Generales

By Carlos Olimpo Restrepo S., Journalist at UdeA Communications Office  

Towering up to 60 meters, the world’s tallest mangrove trees grow along Colombia’s Pacific coast and in Gabon, West Africa. Their remarkable height reveals a long history of stability, free from crucial natural disturbances, such as hurricanes, cyclones, or lightning, as well as from destructive human activities, including logging and burning. The Global Mangrove Height Map supports this understanding by offering critical data for scientific research. 

This content comes from Alma Mater newspaper. » View PDF editions

 
Left: Original image captured by Germany’s TanDEM-X satellite. Right: Enhanced image with a new water mask that refines canopy height measurements in mangrove forests. Photo: A new global mangrove height map with 12-meter spatial resolution.  
 
Using high-precision satellite technology, a new global mangrove map uncovers detailed information about the height and distribution of these critical ecosystems, which support biodiversity and absorb large amounts of carbon. The data confirms that Colombia harbors some of the tallest mangroves on Earth and underscores the urgent need for conservation in the face of damage from increasingly severe weather events. 

Released in early 2025 in Scientific Data, this global mangrove height map integrates data from the German TanDEM-X satellite (collected between 2011 and 2013) with observations from Gedi, the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation instrument aboard the International Space Station. The resulting map offers high-definition imagery with a precise spatial resolution of 12 meters. 

This new map’s data enables a precise assessment of mangrove conditions in Old Providence McBean Lagoon National Natural Park on Providencia Island before Hurricane Iota struck in November 2020. Until then, mangroves in this part of the Colombian Caribbean reached heights over 20 meters, flourishing between the dry forest and the coral reef. 

Juan Felipe Blanco Libreros, coordinator of the Ecosystem Processes at the Landscape Scale (Peep) research group at UdeA, has closely monitored the development of this tool and reviewed the final data for Colombia since mid-2024. He highlighted the map’s importance: “This map acts like an X-ray of what existed before. If we repeat this study in a few years, we will likely find that the new mangroves have grown much shorter—reflecting the harsh new reality facing the Caribbean,” said the professor from the Institute of Biology. 

The tallest in the world 

The map reveals that mangroves average 30 meters in height worldwide. While some Colombian mangroves fall below this average, the region also hosts some of the tallest mangrove trees anywhere in the world. 

“In Urabá, manual measurements show that the tallest mangroves reach around 10 meters. This is probably because of frequent strong winds since the Gulf of Urabá ranks among the areas with the highest lightning activity,” explained Juan Felipe Blanco Libreros, an ecosystem and landscape ecologist. 

The researcher highlighted that, despite these conditions, the area favors the species’ growth thanks to the fresh water and nutrients delivered by the Atrato River and its location outside the usual Atlantic hurricane route. 

“The map highlights that the tallest mangroves stand in Iscuandé, a municipality in Nariño. Even more significant are the extensive areas in Cauca and Nariño, where canopy heights surpass 60 meters. This pattern shows that mangroves flourish along the Colombian Pacific coast, benefiting from protection against hurricanes and frequent lightning, as well as abundant rainfall and nutrient-rich rivers that boost their growth and carbon storage,” Blanco Libreros explained. 

In Gabon, West Africa, mangroves reaching up to 65 meters grow in the expansive estuary where the Gabon River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. In several protected sections of this area, the average canopy height measures around 62 meters. Similar to Urabá, these mangroves thrive thanks to a steady supply of nutrient-rich freshwater and natural protection from cyclones. 

According to this leading mangrove expert, tree height serves as a key indicator of forest maturity, habitat quality, and the ecosystem’s biomass and carbon content. “This information plays a crucial role in pinpointing priority conservation zones, advancing CO₂ offset initiatives—commonly known as blue carbon projects—and directing ecological restoration efforts,” Blanco emphasized. 

“We can accomplish many things using open, free data, but investing a bit more lets us make substantial progress well beyond that. With these new technologies, we can acquire far greater knowledge—and at a much faster pace,” said Juan Felipe Blanco Libreros, coordinator of the Ecosystem Processes at the Landscape Scale (PEEP) research group. 

Since 2009, Professor Blanco Libreros has dedicated himself to mapping mangroves across Colombia. He began with the Antioquia Expedition to the Gulf of Urabá, where he created the most detailed mangrove maps in the country using high-resolution aerial photography. Building on that work, he and his students and colleagues have since mapped mangroves using satellite and drone imagery in Chocó, Córdoba, Sucre, Bolívar, Magdalena, and San Andrés y Providencia. 

Alongside his student Ana María Valencia Palacios, he developed a 2020 update to the national mangrove map at 20-meter resolution, making it freely accessible. They also leveraged open geographic data to identify and map threats to mangrove ecosystems. 
 
Image from the Planet satellite’s Providencia Scope, provided by the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative. The figure above shows a close-up of the mangrove height map, created using data from 2015 to 2020, depicting the mangroves’ condition before Hurricane Iota. Photo: Planet Scope. 

A contribution that serves to advance knowledge 

Until now, scientists have mainly used a 2019 satellite map of global mangroves with a 30-meter spatial resolution. The new map improves on this with a 12-meter resolution—nearly three times more detailed—enabling researchers “to detect finer variations in mangrove height and more precisely estimate their biomass and carbon storage,” explained Marc Simard and his team from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech in their article in Scientific Data. 

The map covers mangrove areas worldwide, enabling researchers to study variations in forest structure across different regions. “This marks a significant advance in understanding how mangroves react to environmental and human pressures,” the study stated. 
 
The new mangrove height map plays a vital role in environmental monitoring by revealing structural changes in mangroves resulting from deforestation and climate change. 

Additionally, it supports the development of better strategies for mangrove conservation and restoration while supplying essential data to measure the carbon stored within these ecosystems with greater precision. 

Detailed information on mangrove height will empower scientists and policymakers to make more informed decisions. The data published in Scientific Data are openly accessible at no cost. “With this level of detail, environmental managers can prioritize conservation efforts and evaluate the effectiveness of various management strategies,” the researchers noted.