An increase of 7,000 hectares in 20 years-my country has become one of the few countries with a net increase in mangrove area
Our reporter Huang Xiaofang Huang Junyi
June 8th is the 12th "World Ocean Day". The theme of this year's Ocean Day is "Protect mangroves and protect marine ecology." The reporter learned from the Ministry of Natural Resources that my country has continued to increase the protection of mangrove forests. Over the past 20 years, the area of mangroves has increased by 7,000 hectares. Now it is growing at a rate of 1% per year. It has become one of the few countries in the world that has a net increase in mangrove area.
Mangroves grow in the intertidal zone of tropical and subtropical coasts, and are special ecosystems for transition from land to ocean. In my country, it is mainly distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Fujian, Hong Kong, Taiwan have a small distribution, Macau, Zhejiang have sporadic distribution. During high tide, many mangroves are submerged in water, which is called "sea forest". Mangroves are obviously green, why are they called mangroves? This is because mangroves are made up of mangrove plants, which are rich in "magic" tannins. Once the bark is scratched and exposed to the air, it will quickly oxidize to red.
The trunk of mangrove plants generally does not grow upward indefinitely, and most of the supporting roots grow from the branches to maintain stability, so that the mangrove forest can stand still under the impact of the waves. The pillar roots of mangroves not only support the plants themselves, but also protect the coast from the erosion of wind and waves, so mangroves are also called "coast guards". During a storm surge, a one-meter-wide mangrove belt can reduce the wave height by 66%, and when the forest belt is more than 500 meters wide, it can even reduce the wave height by 100%.
Mangroves can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Scientists have discovered that mangrove forests can absorb carbon dioxide nearly six times more than tropical forests. Moreover, in the sea where mangroves exist, almost no red tide has ever occurred.
According to reports, mangroves only account for 0.7% of the global tropical forest area and 0.1% of the global land area, but the food it provides to marine life accounts for half of the global coastal ecosystem. According to a survey by the United Nations Environment Programme, 80% of the world’s fishing volume depends directly or indirectly on mangrove ecosystems.
At present, my country has established more than 30 mangrove forest nature reserves, and more than 80% of mangrove forests have been effectively protected. As of the end of 2018, 271 marine protection areas of various types have been built nationwide, and the protected objects cover typical marine ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, coastal wetlands, bays, and islands. The coastal areas are also actively adopting artificial planting methods to expand mangroves.