Mangroves in Egypt and the Middle East: current status, threats, and opportunities

Abstract

Mangrove forests are among the Nature Based Solutions (NBS) that help in mitigating climate change effects as they sequester carbon dioxide gas four times greater than normal forests. They stabilize coastlines, reduce coastal flooding, and provide nurseries to wildlife. Only two mangrove species exist in the Middle East: Avicennia marina and Rhizophora mucronata, due to their high tolerance to the region’s harsh and dry environmental conditions. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the current mangrove status in these countries, threats facing them, and rehabilitation initiatives taken to increase mangrove plantations in the Middle East. The review showed that Middle Eastern mangroves are dwarves, grow in dispatched form, have limited access to freshwater inflow, and are dominated by Avicennia marina specie. The largest and smallest mangrove cover were 20,400 ha and 80 ha found in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain respectively. Uncontrolled camel grazing, oil spills, habitat destruction, irresponsible tourism, and solid waste accumulation are from the major threats facing mangrove ecosystems. Climate change impacts through increased seawater salinity and temperature, microplastics, and heavy metals introduction to seawater threaten mangroves health. Various mangrove rehabilitation initiatives have taken place in Oman, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt as they have planted 1.5 million, 140 thousand, 1 million, 4.3 million, and 0.3 million mangrove trees respectively. This research presents some regulatory framework and policies needed for mangrove plantations rehabilitation for the mitigation of Green House Gases (GHG) and improve the livelihood of the indigenous people living along the coastal areas of the world.