  The goal of this research is to provide high resolution local, regional,
national and global estimates of annual mangrove forest area from 2000 through
to 2012. To achieve this we synthesize the Global Forest Change database, the
Terrestrial Ecosystems of the World database, and the Mangrove Forests of the
World database to extract mangrove forest cover at high spatial and temporal
resolutions. We then use the new database to monitor mangrove cover at the
global, national and protected area scales. Countries showing relatively high
amounts of mangrove loss include Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and
Guatemala. Indonesia remains by far the largest mangrove-holding nation,
containing between 26 percent and 29 percent of the global mangrove inventory
with a deforestation rate of between 0.26 percent and 0.66 percent annually.
Global mangrove deforestation continues but at a much reduced rate of between
0.16 percent and 0.39 percent annually. Southeast Asia is a region of concern
with mangrove deforestation rates between 3.58 percent and 8.08 percent during
the analysis period, this in a region containing half of the entire global
mangrove forest inventory. The global mangrove deforestation pattern from 2000
to 2012 is one of decreasing rates of deforestation, with many nations
essentially stable, with the exception of the largest mangrove-holding region
of Southeast Asia. We provide a standardized global spatial dataset that
monitors mangrove deforestation globally at high spatiotemporal resolutions,
covering 99 percent of all mangrove forests. These data can be used to drive
the mangrove research agenda particularly as it pertains to improved monitoring
of mangrove carbon stocks and the establishment of baseline local mangrove
forest inventories required for payment for ecosystem service initiatives.
