Your suitably skeptical approach and call to avoid the dangers of over-generalising is to be commended. Regarding your comments on mangroves and extreme events, however, I would contend that this overlooks the role of mangroves in protecting certain coastal assets, especially vessels, during tropical cyclones/typhoons/hurricanes. My colleagues Rob Cole, Jurgenne Primavera and I wrote a viewpoint on this topic following Cyclone Larry in NE Australia in 2006 - "A lesson from cyclone Larry: An untold story of the success of good coastal planning" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771406004136
Using this Australian example and one from the town of Palompon in Leyte province, central Philippines, we explained how our first hand experience seemed to indicate that good long-term mangrove habitat protection resulting from well-conceived coastal planning can deliver important economic and infrastructure benefits. To some extent, the lack of awareness and failure to include fishing, shipping and leisure vessels and their ecosystem uses as part of infrastructure leads to ignoring the less visible benefits of mangroves.
Your suitably skeptical approach and call to avoid the dangers of over-generalising is to be commended. Regarding your comments on mangroves and extreme events, however, I would contend that this overlooks the role of mangroves in protecting certain coastal assets, especially vessels, during tropical cyclones/typhoons/hurricanes. My colleagues Rob Cole, Jurgenne Primavera and I wrote a viewpoint on this topic following Cyclone Larry in NE Australia in 2006 - "A lesson from cyclone Larry: An untold story of the success of good coastal planning" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771406004136
Using this Australian example and one from the town of Palompon in Leyte province, central Philippines, we explained how our first hand experience seemed to indicate that good long-term mangrove habitat protection resulting from well-conceived coastal planning can deliver important economic and infrastructure benefits. To some extent, the lack of awareness and failure to include fishing, shipping and leisure vessels and their ecosystem uses as part of infrastructure leads to ignoring the less visible benefits of mangroves.