Anger as Brazil revokes mangrove protection regulations

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Anger as Brazil revokes mangrove protection regulations

29 Septemer 2020

The Brazilian government of Jair Bolsonaro has revoked regulations that protect tropical mangroves and other fragile coastal ecosystems.

Environmental groups have called the move a "crime".

Mangroves are an important protection against climate change.

President Bolsonaro's policies and rhetoric on the environment have caused widespread alarm, and the far-right leader has been accused of encouraging illegal activity.

The decision removed so-called "permanent protection zones" created in 2002 to preserve Brazil's many tropical mangroves and the sand-dune scrublands. It was taken by the National Environmental Council, led by controversial Environment Minister Ricardo Salles.

Environmental groups say the removal of the regulations will allow property developers to clear large areas of natural habitats for tourism, which could lead to their destruction.

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54338892


Mangroves are an important protection against climate change (Getty Images)

[Judi Lynn]

1. Mangrove forests act as plastic sinks

Study highlights ability to capture carbon and microplastics.

6 November 2020

A new study highlights the heavy lifting marine ecosystems do in combatting environmental issues, finding that mangrove forests efficiently capture and store microplastics in their sediments.

An international team, led by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, collected nine core samples from mangrove forests in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf, finding that their sediments had a higher plastic concentration than surface waters.

“Our research brings light to the mystery of missing marine plastic to reveal that mangroves, Blue Carbon habitats, are hugely efficient at trapping plastics and burying them in their soils where they cannot harm vulnerable marine life or human consumers,” says project supervisor Carlos Duarte.

The samples also revealed a pattern of plastic sedimentation that aligns closely with the history of the global production of plastics, the researchers note in a paper in the journal Science Advances.

More:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/sciences/mangrove-forests-act-as-plastic-sinks/