The importance of mangroves, which are left unprotected by decision of the Bolsonaro government

The government says the issues addressed in the resolutions were incorporated into laws passed later, such as the Forest Code.

But environmental experts say that these resolutions were the only rules that really protected these biomes, essential to maintain environmental balance in the country and in the world.

The restingas are areas of vegetation found in the sandy regions of the beaches and in the dunes.

Mangroves are coastal ecosystems, in transition between land and sea, located in the tropical and subtropical regions of the planet. It is there where are those twisted plants on the dark mud that, according to the tide, are sometimes covered with the salty water of the sea, now they are exposed with their roots stuck in the water that mixes with that of the rivers.

Brazil has almost 14,000 square kilometers of mangrove areas, according to the Brazilian Mangrove Atlas, a document prepared by ICMBio (Instituto Chico Mendes for the Conservation of Biodiversity) published in 2018.

Furthermore, the country has the largest continuous extension of mangroves in the world, and ranks second or third among the countries with the largest mangrove area – the classification changes according to the applied methodology.

They provide a series of “services,” according to USP Oceanographic Institute professor Yara Schaeffer Novelli, and biologist and oceanographer Clemente Coelho Júnior, a professor at the University of Pernambuco who participates in the work of extracting oil from the beaches.

Both are founders of BiomaBrasil, an institute that provides formal and informal training on biodiversity conservation.

They cite some of these functions of mangroves:

1. Natural nursery: 70% to 80% of economically important species spend at least one stage of their lives in mangrove systems, making mangroves known as the “natural nurseries” for marine life.

There, the chicks are in their early stages of development, taking advantage of the calmer environment, where the roots of the trees provide protection. Since it’s a nutrient-dense environment, the puppies have food there too. Then they migrate to the open sea.

2. Protects from the natural erosion process: mangroves mitigate the process of coastal erosion, protecting the entire coastline. The pressure and energy of the sea that would reach the coast dissipates in the mangrove swamp.

“The mangroves protect the coasts from the actions of hangovers, from tsunamis. This was well proven in the 2004 tsunami on December 26 in Sumatra. [Indonésia]. Where there was still a mangrove, the communities that were behind this natural barrier were less affected than those communities that had already replaced the mangroves with spas, rice fields and others, ”recalls Schaeffer Novelli.

3. Biological filter: the forest has the ability to “digest” organic matter and absorb many nutrients. If the wastewater is discharged into the river, for example, the mangroves filter it, retaining the substances, absorbing nutrients and accumulating in their biomass.

4. Sediment retentions: rivers flow carrying soil and sediments, and when they reach the estuary, the particles accumulate in the roots of the mangrove swamp. This means that the mangrove takes care of the riverbed, sedimenting, retaining the sediments before reaching the sea, guaranteeing cleaner water in the coastal area.

5. Fight against global warming: Within ecosystems, mangroves are the ones that sequester the most carbon from the atmosphere. This means that mangroves help fight global warming. “Mangroves are important in this modern context of climate change because they are very efficient carbon fixers and accumulators,” says Schaeffer Novelli.

6. Cultural and landscape importance: In many regions, mangrove areas are considered sacred. Also, its scenic beauty is important for tourism.

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