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| Fig. 1: Mangrove forest along Malaysian coastline. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons) |
Mangroves, shown in Fig. 1, capture the resilience and diversity of the Malaysian people, protecting its coasts and sustaining biodiverse ecosystems. Their long roots anchor not only themselves, but also the core systems that support Malaysia's coastal life. Yet they face steady pressure from the same development they help defend.
Agricultural expansion and urban growth have sharply reduced Malaysia's mangrove cover in pursuit of short-term economic gains. These changes promise immediate value but have already produced warning signs about their long-term consequences. This paper examines how these forms of development have accelerated mangrove loss and weakened the natural systems Malaysia depends on.
Mangroves store exceptional amounts of carbon, up to four times more than other tropical forests, making them one of the most efficient natural carbon reservoirs in the region. [1] Thus, the energy they preserve for Malaysia lies in their continued existence. Their biomass, driven by biodiversity and nutrient-rich habitats, sustain the ecological systems many communities depend on. In addition, their root networks act as a natural bioshield against the tropical Malaysian climate, reducing the impact of coastal storms.
Despite these roles, Malaysia's mangrove forests have continued to shrink, as shown in Fig. 2. National resource assessments have reported a loss of more than 156 thousand hectares, or over a third of national mangrove cover over the past three decades. [2] The overall downwards trend reflects sustained pressure from coastal land conversion. Much of this pressure comes from two growing sectors: urban development and aquaculture, each of which has cleared mangrove areas for short-term gain at the expense of the natural systems that depend on them.
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| Fig. 2: Mangrove area in Malaysia from 1990-2020 based on FAO's Forest Resources Assessment. [2] (Image source: N.Tan) |
Urban development has become one of the major drivers of mangrove loss in Malaysia by converting coastal forests into land for housing, ports, and industrial growth. Reclamation projects around urban centers replace mangrove belts with built structures that leave little room for the tidal conditions these forests require to survive. Once these forests are cleared or reduced to thin strips, they can no longer weaken incoming waves, leaving urban shorelines more exposed to Malaysia's tropical storms.
The consequences of this loss are evident in global flood-risk estimates. Modeling from a worldwide assessment shows that, in a scenario without mangroves, flooded land would increase by 29%, the number of people affected by flooding would rise by 28%, and property damage would increase by 9% compared with conditions in which mangroves remain intact. [3] These estimates illustrate the scale of protection that mangroves provide and the level of exposure created when they are removed.
Malaysia faces additional pressure because once expanding cities are built on former mangrove mud coasts, they become naturally sensitive to disturbance. Studies have shown that mangrove removal destabilizes these cohesive mud coasts by eliminating the root systems that trap sediment and stabilize the foreshore. Without these roots, the shoreline becomes highly erodible under tidal forcing, leading to rapid retreat along converted mangrove coasts. [4] This means that when mangroves are cleared for urban expansion, the resulting shorelines are not only unprotected but also inherently more vulnerable to erosion, amplifying the risks of floods and damages.
Taken together, these patterns show how development that replaces mangroves often creates more long- term vulnerability than short-term benefit.
A similar dynamic appears in Malaysian aquaculture, where immediate gains once again come at the cost of long-term ecological and economic stability. Global analyses show that aquaculture accounts for about 52% of all mangrove loss worldwide, with most of this conversion attributed to shrimp ponds. [5] Shrimp aquaculture, unlike other agricultural practices, requires excavating pond basins in the intertidal zone, which involves complete removal of mangrove vegetation. Because this process replaces biodiverse coastal forest with monoculture ponds, it has become one of the most immediate pathways of mangrove deforestation in Malaysia.
This conversion not only replaces natural habitat, but also degrades surrounding ecosystems through pollution. Shrimp ponds release nutrient-rich effluent, antibiotics, and organic waste into nearby waterways, reducing water quality and altering the ecological conditions that mangrove-dependent species require. Meanwhile, abandoned ponds can become hypersaline, creating long-term ecological damage that limits natural recovery of mangrove areas. These shifts directly affect Malaysian fisheries, as mangroves are estimated to sustain more than 50% of the nation's annual offshore landings. [6] As aquaculture clears these forests, the coastal food web weakens, further reducing fish and crustacean productivity and undermining the livelihoods tied to local fisheries. Not only does this diminish national resources, but it also disrupts key Malaysian fishery exports, destabilizing economic relationships that depend on steady coastal production.
The short-term appeal of shrimp farming becomes even clearer when viewed through direct economic assessment. A study in southern Thailand found that while shrimp farms generated USD 7,700-8,300 per hectare in immediate financial returns, their net economic value fell to only USD 195-210 per hectare once cleanup and environmental costs were included. In contrast, intact mangroves provided USD 27,000-36,000 per hectare in ecosystem services through fisheries, forest products, and coastal protection. [7] These comparisons show the broader pattern at the heart of Malaysia's mangrove decline: development choices that appear profitable in the moment often erode the ecological and economic systems that sustain long-term resilience.
Malaysia's mangrove loss reflects a broader tension between short-term development gains and long-term ecological stability. Urban expansion removes coastal buffers and exposes growing populations to erosion and flood risk, while aquaculture clears forests that support fisheries, weakening coastal ecosystems and yielding minimal economic gains. These patterns show that the value of mangroves lies not only in the services they provide, but in the risks created when they are lost. Protecting the remaining forests, and restoring those already cleared, is therefore not simply an ecological priority, it is a long-term economic and social necessity for a nation whose coasts and communities rely on the resilience these systems provide.
© Nathan Tan. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] H. Omar, "Status of Mangroves in Malaysia," Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 2025, p. 288.
[2] "Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025: Malaysia Report," Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2025.
[3] P. Menéndez et al., "The Global Flood Protection Benefits of Mangroves," Sci. Rep. 10, 4404 (2020).
[4] J. C. Winterwerp et al., "Managing Erosion of Mangrove-Mud Coasts With Permeable Dams Lessons Learned," Ecol. Eng. 158, 106078 (2020).
[5] S. Hamilton, "Assessing the Role of Commercial Aquaculture in Displacing Mangrove Forest," Bull. Mar. Sci. 89, 585 (2013).
[6] V. C. Chong, "Mangroves-Fisheries Linkages - the Malaysian Perspective," Bull. Mar. Sci. 80, 755 (2007).
[7] S. Sathirathai and E. Barbier, "Valuing Manmgrove Conservation in Southern Thailand," Contemp. Econ. Policy 19 109 (2001).
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