In this paper, we study a dissipation of solitary wave due to mangrove forest by using numerical simulation. Here, the solitary wave is chosen to represent tsunami wave form. To simulate the wave dynamic, we use the non-dispersive Nonlinear Shallow Water Equations (NSWE). The model is implemented numerically by using finite volume method in a momentum conservative staggered grid. By using the proposed numerical scheme, the numerical code is able to simulate solitary wave breaking phenomenon. Wave dissipation due to mangrove forest is modelled as bottom roughness with an approximate value of manning roughness, which is derived from the classical Morisson’s formula. To test the modelled dissipation by mangrove forest, we reconstruct a physical experiment in hydrodynamic laboratory where a solitary wave propagates above a sloping bottom, which has a parameterized mangrove in the shallower part. Two cases are performed to test the performance of the numerical implementation, i.e. the non-breaking and breaking solitary waves. Results of simulation agree quite well with the measurement data. The results of simulation are also analyzed quantitatively by calculating errors as well as correlation with the measurement data. Moreover, to investigate effects of wave steepness on solitary wave, to the reduction of wave energy, we perform numerical investigation. Various solitary waves with different wave steepness are simulated to see their effects on amplitude and energy reduction due to mangrove forest.