More Resilient Mangrove Forests For More Resilient People

Abstract:

The island nations of Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) are ground zero for climate change. The impacts of sea level rise are already forcing abandonment of low-lying atolls and will continue to have disproportionately large impacts on traditional cultures reliant on oceanic and coastal resources for their health and continued existence. Mangroves are known to be sensitive to impacts from even slowly rising sea level, but appropriate adaptation actions can increase their resilience. Long term monitoring as well as modelling efforts are needed to understand how mangroves will respond to increase rates of sea level rise as well as their vulnerability. This information will increase our ability to manage for healthy fringing mangrove forests so they can continue to provide important goods and services to communities (e.g. timber, fuelwood, nursery and habitat for fisheries, filter coastal waters) as well as physical protection from rising seas and intensifying storms. The Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT), based on Pohnpei in the FSM, has been working with communities to increase conservation action and climate resilience efforts across the region. Over the past few years, MCT has been working with the USFWS, USGS, USFS, PICASC, the Conservation Society of Pohnpei, Pohnpei state government agencies and communities to conduct an island wide sea-level rise vulnerability assessment to identify threats and specific adaptation actions to further protect their 5,500 hectares of mangrove forests. Pairing intensive scientific research and analysis with local community experience and inputs, MCT and its partners are currently preparing to share results with their communities and resource managers to support the development of government policy and community initiatives that will better prepare Pohnpeian communities to be resilient and prepared so they can continue to be able to depend on their ecosystems and the services it provides.