Ecological Engineering for Successful Management and Restoration of Mangrove Forests

Background

This article takes a look at the reasons why many mangrove restoration projects fail, and provides key recommendations for improving the success rate of mangrove restoration projects.

Conclusions & Takeaways

This article asserts the importance of hydrology in the process of mangrove restoration. Specifically, the article states that the depth, duration, and frequency of flooding are critical factors in the survival of both mangrove seedlings and mature trees. The article also proposes that practitioners should determine why mangroves were originally removed from a site, and why secondary succession of mangroves is no longer happening at that site. The article then suggests amending the hydrology of a site to encourage natural seedling recruitment from existing trees, and only planting if this natural regeneration is not possible.