Adopting mangroves in shrimp farming
In Bangladesh, many mangrove trees have been removed to make way for local economic endeavours, like shrimp farming. This has led to the coastline becoming more exposed and increased land subsidence. When combined with rising sea levels, these factors can have devastating consequences for the human population and ecosystems. In response to this, a team of local and international scientists started a project to turn this around and to bring back the mangrove trees.
Moin Uddin Ahmed (Strategic Engagement Lead – Solidaridad): “If we want to bring back the mangrove trees, we have to look at the economic interests of the local farmers, who depend on shrimp farming for their livelihoods. In the project, it has been shown that it is possible to increase productivity of shrimp systems, in case of yield and quality by using mangrove ecosystem services.” Integrating people’s livelihood needs into mangrove ecosystem conservation is thus of the utmost importance for the long-term sustainability of mangrove forests. Options for doing this have also been studied in recent research by WUR and others, which can be found here (Debrot et al., 2022).
Watch the video to find out more about the integration of mangroves into shrimp farming systems and how it positively affects both yield and the quality of shrimp:
Why are mangrove trees not planted in every shrimp pond in coastal Bangladesh? What are the barriers to the adoption of mangroves into shrimp aquaculture? The barriers to the adoption of mangroves in shrimp systems vary between contexts, farmers and areas. Identifying and overcoming these barriers is crucial for making shrimp farming systems sustainable. This is why research has been done by WUR on exactly this topic. Watch the video to learn more.
- Unfortunately, your cookie settings do not allow videos to be displayed. - check your settings