African Climes

  Mangroves are coastal forests found at the border between land and sea. They are also found at river mouths (estuaries). Half their acreage is in the land and some parts are in the sea. Mangroves form the blue carbon ecosystems of which sea grass and saltmarshes are the others. As an ecosystem, mangroves are very rich in terms of biodiversity and carbon stores. Mangroves house thousands varying and multiple species of animal life and fish, and over 80 plant species. Mangoves are located in 123 nations and are found ringing the Indian Ocean and sections of Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Research figures put their coverage to about 152,000 square kilometers globally. Mangroves are unique in many ways, because even though they are below 1 percent of tropical forests, they are faster and more effective at carbon storage. It is estimated that the soils beneath mangrove forests carry about 6.4 billion tonnes of locked carbon, spread at the rate of a thousand tons per hectare. Majority of

  Coral is a marine organism found beneath the sea on the floor. It is found near coastal areas and is popularly known as coral reefs. Coral reefs are the abundance of skeletons of this marine organisms, who living in colonies, have been built up into formidable amounts over time. Coral is found in the first hundred meters of the sea and spreads over a region of about 284,000 square kilometers globally. Coral does not do very well (except deep sea coral) in extremely cold waters and so the large majority is found in the warm waters of tropical seas. Examples of coral reefs include the Watamu, Mombasa, Malindi, Wasini coral reefs that line up the entire Kenyan Coast off the Indian Ocean, . A part of Watamu coral reef - source (AmboseliParkKenya.com) Coral reefs are made up of two distinct creatures. The coral polyps and the algae. Polyps are the main invertebrate ‘animals’ whose formidable build up is visible while the algae are tiny microscopic creatures that give the coral its v