Abstract

Coastal mangrove forests provide a range of important ecosystem services to human populations, though their provision is threatened as mangrove extent continues to decline rapidly. This seminar will highlight current research in Southeast Asia relating to mangrove ecosystem services and their stability in the face of ecosystem stressors. Mangroves in the region are facing a variety of threats, most immediately from direct land cover conversion for the production of agricultural commodities. Deforestation in the region between 2000 and 2012 led to the loss of almost 100,000 ha of mangrove, largely due to aquaculture, rice and the recent (and under-recognized) expansion of oil palm plantations in the coastal zone.

Mangroves also experience a range of indirect stressors, ranging from pollution to sea level rise, with recent studies suggesting that a large proportion of the region’s mangroves are vulnerable to submergence by rising seas before the end of this century. Ecosystem services could be used to arrest mangrove decline through mechanisms such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), though their success depends on adequately controlling or accounting for the diverse stressors acting upon the mangrove ecosystem.