"An important role in coastal protection and local livelihoods"
Statement from the Government of Cambodia on World Mangrove Day 2017
On World Mangrove Day 2017, governments from tropical regions rich in mangrove habitat issued statements recognizing the important role these forests play in daily life and nature.
Cambodia has about 80,000 hectares of mangroves, which play an important role in coastal protection and local livelihoods. Some mangroves forests have been heavily 
damaged by shrimp farming and charcoal production and there is a need for restoration. There is clear recognition that effective mangrove restoration requires the cooperation of government agencies, local communities, NGOs, business sectors, and researchers.
Operating through Mangroves for the Future (MFF), the Global Mangrove Alliance can provide valuable technical and financial assistance to help us achieve our mangrove restoration targets. World Mangrove Day on 26 July 2017 underlines the importance of mangroves as “a unique, special and vulnerable ecosystem” and the need for collective protection and restoration from all partners, including MFF and the GMA.
H.E. Vann Monyneath
MFF/NCB Chairperson, ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC); and Deputy Secretary General of the National Council for Sustainable Development of the Ministry of Environment, Cambodia
