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Mangroves refer to trees and shrubs that grow in the intertidal zones between the land and the sea, constituting a unique “amphibious” ecosystem. Recognized as one of the most productive environments, they are found only in the tropics and subtropics, and thrive in this environment because of their morphological and physiological adaptations to tolerate changes in salt concentrations and flooding. Mangroves offer multiple ecosystem services such as being a critical habitat of high biodiversity, contributing to food security, participating in climate regulation, improving the quality of water that passes through their root system, and protecting against flooding and wind from hydrometeorological events in coastal areas. In 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated that there are almost 15 million hectares of mangroves in the world, which coincides with an area the size of Bangladesh.

Latin America is home to 26% of the world's mangroves, present in all its maritime countries except Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. Eight species of true mangroves have been recorded in this region, of which five species are very common: Red mangrove, buttonwood mangrove, white mangrove, black mangrove and Harrison’s mangrove (or yellow mangrove).

Despite their importance for humans and the functioning of coastal ecosystems, mangroves in this part of the world are facing an alarming loss of forest cover. According to various studies, it is believed that between 11% and 25% of mangrove cover has been lost over the last 30 years due to natural and anthropogenic forces. This highlights the urgent need for conservation and restoration efforts.

La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, located on the Pacific coast of southern Mexico, is a mosaic of ecosystems including mangroves, rainforests, wetlands, and estuaries. The biosphere reserve has three zones: Core, buffer, and transition, which fulfil the functions of conservation, development, and logistics for sustainable development.

Within its ecosystems, mangroves play a particularly crucial role. In addition to acting as a buffer against storm surges, protecting coastal areas from erosion, and sequestering large amounts of carbon dioxide, the biosphere reserve's mangroves cover a total area of 30,819 ha, making them the largest mangroves in the North American Pacific and the tallest in Mexico. This is important because the biosphere reserve is sensitive to climate change, and 39% of its inhabitants may be exposed to flooding in the future.

Mangroves play a key role in the lives of local people. They provide provisioning services such as medicinal plants, food, fuel and construction materials, regulate coastal protection, and are an integral part of the communities' cultural identity. The Mangrove Route (‘La Ruta del Manglar’) and other tourism initiatives further underscore the economic value of conserving these ecosystems. In line with global trends, the mangroves of La Encrucijada are threatened, mainly by African oil palm.

The African oil palm is a species of palm tree that is the main source of the well-known and versatile palm oil. Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil in the world and can be found in almost 50% of packaged supermarket products: From doughnuts to pizzas, ice cream and - yes - even toothpaste. In addition to (non-food) consumer products, palm oil is also used as a biofuel.

Although native to West and Southwest Africa, the African palm has been successfully planted in various tropical regions around the world to produce its derivatives. It can easily survive in tropical rainforests and tolerates salinity to some extent, making it compatible with mangrove habitats. Despite its economic value, oil palm plantations are highly controversial because of the social and environmental impacts they impose. It has been identified as causing social conflicts among farmers due to skewed benefits, and contributes to the deforestation of original landscapes, water, soil, and air pollution, among others.

With government support, African palm was introduced into Mexico for commercial use in the mid-twentieth century. The reason was to give greater visibility to the government's actions to address the poor economic conditions and political instability the country was experiencing. It was believed that the expansion and cultivation of African palm would generate economic benefits and provide an alternative energy source to food crops and corn.

In Chiapas, African palm first appeared in 1952. Over 40 years, millions of seeds would be planted throughout the state, generating a steady growth of oil palm cultivation. This changed dramatically in the mid-1990s, when the government decided to further expand the industry to meet the growing need for biofuels. Since then, African palm cultivation has continued to receive federal and state support. Currently, annual national consumption of palm oil is estimated at 650,000 tons. Although most of this consumption (80%) is supplied by imports, domestic interest in domestic production has been growing exponentially. In the last 20 years, domestic oil palm production has grown more than tenfold in terms of surface coverage, from 10,000 to 77,000 hectares, which is barely a fraction compared to the total potential coverage for oil palm production in Mexico: 8,900,000 hectares. In particular, the state of Chiapas ranks first in terms of area planted with oil palm, representing 42% of the Mexican total.

