Rooted in resilience: mangroves, guardians of our coast and water future 🌳
What if some of our most valuable water infrastructure is already growing along our coastlines?
In a newly published op-ed in The Jakarta Post, HE Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Energy and Sustainability, makes the case for recognising nature as essential infrastructure — with mangroves serving as guardians of our coast and a vital line of defence for water resilience.
Beyond supporting wildlife and storing carbon, mangroves absorb wave energy, reduce coastal erosion, trap sediment and protect water quality. Healthy ecosystems are therefore essential to both water security and ocean health.
Drawing on the newly released State of the World’s Mangroves Report, HE Balalaa highlights three key connections to SDG 6 and SDG 14:
- Water and nature are inseparable: True water security means treating land and ocean as interconnected systems.
- Nature delivers measurable protection: Coastal wetlands reduce flood impacts for nearly half a million people annually, preventing an estimated US$2 billion in damages.
- Cooperation drives impact: The UAE and Indonesia, home to 20% of the world’s mangroves, are advancing joint action through the Mangrove Alliance for Climate and Bali’s Mohamed bin Zayed–Joko Widodo International Mangrove Research Centre, backed by a US$10 million UAE commitment.
As HE Balalaa writes:
“Our experiences with mangroves across the UAE and Indonesia show that adversity can become a catalyst for progress. The next chapter of water resilience will be written by bringing infrastructure and nature together, and by countries choosing to learn from one another before the next crisis forces them to.”
