A new international scientific collaboration is being launched to study and save the mangrove forests of the Maldives and the United Arab Emirates - unique ecosystems that provide vital habitat for many marine and terrestrial species, protect coastlines from erosion, play a key role in mitigating hurricane damage, and help combat climate change by absorbing large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere.
To date, scientific knowledge of these fragile ecosystems is extremely scarce and fragmented, and they are at risk of disappearing within a few decades due to infrastructure development, plastic pollution and land conversion.
The University of Milano-Bicocca, the Aquarium of Genoa, the National University of the Maldives and the University of Dubai have joined forces to protect and preserve this fragile natural heritage, which is known to very few people.
The project, coordinated by Prof. Paolo Galli of the University of Milano-Bicocca, aims to study mangroves using a multidisciplinary approach.
The first phase of the study and conservation project, already carried out in 2023, was the mapping and scientific review of the state of health and conservation of mangroves in the Maldives, which revealed the presence of mangroves on 108 islands out of a total of about 1,200 islands that make up the Maldivian archipelago, and the registration of fourteen different mangrove species, one of which, Bruguiera hainesii, is endangered.
In the wild, efforts will be made to identify the Maldivian islands that contain the last unexplored mangroves, so that all measures can be taken to turn them into protected areas. Also in the Maldives, special attention will be given to the study of the presence of micro and nano plastics, thanks to the collaboration with the Maldives National University, which is particularly active in this field.
With the aim of extending the project to the mangrove forests of the United Arab Emirates, specific studies will be carried out by the University of Dubai, which, thanks to its Department of Engineering and Information Technology, will assess the risk of sea-level rise, which threatens mangrove forests.
At the Aquarium of Genoa, as part of the collaboration that already sees the institution work with the University of Milano-Bicocca at the two MaRHE Centre sites in the Maldives and at the Aquarium itself, a special area has just been inaugurated with a tank that reproduces a small part of the mangroves and houses various mangrove species cultivated by the institution's biologists.
At the Aquarium, activities will be carried out to disseminate information and raise public awareness of these precious ecosystems, and scientific research will focus on the following topics: the possibility of extracting new biomolecules from mangroves for potential cosmetic or pharmaceutical applications; the cultivation of mangrove plants in a controlled environment and the development of cultivation protocols that can be replicated in nature to replant existing mangroves; and the assessment of the health status of mangroves through the analysis of volatile compounds released by the plants.
This multidisciplinary project is made possible by the presence in the Maldives of the MaRHE Centre, an Italian centre of excellence headed by Prof. Paolo Galli. Since its creation in 2009," explains Galli, "the MaRHE Centre has carried out research activities in various fields of marine ecology, including the study of coral reefs and their restoration, and the study of the seabed by geologists, and over the years has hosted hundreds of researchers from the world's most prestigious universities, including MIT and Cambridge University, becoming a source of pride for Italy in just a few years".
"We are happy to enrich the collaboration with the University of Milan-Bicocca - says Silvia Lavorano, General Curator of Costa Edutainment - which already sees us working together for the protection, conservation and research of tropical corals thanks to the Genoa branch of the MaRHE Centre, which we host at the Acquario di Genova. With this type of collaboration, we are increasingly strengthening the role of the Aquarium as a privileged observatory of nature and a laboratory for study and research that allows us to develop, in a controlled environment, new fundamental knowledge that can be applied in nature to protect our natural heritage".
Mangroves
Mangroves are a group of trees and shrubs that grow along tropical and subtropical coastlines around the world, especially in the intertidal zone.
Their main characteristic is that they can live in environments with a high degree of salinity.
They give rise to dense vegetation with unique characteristics. They have typical stilt-like roots that develop from the stem and grow deep, anchoring the plant in the soil and absorbing water and nutrients. These roots form a complex system that stabilises the soil and provides shelter for many species of animals.
They also have aerial roots, called pneumatophores, which emerge from the soil and grow upwards in direct contact with the air. These roots are able to absorb oxygen from the air, allowing the plant to survive in swampy, low-oxygen soils.
Some mangroves have special membranes that cover the roots and prevent about 90 per cent of the sea salt from penetrating. Most species excrete excess salt through glands on the leaves; others concentrate the salt in the bark or leaves, which are then excreted when they detach from the plant.
They are viviparous plants: after pollination, the seeds germinate on the mother plant, producing seedlings called propagules. Once they have detached, they settle in the sediments near the mother plant or are carried by the tides and currents to other coasts.