Restoration and Governance Approaches of Mangrove Ecosystems in Africa

Abstract

The management of mangrove ecosystems faced to serious problem while these ecosystems are among the world’s richest ecosystems and provide a wealth of important services to human well-being. 35% of the areas of mangrove forests has globally been lost in the past two decades and supposed to be reach 60% by 2030. It is urgent to prospect the potential conservation research topics for the better management of mangrove areas. With a view to reducing mangrove degradation rate, this review aims to highlight restoration strategies and governance tenure of mangrove ecosystems in Africa. A total of 101 papers from Africa (31.68%), Asia (46.53%), America (11.85%), Europe (7.10%), and the rest of the world (2.84%) were considered. Indonesia, Thailand and India respectively recorded the top number of publications in Asia whereas Benin and Ghana accounted the higher number in Africa. 71.42% of publications have considered human activities including tree clearance and higher wood used (e.g. salt production activities) as the main mangrove degradation drivers in Africa. 4.80% of papers were found as the highest annual rate of mangrove degradation and less rate was 0.21% obtained in Africa. Many approaches were described for mangrove ecosystems restoration. 61.54% of mangrove governance publications showed that multi-level mangrove governance approach is widely applied. However, many studies suggested that this model of mangrove governance is the source of the resource’s degradation by the lack of a strong regulation. This review could help to set up a good program of mangrove restoration in West Africa.