Cumulative Impacts of Human Interventions and Climate Change on Mangrove Ecosystems of South and Southeast Asia: An Overview

The paper provides an insight into the chronological extinction of the Indo-Malayan mangroves along the South and Southeast Asian coast and categorizes several area-specific anthropogenic and climatic factors that triggered the annihilation of 1.9 million ha of diverse mangroves. On a regional scale, coastal agricultural land development and shrimp farming were identified as major factors accounting for 90% of the reported loss. The paper also focuses on the existing mangrove management framework of nine developing countries of this region and conducts a comparative analysis of the prevailing legislative arrangement for mangrove management. In general, weak enforcements of legal measures and improper monitoring have been identified as major drawbacks in conservation and restoration initiatives. On the other hand, this paper strongly encourages the prospects of community-based mangrove management (CBMM) and provides good examples from the ecoregion through comparative case studies. Finally, it concludes with recommendations that outline a suitable mangrove management strategy involving more community empowerment, legalization and mainstreaming of comanagement initiatives, inclusive benefit sharing, and regional cooperation for transboundary ecosystem management. 1. Introduction Mangrove forests, still abundant in South and Southeast Asia, are amongst the world’s most fragile ecosystems and continue to disappear under the increased threat of climate change and human interventions. Researchers from all over the world agree on the fact that the existence of mangroves forests is under great risk due to fragmentation of the habitats. Moreover, ecosystem services offered by the mangroves are likely to be lost completely within the next 100 years [1]. Globally, mangroves are disappearing at an alarming rate of 1 to 2% per year, faster than the adjacent coral reefs or tropical rainforests [1–3]. Deforestation led by increasing demand for land and climate change events such as rise of sea level and reduction in freshwater flow are considered as major players behind the continuous annihilation of mangroves; however, climate change events may impact to only 10–15% reduction of mangrove habitats in distant future, whereas the immediate threat comes from uncontrolled exploitation and deforestation [3]. The consequent impacts of such losses resulted in serious concern amongst conservationists and exposed the coastal communities to a further increased threat of climate change and hydrometeorological disasters. Large stretches of the subtropical and tropical coastlines