An Overview on Role of Mangroves in Mitigating Coastal Disasters (With Special Focus on Ts unamis, Floods and Cyclones)

Among different ecosystems located on coastal areas, Mangroves play an important role in providing ecological and societal goods and services to local communities, including stabilizing shorelines and helping reduce adverse effects of natural disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes, serving as breeding and nursing grounds for many marine and pelagic species, and providing food, medicine, fuel, and building materials as well as opportunities for aquaculture. As a consequence, mangrove ecosystems have attracted an increasing amount of attention from land and ocean managers, conservation communities and academia in all over the world. The aim of this manuscript is review the role of mangrove ecosystems in minimizing the impact of marine hazards like tsunamis, floods and cyclones. A comparison of the studies concerning effective mitigation of tsunamis and natural disasters by mangrove ecosystems was carried out. Results based on the literature review showed that mangroves occurring near the coast play an important role in the protection of the coastal areas from the natural disasters like tsunamis, floods, cyclones. The conclusion reached is that it is necessary for humans to realize the dangers and consequences of undermining the services provided by the coastal ecosystems in coastal protection and to conserve mangroves in every part of the world. The results of this paper will be helpful for in forming conservation efforts, mangrove rehabilitation and national monitoring programs for shoreline protection actions in different coastal areas.

Keywords:

Mangroves , marine hazards , mitigation