GUYANA has expanded its mangrove coverage by more than 6,000 hectares over the past five years through nearly G$1 billion in restoration and coastal protection investments, but Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha has warned that pollution, particularly plastic waste, continues to pose a serious threat to the country’s fragile coastal ecosystem.
Delivering his message for the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, observed on July 26, the minister said mangroves remain one of Guyana’s most important natural defences, protecting vulnerable coastal communities from erosion and storm surges while supporting biodiversity, fisheries and climate resilience.
“As Guyana joins the international community in observing the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, I wish to begin by recognizing the quiet, essential service our mangroves provide,” Mustapha said.
“They stand between our communities and the Atlantic, holding mud, softening waves and offering young fish, birds and crabs places to feed and shelter. We pass them often without notice, yet they continue their work all the same, for us.”
He noted that for a low-lying coastal nation such as Guyana, mangroves are indispensable, describing them as “part green shield, part nursery and part storehouse for carbon.”
“They support fisheries and coastal livelihoods, shelter wildlife and steady vulnerable shorelines. Without them our coast would be more exposed and far less able to cope with a changing climate. This is why mangrove protection sits naturally within Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030.”
The minister said the government has backed that commitment with significant investment, allocating almost GY$1 billion in recent years towards mangrove management and restoration.
He disclosed that 11 green-grey infrastructural projects have been completed across Regions Two, Four and Five, benefitting more than 11,000 people by helping to protect homes, farms, roads and livelihoods from coastal erosion and flooding.
“Those aren’t abstract figures. They speak to more secure shorelines near homes, farms, roads and the places where people earn a living,” Mustapha said.
According to the latest national mangrove mapping, Guyana’s mangrove coverage increased from 19,616 hectares in 2020 to 25,644 hectares in 2025, representing a net gain of 6,028 hectares, or approximately 31 per cent.
The gains were recorded across Regions One, Three, Four, Five and Six.
However, the minister pointed out that the data also revealed ongoing challenges. Region Two experienced a decline in mangrove coverage from 4,966 hectares in 2020 to 3,567 hectares in 2025, a loss of 1,399 hectares.
He further noted that national mangrove coverage had fallen from 24,517 hectares in 2023 to 22,799 hectares in 2024 before rebounding in 2025.
“Good news overall? Yes. A reason to become comfortable? No. The coast changes, and our vigilance has to change with it,” he said.
Mustapha credited the ongoing work of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and the Mangrove Management Action Network, saying collaboration between science, engineering, policy and communities remains critical to successful restoration.
He added that the Guyana Mangrove Information System (GuyMIS) is enabling authorities to monitor changes more effectively and guide restoration efforts.
“Not every loss is obvious from the roadside. Sometimes the map tells the story first,” he said.
Despite the encouraging increase in mangrove coverage, the minister identified poor waste disposal as one of the greatest threats facing the country’s coastline.
“A plastic bottle caught between mangrove roots may seem like a small thing. Yet it reminds us of a larger truth — about what we discard, how far it travels, and what our coastline is being asked to bear,” he said.
He warned that investments in restoration alone cannot solve the problem if garbage continues to be dumped into drains, canals, kokers and waterways.
“We can invest in groynes, breakwaters, planting and monitoring, but if garbage is being pushed into drains, canals, kokers and waterways, we are working against ourselves. Waste discarded inland doesn’t simply disappear. It travels. It reaches the coast. It settles among the roots.
“We can’t plant our way out of a dumping problem,” Mustapha stressed.
The minister revealed that the 2026 coastal assessment recorded visible waste at 53 of the 60 locations surveyed across Regions Two to Six, while plastic packaging was found at 51 of the 53 affected sites.
He said discarded waste can smother young mangroves, block water flow, injure wildlife, degrade fish and bird habitats and contribute to flooding caused by clogged drainage systems.
“Quite simply, no community should have to accept a coastline treated as a dump,” he said.
Calling for collective action, Mustapha urged households to use approved waste-disposal services, secure bins and garbage bags, keep waste out of drains and waterways and reduce their reliance on single-use plastics.
“What can one household do? Plenty,” he said, noting that simple, daily habits can significantly reduce the amount of waste reaching the ocean.
He also called on businesses to strengthen waste-management practices, while encouraging communities, schools and local authorities to organise clean-up campaigns, improve environmental education and report illegal dumping.
“The tide carries waste from one place to another. But tides don’t create our disposal habits. That part belongs to us,” he said.
Mustapha reaffirmed the government’s commitment to continuing investments in mangrove restoration, coastal monitoring, environmental education and community partnerships.
“This work belongs to all of us, and that isn’t an excuse to spread responsibility so thin that no one feels it. Each person, each business and each agency has a part,” he said.
As such, the minister urged Guyanese to view environmental stewardship as a shared responsibility.
“The next time we pass a bottle in a drain or a bag caught on a mangrove root, we should not see somebody else’s problem. We should see a choice still waiting to be made. Our mangroves protect our coast. Our choices must protect our mangroves,” Minister Mustapha said.
