Views /Opinion

Mangroves are crucial to Qatar’s sustainable development

Mangroves are a special type of coastal forest characterised by their ability to thrive in marine environments.

These forests grow on the shoreline, and many are adapted to withstand high levels of salinity, including those in Qatar.

More importantly, mangroves are a very critical ecosystem which provide numerous benefits to societies, although often these benefits are not widely recognized. Mangroves store and absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, thereby reducing the levels of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

Because they grow on coastal sediments, they help stabilize shorelines and, in this way, protect coastal communities from storms and floods. With increasing levels of sea rise, mangroves will play an even more important role in adapting to climate change.

Finally, they provide key habitats for coastal biodiversity, especially as spawning grounds for fish and other forms of marine life, and thus are a crucial ecosystem to sustain many fisheries globally.

Unfortunately, mangroves are at high risk of disappearing due to unsustainable coastal development, deforestation, and degradation.

The situation is very dire, as the first major assessment of mangrove ecosystems recently released demonstrates.

This assessment – released on May 22, coinciding with the UN’s International Day for Biological Diversity – was conducted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the largest global coalition of governments and conservation organizations. The study found that 50 percent of all mangrove ecosystems globally are at risk of collapse, i.e., classified as either vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.

The assessment involved more than 250 experts from 44 countries, including research institutions, the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management, the IUCN Species Survival Commission, and the Global Mangrove Alliance of which Qatar is soon to become a member through Earthna.

The good news for Qatar is that the country has long recognized the importance of mangroves, and there have been several efforts to protect and restore these important ecosystems.

In the past, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC), Unesco, and NGOs such as Flower Each Spring have led these efforts. Currently, Earthna is leading a project to restore mangroves in Qatar, in close cooperation with MoECC and Qatar University. In addition to restoring these key ecosystems, these efforts will provide a better understanding of the ecological interactions between mangroves, sea grasses, and coral reefs.

The project will also explore the concept of “nature-based solutions” by enhancing our understanding of mangroves as natural, integral elements of coastal resilience in the face of sea level rise caused by global warming.

Protecting nature is everybody’s job. We can reverse the global trends of biodiversity loss – and protect our mangroves – if we all work together towards achieving this critical and noble goal.

(The writer is Executive Director, Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future.)