They seemed to hold a mystery as inscrutable as the clotted branches of their mangroves.
Boardwalks and viewing platforms penetrate the forests and mangroves making it easy to visit the various habitats.
Some environmentalists argue that the clearing of mangroves to make way for shrimp ponds exacerbated the damage.
Over 1, 000 species of fish are happily at home in the now-protected coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds.
The area -- about 500 yards long and 150 yards wide -- contains mangroves, scrub brush and drainage ditches.
These problems include the destruction of wetlands and mangroves, the dispersion of chemicals and nutrients, and the salinisation of the soil.
"It also has a coastline that's filled with inlets and mangroves and places to hide so it's geographically well positioned, " he said.
Furthermore it has a coastline that is filled with inlets, mangroves and places to hide so it is geographically well-positioned for drugs smugglers.
BBC: Guinea-Bissau ex-navy chief held in US on drugs charges
These range from planting mangroves to increase water catchments in high flood regions to providing low-cost risk transfer methods to farmers in developing countries.
CNN: Risky business: insuring countries against climate catastrophe
Walking along a quiet stretch of white-sand beach, I've come to appreciate this remote retreat of old-school fishermen, miles of mangroves and spectacular ocean views.
Shell's local subsidiary is the top foreign oil producer in the Niger Delta, an oil-rich region of mangroves and swamps about the size of Portugal.
She underlined the role of salt marshes, mangroves and tidal marshes in carbon sequestration, noting their carbon capacity exceeds that of many other terrestrial habitats.
Instead we found Peter Bornu and his wife, knee-deep in thick, oily mud pulling at the branches of the mangroves and stacking them in their wooden boat.
Dive boats stop on the island, and travellers can spend the time drifting in the lagoon on a makeshift bamboo raft, lounging on the perfect beaches and exploring the mangroves.
Thus, mangroves have lost 30 to 50% of their original surface area and coral reefs have regressed by 20%, increasing the vulnerability of densely populated coastal areas.
It has diverse ecosystems with many marine and coastal species of seagrass, coral reefs, fish used both for consumption and for sale, sea birds, turtles, cetaceans, and mangroves.
Together with the island's other ecosystems such as seagrass meadows, coral reefs and sandy shores, the mangroves serve as a habitat for a variety of birds, fish and plants.
As his boat drifts through a hidden lagoon on the uninhabited island of Ko Hong, he cocks his head to listen to a family of macaques chattering among the mangroves.
While the snazzy luxury resorts bring a bit of Dubai-like glitz, the city is also making efforts to preserve its natural resources, such as mangroves and turtle nesting spots along the turquoise waters.
Elsewhere, though, aquaculture has probably contributed to the loss of less than 10% of the world's mangroves: the rest is due to causes such as rice production, grazing, urban development and tourism.
Lined with mangroves and filled with bizarre limestone crags that reach up to 300 m in height, the bay is home to kingfishers and other seabirds and a trove of aquatic life.
CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Travel Watch | How to See Paradise with the Help of a Paddle
For more active travelers, Adam McCulloch's Kayaking the Florida Keys: A how-to guide explains which route to take, which kayak to choose and the best time of year to paddle through the miles of mangroves.
On Kalong, a pimple of land set inside a bay on the east coast of Komodo, tens of thousands of giant flying foxes emerge from mangroves at dusk and fly east to Rinca hunting for food.
Even a small amount of oil spreading to the Keys could be catastrophic for sea life, mangroves and the already weakened coral reefs, not to mention an economy that revolves around tourism and commercial fishing.
WSJ: BP Chief Warns New Attempt Isn't Guaranteed to Stop Gulf Oil Spill
Forty-eight years ago, King wrote part of his eulogy in Saunders' wooden boat deep in the Bimini mangroves, a winding swamp of thick bushes and trees where 100 species of fish and marine life fill the murky waters.
Some marine ecosystems, such as mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows, beyond having high biodiversity values and providing breeding grounds and nurseries for fisheries, can also play a key role in mitigating global climate change through their ability to store carbon.
Some of these ecosystems, such as mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows, beyond having high biodiversity values and providing breeding grounds and nurseries for fisheries, can also play a key role in mitigating global climate change through their ability to store carbon.
The main island, Apo Island -- not to be confused with the better known island of the same name off the island of Negros in the central Philippines -- is a palm-fringed beauty, ringed by golden sand and home to an emerald-green interior lagoon embraced by mangroves.
The cornerstone of this potential economic and environmentally sound concept is Pic Macaya herself, a roughly 150 square kilometer region that encompasses the largest quasi-pristine wilderness in the entire country, overlooking to the north, the west and particularly the south, magnificent beaches, islands and mangroves.
FORBES: How A Single National Park Might Help Transform a Nation: Haiti's Pic Macaya
应用推荐