Amna Almansoori, Donald Macintosh, Hanan Almahasheer, Ena Suarez

Mangroves of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf is a regional ecosystem subgroup (level 4 unit of the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology). It includes the marine ecoregions of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Western Arabian Sea and Western India (Asia). Mangroves of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf occupy sheltered intertidal lagoons along coastlines and offshore islands, occupying various shore types including highly organic soft sediments, sandy soils, and consolidated hard substrata. The biota is characterized by four species of true mangroves: Rhizophora mucronata, Avicennia marina, Aegiceras corniculatum, and Ceriops tagal. Of these species, R. mucronata and A. marina are found along the northern Arabian Gulf and Western Asia, while Aegiceras corniculatum and Ceriops tagal occur only in Western Asia (Iran and Balochistan Province of Pakistan), Avicennia marina is widespread throughout this entire ecoregion, including the southern and western Arabian Gulf. The mapped extent of mangroves in 2020 was 209.5 km2, representing 0.1 % of the global mangrove area. About 47 % occupy the southern coastline of the United Arab Emirates and 39 % the northern coastline of Iran. However, there is uncertainty about mapped extent in 1970 based on available studies. The mangrove net area change has been -14.3 % since 1996. However, there have been increases in patches largely due to plantation efforts. If this decline trend continues, an overall change of -45.0% is projected over the next 50 years. Under a high sea-level rise scenario (IPCC RCP8.5) ≈16.1 % of the Arabian Gulf mangroves would be submerged by 2060. Moreover, 1.1% of the province’s mangrove ecosystem is undergoing degradation, with the potential to increase to 3.3% within a 50-year period, based on a vegetation index decay analysis. Overall, the Arabian (Persian) Gulf mangrove ecosystem is assessed as Vulnerable (VU).