Mangrove forests support extraordinary bird communities and provide critical ecosystem services. Their destruction is eliminating habitat for millions of birds while worsening coastal flooding.
Mangrove bird welfare is directly tied to the structural complexity of this habitat. Nesting colonies of egrets and herons in mangroves can include thousands of individuals - colony disturbance or habitat destruction eliminates the welfare of entire populations at once. Fish-eating birds such as kingfishers and egrets that depend on mangrove-associated fish communities face food shortage when mangroves are cleared for aquaculture ponds. The shrimp farming that replaces many cleared mangroves also raises its own welfare concerns - creating a double harm. Mangrove restoration, supported through blue carbon finance mechanisms, provides both direct welfare benefits for birds and indirect benefits through improved fish welfare habitat.