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Currently in Curaçao, mangroves are not protected by law and are destroyed by human activities such as clearing for land reclamation, tourist resorts, and pollution. This capstone project explores the importance of mangroves, explaining the possible values gained and opportunity costs if the government took advantage of this valuable natural resource (mostly through tourism). Tourism is a major source of revenue for Curaçao, with most people being attracted to Curaçao for their nature and beautiful coral reefs. However, without the mangroves, the reefs would likely suffer, and therefore tourism could also suffer. This report details the definition of mangroves, their global distribution, how they are specially adapted to their unique intertidal habitat, as well as describing the fauna that live there. In addition, the critical ecosystem services that mangroves provide to the island, and the economic benefits of mangroves, are discussed. Recommendations given include: (1) creating legislation that prohibits the damage and destruction of all mangroves on the island (2) expanding eco-tourism to mangroves as well as creating education programs on mangrove ecosystems (3) joining more international treaties, such as the Ramsar Convention, will give the people a sense of pride of being a part of the international community that also protects their nature

Probably the largest regular shoreline fluctuations on Earth occur along the 1500 km‐long wave‐exposed Guianas coast of South America between the mouths of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, the world's longest muddy coast. The Guianas coast is influenced by a succession of mud banks migrating northwestward from the Amazon. Migrating mud banks dissipate waves, partially weld onshore, and lead to coastal progradation, aided by large‐scale colonization by mangroves, whereas mangrove‐colonized areas between banks (inter‐bank areas) are exposed to strong wave action and undergo erosion. On large tracts of this coast, urbanization and farming have led to fragmentation and removal of mangroves, resulting in aggravated shoreline retreat. To highlight this situation, we determined, in a setting where mangroves and backshore freshwater marshes have been converted into rice polders in French Guiana, shoreline change over 38 years (1976‐2014) from satellite images and aerial orthophotographs. We also conducted four field experiments between October 2013 and October 2014, comprising topographic and hydrodynamic measurements, to determine mechanisms of retreat. The polder showed persistent retreat, at peak rates of up to ‐200 m/yr, and no recovery over the 38‐year period of monitored change. Notwithstanding high erosion rates, mangrove shorelines show strong resilience, with recovery characterized by massive accretion. Retreat of the polder results in a steep wave‐reworked shoreface with a lowered capacity for bank welding onshore and mangrove establishment. Persistent polder erosion is accompanied by the formation of a sandy chenier that retreats landwards at rates largely exceeding those in inter‐bank situations. These results show that anthropogenic mangrove removal can durably modify the morphodynamics of muddy shorefaces. This limits the capacity for shoreline recovery and mangrove re‐establishment even when there is no sustained long‐term deficit in mud supply, as in the case of the Amazon‐influenced Guianas coast. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coastal province of Kien Giang exposes some of the challenges of mangrove-based aquaculture (MBA) and coastal protection, both within the Mekong Delta and more broadly. Kien Giang was therefore selected as a case study to explore in detail the relationship between MBA and mangrove protection. This was achieved through a combination of spatial analysis of coastline change from Google Earth imagery, ground truthing and field visits, semi-structured interviews, participatory community meetings, and focus group interviews. The results indicate that the current MBA does not guarantee mangrove protection. The current MBA strategies are shown to be sustainable on stable or progradational coasts, where ponds are adequately protected by 700 m wide mangrove belts. However, ponds developed on erosional coasts commonly fail, and frequently accelerate coastal retreat as the degraded mangrove belts less effectively protect the coast. Therefore, the legislation, or its implementation should be revised to ensure that mangrove allocations for MBA can only be allowed where the shoreline is stable or prograding, and where protection is provided by minimum 40 m wide mangrove belts. As mangrove forests on the Mekong Delta face additional threats associated with rising sea levels and climate change, the revision of current practices is critically urgent. [Display omitted] • The current mangrove based aquaculture has not guaranteed mangrove protection. • The sustainability of ponds significantly depends on the width of the mangrove belt. • Mangrove-based aquaculture allocations should only be allowed in areas of natural coastal progradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]