T

he expansion of aquaculture and palm oil is a leading cause of mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia, experts said on Wednesday during the International Conference on Sustainable Mangrove Ecosystems.

Aquaculture, or fish farming, was a dominant driver of mangrove deforestation over the last decade, accounting for 30 percent of losses across the region, Daniel A. Friess, a researcher with the Mangrove Lab at the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore, said.

The production of agricultural commodities, especially palm oil and rice, is also an increasingly important driver of mangrove forest loss, he claimed.

“Most palm oil-linked mangrove deforestation occurred in Indonesia and Malaysia, two countries that currently account for 85 percent of global palm oil production, with government policies promoting the industry as an important contributor to food security and the economy,” he said.

He warns that palm oil might pose a bigger threat in the future as global annual demand for palm oil will grow by roughly 256 million tons by 2050, requiring an additional 53 million hectares of palm oil plantation to meet the demand.

While rates of mangrove deforestation seem to have decreased over time, the future of mangroves in Southeast Asia is uncertain given that land pressure resulting from the expansion of agriculture is likely to increase over the coming decades.

Mangrove forests continue to decline throughout the tropics due to anthropogenic stress. Southeast Asia is a deforestation hot spot, with losses driven primarily by commercial aquaculture and agriculture.

A regional-scale remote sensing study published in 2016 showed that 1,144 square kilometers of mangrove were lost in Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2012, with an average loss rate of approximately 0.18 percent per year. Indonesia lost the largest total amount of mangrove over this period, recording a loss of up to 60,900 ha. Myanmar, however, experienced the largest percentage loss.

Mangrove forests are found in 123 tropical and subtropical nations and territories. They are globally rare and only cover and area of about 152,000 sqkm, which is less than 1 percent of all tropical forests worldwide and less than 0.4 percent of the total global forest estate.

Indonesia has 3.5 million ha, or more than 20 percent, of the entire world’s ecosystem, according to the Global Mangrove Atlas. However, the country’s rate of mangrove destruction is the fastest in the world. Roughly 40 percent of Indonesia’s mangroves have been lost over the past three decades.

“It is estimated that 5 to 6 percent of mangrove in Indonesia is lost or degraded each year due to human activity and changes in the environment,” said Hilman Nugroho, director general of watershed and forest protection at the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

He said the ministry and several other institutions were currently drafting a national strategy on securing mangroves. The ministry has also pushed for companies to funnel some 10 percent of their Corporate Social Responsibility funds into tree planting programs, including mangroves.

The International Conference on Sustainable Mangrove Ecosystems discussed the policies, best practices, experiences, opportunities and challenges related to the protection, restoration and management of mangrove forests and ecosystem services to achieve sustainable forest management.

The conference, featuring 200 participants representing 19 countries, will run until Friday and is expected to result in the Bali Declaration on Mangroves.