Pictures from Space and Feet in the Mud: Understanding the Value of the World’s Changing Mangrove Forests

Mangrove forests line the coast of low-lying tropical shores. These habitats provide many types of ecosystem services that help protect and sustain communities around the world. Many of these locations are extremely difficult to get to, but we can use pictures taken from satellites in space to help us see where our coasts are changing, even in the most remote places. Using a combination of satellite imagery and ground information we can make regional and global estimates of the health and the structure of mangrove forests around the world. However, to make sure these estimates are accurate we need to visit these locations and make measurements on the ground. Our visits to these sites, with help from our in-country partners at universities and government agencies, can be difficult, fun, and enlightening all at the same time. We may have different objectives, but we all have the same goal, to sustain our coasts and the natural habitats within.