Researchers at the University of Queensland have warned that mangrove forests could be submerged in parts of Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands by 2070, as the Indo-Pacific region is expected to have a higher sea level. The mangroves play a very important role in preventing coastal areas from the impact of tsunamis and floods. In 2004, a deadly tsunami struck 14 countries and regions along the Indian Ocean, killing about 230,000 people, and inundating a large number of coastal communities. However, 172 families survived the catastrophe in Thirunal Thoppu, a fishing village in India's Tamil Nadu State, merely because of the thriving and dense mangroves there. Scientists have called for urgent actions to protect vulnerable mangrove forests in the Indo-Pacific region in a bid to protect local fisheries and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

 

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