologists, researchers in communications, psychologists, economists, and policy makers.
The expertise can be put together in a big network
of 130 initial researchers that will have be empowered to create a roadmap where real
solutions are proposed and implemented based on local knowledge and knowhow.
This new framework will also allow participating nations nations to share the best practices.
We have tested this model at small scale,
where scientists and stakeholders are showing that we can reverse the trend of mangrove loss.
One example where I have participated and
witnessed the changes is in La Encrucijada, in Mexico.
There are many ways to view the world and the context
that each of these mangrove forests are facing.
We need to understand these unique problems
in a plural context and think in the best solutions for each.
We can create a leadership in the scientific community to move and work directly with many
communities and enable the conditions to detonate a bottom-up effort to stop
mangrove deforestation.
We can implement the science and test these solutions, having the opportunity to collectively
have a voice and participate in international forums like the United Nations forums.
And we can set goals and prove that this new Center for Mangrove Science Diplomacy,
can have a real impact in the next 10 years.