Through seed dispersal via watercourses and animal movement, the African oil palm was eventually introduced into the biosphere reserve and its mangroves. In 2022, oil palm covered approximately 8,144.67 ha of La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, which is equivalent to 16% of its extension. Oil palm cultivation is present in all three zones of the biosphere reserve, with successful plant growth being observed in the swampy forests where mangroves are found, although without the high seed productivity it achieves in non-wetland areas. However, the oil palm is nationally recognized as an invasive species. Its presence disrupts the ecological balance, threatens biodiversity and intensifies the challenges facing mangroves, such as deforestation, land use change, poaching, pollution, sedimentation, fires and climate change. Still, the production of African oil palm has become a profitable activity encouraged by the Mexican government within the biosphere reserve as well. Approximately 518 producers have illegally cultivated this monoculture, obtaining their livelihood from African palm production. Especially in the municipalities of Acapetahua, Mapastepec and Pijijiapan, oil palm expansion has grown intensely.

Although African palm significantly threatens the local mangrove ecosystem, eradication of this invasive species is not straightforward. But why?

A major concern is that African palm cultivation has become the focus of the local business community. The commercialization of this oil is integrated into regional development projects and programs, such as the Mesoamerican Biofuels program and the Mayan Train. These initiatives aim to restructure parts of the Chiapas region to increase profits from the extraction of raw materials, including African palm. However, they have also been harshly criticized for their negative consequences for some locals, as they are forced to accept oil palm monoculture on their land, which in turn leads to fragmentation, contamination of land and water bodies, alteration of vegetation, depletion of water sources, dispossession of ancestral habits, dependence on industrialization and militarization of the region.

Although the concept of generating wealth through development projects is not new, the generated income tends to benefit the companies and the government rather than the local community.

Surprisingly, although African palm is not as profitable for farmers, it is still more economically viable than other crops. The reason is that it can easily grow in wet locations unsuitable for most other crops.

However, such actions would further deteriorate local ecosystems, which is in stark contrast to the main purpose of biosphere reserves: To be learning sites for sustainable development. In some cases, they can be considered as other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) and, moreover, are an integral part of the biodiversity conservation plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). They embody the principles of the CBD by conserving biodiversity, promoting sustainable use, facilitating research and education, fostering international cooperation, and involving local communities in conservation efforts.

Fortunately, the proposal to reduce the biosphere reserve did not succeed, but tensions between oil palm supporters and conservationists remain.

Over the course of a year, community brigades integrated into UNESCO's MangRes project have eradicated more than 139,698 scattered African palms from mangroves and coastal areas. However, the critical question remains: How does this impact local livelihoods, and is eradication alone sufficient?

The answer is no. Other solutions should be explored, including sustainable economic alternatives, raising awareness of invasive species, introducing labelling or certification (such as sustainable palm oil), and establishing collaboration with institutions and organizations to implement projects that integrate socioeconomic and environmental aspects.

UNESCO's MangRes project aims to address the African oil palm challenge holistically, while protecting mangroves. Its efforts go beyond mere oil palm eradication, listening to local people, raising awareness, and collaborating on scientific research with local academic institutes.

Since the start of the project in 2022, both local populations and the Afro-Mexican community have been involved in the initiative. Through participatory workshops, they have been able to use their local knowledge to help identify where African palm plantations are located in La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, in the mangrove ecosystems and within their communities. 

In addition, raising awareness of the oil palm problem is one of the objectives of the environmental education component of the project. A team of young educators actively engages with the community through various methods: Conducting surveys among the locals to learn about the problems related to African palm cultivation, organizing educational workshops on exotic species such as oil palm, organizing environmental talks on the subject, and incorporating the topic into puppet shows. Today, more than 200 people have participated in awareness-raising activities.

Finally, a scientific team supports the African palm control operation. Experts from the academic and research institutes of El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas (UNICACH) and Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV), have monitored the mangroves and/or African palm in the biosphere reserve. Their collaborative actions have yielded cartographic and other biophysical data that will be useful for planning, decision making, monitoring, and management of natural resources in the biosphere reserve.

One of MangRes' next steps will be to focus on sustainable livelihoods, including the gradual replacement of oil palm crops with agroforestry systems. Introducing sustainability certification for oil palm enterprises focused on the conditions of La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve could be an interesting point to explore. However, the actual degree of sustainability of palm oil remains a critical point of debate.

In conclusion, although the MangRes project lays a local foundation for protecting mangroves, more action is required. Global efforts are needed to control African oil palm, as the case of Mexico is not unique. Tanzania, the Comoros, Micronesia, Tahiti and some unconfirmed reports in Brazil have shown African oil palm as an invasive species. Threat of African palm on mangroves is growing in these countries as well.