Mangrove cover in the Red Sea (1972-2013)

However, due to various human and environmental impacts, the coverage of mangroves is declining on a global scale. The Red Sea is in the northern-most area of the distribution range of mangroves.

Little is known about the surface covered by mangroves at this northern limit or about the changes experienced by Red Sea mangroves. We sought to study changes in the coverage of Red Sea mangroves by using multi-temporal Landsat data (1972, 2000 and 2013). Interestingly, our results show that there has been no decline in mangrove stands in the Red Sea but rather a slight increase.