Defragmenting Mangrove Law Towards Coherent Global Governance

ABSTRACT Mangrove forests are multifunctional coastal ecosystems that support biodiversity and a variety of ecosystem services, including fisheries productivity, coastal stability, climate change mitigation and pollution control. Despite growing scientific awareness of these benefits, mangrove loss continues, mainly due to urban development and the expansion of aquaculture. International governance of mangroves remains fragmented across four major international frameworks, each addressing a distinct dimension of mangrove value though none of them were specifically designed to govern these ecosystems. Mangrove conservation and restoration are addressed through partially overlapping but often uncoordinated objectives, leading to implementation that rarely reflects mangroves as integrated land‐sea systems and resulting in inconsistent and inadequate protection. Rather than promoting a new international treaty, this viewpoint gives a brief legal analysis of international mangrove governance and argues that stronger protection can be achieved through a practical defragmentation strategy based on integrated interpretation and coordinated implementation of existing frameworks. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea presents a strong potential with the binding obligation it imposes to protect and preserve the marine environment. The Convention on Biological Diversity focuses on the conservation of biodiversity, but relies on implementation at a national level. The Ramsar Convention, which provides the most explicit international legal bases for mangrove protection, is limited by its largely non‐prescriptive approach. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change offers an interesting framework for the conservation of mangrove ecosystems as carbon sinks, but the lack of coordination with the other instruments means that little consideration is otherwise given to mangroves. An integrated interpretation and coordinated implementation of these four instruments, supported by stronger institutional cooperation, could help translate these distinct mandates into coherent and effective mangrove governance. Finally, to ensure lasting results, this governance must incorporate scientific considerations, including preventing further loss of mangrove forests, avoiding inappropriate restoration, maintaining connectivity between river basins and coasts, anticipating climate‐induced habitat changes and resolving financial and capacity limitations.