Methods and criteria for successful mangrove forest rehabilitation

Successful mangrove forest rehabilitation requires careful analyses of a number of factors in advance of attempting actual rehabilitation. First, for a given area of mangroves or former mangroves, the existing watershed needs to be defined and any changes to the coastal plain hydrology that may have impacted the mangroves documented. Second, careful specific site selection must take place taking into account the land use history of the site. Third, clearly stated goals and achievable and measurable success criteria need to be defined and incorporated into a proposed monitoring program, and the rehabilitation methodology must reflect an acknowledgment of the history of routine failure in attempts at mangrove rehabilitation and proposed use of proven successful techniques. Finally, after the initial rehabilitation activities are complete, the proposed monitoring program must be initiated and used to determine if the project is achieving interim measurable success to indicate whether any midcourse corrections are needed and whether future attempts at rehabilitation should be modified based on the data collected and reported. Monitoring, and potential modifications to a project plan as a result of monitoring, should be understood as an essential element of successful mangrove rehabilitation and undertaken in an iterative manner as part of a robust commitment to adaptive management.