The Madagascar mangroves are an Afrotropic coastal ecoregion that fringes the western side of the island nation of Madagascar, lining roughly 1,000 kilometers of the Mozambique Channel coast and reaching its greatest extent in sheltered river estuaries and bays such as Bombetoka Bay at the mouth of the Betsiboka River near Mahajanga. The tidal forests here are built from a familiar set of Indo-Pacific mangrove trees, chiefly Rhizophora mucronata, Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Ceriops tagal, Avicennia marina, Sonneratia alba, and Lumnitzera racemosa, anchored in silt delivered by the many rivers draining the western lowlands. The climate follows Madagascar's seasonal rhythm, with a cool dry season from May through October and a warm, humid season from November through April. Recognized on the WWF Global 200 list of outstanding ecoregions, these wetlands shelter dugongs, green and hawksbill turtles, and waterbirds including the endemic Madagascar fish-eagle, yet they are under pressure, with a notable share already cleared for timber, charcoal, and farmland.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 17.4°S, 44.1°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.2°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Mangroves
Realm
Afrotropic
Approximate area
2,011 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
About the mangroves biome
Coastal tidal forests of salt-tolerant trees rooted in sheltered estuaries and shorelines of the tropics and subtropics. Mangroves buffer coasts from storms, store large amounts of carbon, and serve as nurseries for fish and shellfish.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.