SDG 14: Life below Water – Impacts on Mangroves

Abstract

SDG14 focuses on fisheries, though coastal forests such as mangroves are indirectly linked as they support fisheries and associated human coastal populations.• SDG 14 benefits coastal forests, but negative impacts are also envisaged.These include (but are not limited to) encouraging new deforestation drivers, reducing environmental justice and encouraging governance recentralisation. SDG 14 may also encourage the creation of very large marine protected areas (often in the open ocean) that do not cover coastal forests or cannot be adequately enforced without concomitant increases in funding.• Considering coastal forests more explicitly during the planning of SDG 14 targets may anticipate or ameliorate some of these negative impacts.• With the exception of Target 14.1, the below-water focus of most SDG 14 targets means that terrestrial-marine linkages (e.g. sediment, nutrients, pollution, financial flows) are not strongly acknowledged; it is in this transition zone where coastal forests are found.

Sustainable Coastal Communities in the Anthropocene: Lessons from Crowd-Mapping Projects in Colombia

“…The implications of being a coastal community are commonly ignored, as can also be observed in the objectives of SDG 14. According to Friess et al (2019), these alone do not emphasize coastal ecosystems, but only marine life. Therefore, the separation between the marine and terrestrial zones leaves out, as usual, the coastal socio-ecosystems (formed for both areas),which not only deprives them of the attention and importance they have for marine resources but can also indirectly affect them negatively.…”

Optimizing mangrove conservation efforts with improved understanding of phytosociology-ecology synergy in Sri Lanka

“…More importantly, the assumption that mangroves are not inherently involved in land development may lead to faulty management plans and decisions that threaten habitat stability (Lovelock et al, 2015). However, with data su ciently provided, their contribution on regulating carbon cycles and in uencing climate change has been prominently recorded by several research studies (Bryan-Brown et al, 2020;Friess et al, 2019;Macreadie et al, 2019;Feller et al, 2010). There is a strong need for a network of consistently collected data for scaling up to ecosystem-level analyses at greater geographic coverage.…”

Challenges and Recommendations for Equitable Use of Aerial Tools for Mangrove Research

“…As the global climate rapidly changes, mangroves have emerged as critical players for adaptation and mitigation, protecting coastlines against storms, and erosion and sequestering atmospheric carbon (Alongi, 2008;Donato et al, 2011). Yet, mangroves have historically high rates of deforestation, and land-use changes continue to threaten the habitat's future (Friess et al, 2019). Mangroves are considered an essential ocean variable to be monitored by the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and are listed as an ecosystem indicator by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Malone, 2003;CBD High-Level Panel, 2014;Friess et al, 2019).…”

“…Yet, mangroves have historically high rates of deforestation, and land-use changes continue to threaten the habitat's future (Friess et al, 2019). Mangroves are considered an essential ocean variable to be monitored by the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and are listed as an ecosystem indicator by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Malone, 2003;CBD High-Level Panel, 2014;Friess et al, 2019). Long-term observations are necessary to support implementation of country-specific Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the Paris Agreement and fulfilment of other commitments that foster sustainable mangrove management (Bax et al, 2018).…”