TY - JOUR
T1 - Mangrove Ecosystem Services, Associated Threats and Implications for Wellbeing in the Mono Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Togo-Benin), West-Africa
AU - Gnansounou, Setondé Constant
AU - Salako, Kolawolé Valère
AU - Sagoe, Alberta Ama
AU - Mattah, Precious Agbeko Dzorgbe
AU - Aheto, Denis Worlanyo
AU - Glèlè Kakaï, Romain
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: This paper is derived from the M. Phil studies of the first author in the Centre for Coastal Management (Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience), University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The authors are therefore grateful to the Word Bank, the Government of Ghana and the Centre for Coastal Management (CCM), University of Cape Coast for the financial and technical support.
Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the project ACECoR (African Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience) through the World Bank ACE Grant Number 6389-G.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/2/1
Y1 - 2022/2/1
N2 - Mangroves are important coastal ecosystems, which deliver diverse and crucial services to humans. This study explored the diversity of mangrove ecosystem services, their associated threats as well as their contribution to livelihoods and wellbeing of coastal communities in the Mono Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (MTBR) located between Benin and Togo. Data were collected using the exploratory sequential mixed method. The approach included field reconnaissance, focus group discussions (n = 14), in-depth interviews (n = 17), household survey (n = 274) and direct observations. A total of 21 services and 7 associated threats were recorded in the entire reserve. Provisioning services were the most important service for mangroves in the reserve followed by supporting services, regulating services and cultural services. Change in water salinity, mangrove overharvesting and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing were the three major threats to mangrove ecosystem services in the reserve. Most of the respondents indicated that the current flow of provisioning services, regulating services and cultural services does not sustain their wellbeing and livelihoods. However, the perception varied significantly across respondents’ gender, ethnical groups, educational background and country. Our study showed some similarities between the two countries but also highlighted important differences which can assist the sustainable management of mangroves in the MTBR.
AB - Mangroves are important coastal ecosystems, which deliver diverse and crucial services to humans. This study explored the diversity of mangrove ecosystem services, their associated threats as well as their contribution to livelihoods and wellbeing of coastal communities in the Mono Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (MTBR) located between Benin and Togo. Data were collected using the exploratory sequential mixed method. The approach included field reconnaissance, focus group discussions (n = 14), in-depth interviews (n = 17), household survey (n = 274) and direct observations. A total of 21 services and 7 associated threats were recorded in the entire reserve. Provisioning services were the most important service for mangroves in the reserve followed by supporting services, regulating services and cultural services. Change in water salinity, mangrove overharvesting and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing were the three major threats to mangrove ecosystem services in the reserve. Most of the respondents indicated that the current flow of provisioning services, regulating services and cultural services does not sustain their wellbeing and livelihoods. However, the perception varied significantly across respondents’ gender, ethnical groups, educational background and country. Our study showed some similarities between the two countries but also highlighted important differences which can assist the sustainable management of mangroves in the MTBR.
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Mangroves
KW - Mono transboundary biosphere reserve
KW - Wellbeing
KW - West-Africa
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125086705&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/su14042438
DO - 10.3390/su14042438
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85125086705
SN - 2071-1050
VL - 14
JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)
JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)
IS - 4
M1 - 2438
ER -