In a worldwide estimate, about 50% of the original mangrove forests have been destroyed by man in recent decades. This irresponsible destruction is attributed to ignorance of the forests’ ecological and economic importance. When the mangrove forest is destroyed, the natural sheltering belt against storms, flood waves,flooding and coastal erosion is also gone.

Mangrove ecosystems are comprised of plants, animals and micro-organisms that have adapted to life in the dynamic environment of the tropical inter-tidal zone. The complex and dense root systems encourage sedimentation and development of a mud substrate that enables more mangroves to spread and expand their range. Mangrove forests develop in areas where high energy waves are absent and sediments accumulate. Tidal flooding largely influences the structure and appearance of mangrove forests. Although most mangrove forests are found submerged in water along the coastline, they can also extend to the flood plain’s outer limits, which are often dry and only occasionally flooded when the water reaches its highest point. Mangroves are adapted for the salty conditions and frequent flooding in the ocean’s tidal range and have ways of dealing with excessive salt.

The flourishing tourism industry in the Turks & Caicos Islands is an indicator of the beginning of an era that can permanently change the environmental and socio-economic landscape. For the construction of new road networks, widening of old access trails and the building of condominiums, hotels, marinas and other amenities for a luxurious life do not come without costs. One of those costs is an environmental one, and the mangrove ecosystem is one of the areas most highly affected. Mangroves, big and small, are indiscriminately damaged by bulldozers and backhoes in the name of progress.

Mangrove Habitats

In the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI), mangrove forests occur as narrow fringes along the most sheltered coasts or in small stands at protected creek mouths. The area of true mangrove forests throughout our Islands is relatively small compared to the total area of wetlands. They occur in areas where they are particularly important for water quality control, shoreline stabilization and as aquatic nurseries. There are three important species of mangrove in the Turks & Caicos Islands. White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa) are found nearest to the dry land and have salt glands at the base of their leaves that exude salt they intake from the water. Black Mangroves (Avicencia germinans), found between the drier land and in the water, have pneumatophores that stick up out of the water like little snorkels. These pneumatophores aid in obtaining oxygen. Black Mangroves exude salt from the undersides of their leaves. Red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) are found directly in the coastal waters. Their unique prop root system stabilizes the tree from wave action — these prop roots extend from the trunk and heavy branches, drop into the water and eventually become part of the trunk system.

Importance of Mangroves

Mangroves offer many benefits to both natural systems and humans, and their removal has several economic consequences.

• Mangroves provide shoreline protection and sediment accretion. They buffer the shoreline from the destructive impact of storms and waves.

• Mangroves trap and bind sediments, thereby reducing coastal turbidity, and help clean the water.

• Mangroves support important trophic pathways by providing a major source of materials for food chains that support many terrestrial and marine organisms.

• Mangroves provide habitat for both marine and terrestrial organisms; homes for both plants and animals.

• Mangroves are nurseries for commercially important fish stocks, replenishing estuarine and coastal fisheries.

• Mangroves are a sink for atmospheric carbon, helping to reduce global CO2 levels and global warming.

• Mangroves capture effluents from terrestrial runoff, providing a buffer for nutrients, heavy metals and other toxicants entering coastal waters.

• Mangroves are an important ecosystem that promotes sustainable eco-tourism.

• More recently, changes in mangroves have been proposed as a means to monitor change in coastal environments as indicators of global warming, climate change, storm effects, sea level change, pollution and sedimentation rates.