Mangrove Silviculture and Restoration

Abstract

The above quote reveals an innate understanding of mangrove systems: they are changeable, they are dynamic, they are unpredictable, they are subject to aperiodic and periodic fluctuations of the extreme kind, and, as important as each of the above is, each mangrove community has a history. Reading that history from the tell-tale signs of today, is the artful skill of the silviculturalist or restoration ecologist who is likely to succeed. Sound silviculture of mangroves, whether for commercial or amenity planting, is based on an historical reading of the sites or areas involved. Not only will this prevent the repetition of past mistakes, but it will provide the best measure of the potentialities of any site or area for mangrove plantings for whatever reasons it may be undertaken.

In attempting to study the ecological development of the forest, one must beware of jumping to conclusions based purely on present day evidence. To avoid this, one must keep in mind some idea of the general trends affecting the mangrove banks.

R.G. Dixon (1952:1)