Mangrove monitoring – Central America

Mangrove forests are an integral part of the coastal environment but are put at risk through the growth of intensively operated shrimp farms and agricultural activity in coastal areas. Other risk factors are water pollution and drainage efforts as well as severe hurricanes, to name but a few.

Satellites are an ideal source to provide information on mangroves and maps have been produced for Yucatan Caribbean Coast (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala), the Terraba-Sierpe Reserve (Costa Rica) and the Golfo de Fonseca. The information is available for two different dates to represent the historic (1995) and the actual state (2007) of mangrove forest.

Copyright: UNESCO, UNCBD, CCAD, ESA, GeoVille