Other than lowering temperatures, mangrove forests act as a ‘buffer’ against extreme weather conditions. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) identified 107,000 hectares of mangrove forests through satellite images. Some villagers took cover in the mangrove forests, but were caught as they tried to escape in the morning. “They said I was ‘trespassing’, and would create hurdles when I tried to work in the mangrove forests,” Qureshi recalls. “Interestingly, locals in Sri Lanka have renamed mangrove forests as ‘tsunami forests’.

Source: The Express Tribune December 26, 2017 11:37 UTC