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New Caledonia

Vegetation description

Mangroves are located on the western coast and along the banks of the lower courses of rivers where these become tidal. They are more limited on the eastern coast, which is very steep, and not favourable for their establishment. The flora is relatively poor, with no endemic species. Rhizophora sp. is found along the sea coast, reaching a height of 2 to 5 m, and forms almost pure stands. A more diverse and taller forest (up to 8 m), is found along the tidal reaches of rivers and consists mainly of Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Rhizophora sp., Lumnitzera racemosa and Sonneratia alba.

National level mangrove area estimates

Year

Area
(ha)

Source

Trend

Methodology/Comments

1980

20 000

Morat. nd. personal communication.

 

Cited in: Snedaker, S.C. 1984. The Mangroves of Asia and Oceania: Status and Research Planning. In: proceedings of the Asian Symposium on Mangrove Environment Research and Management, Kuala Lumpur. p 5-15 August 25-29, 1980. Edited by E. Soepadmo, A.N. Rao and D.J. MacIntosh. 1984.

1981

45 600

Spalding, M.D., Blasco, F. and Field, C.D., eds. 1997. World Mangrove Atlas. The International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, Okinawa, Japan. 178 pp.

 

Map analysis. Scale 1:1 000 000.

1987

20 250

Thollot, P. 1987. Importance de la mangrove pour l'ichthyofaune du lagon de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Diplôme d'étude approfondie en Océanologie. Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille. ORSTOM, Nouméa, New Calédonie

X

Cited in: Idechong, N., Ellison, J., Jaensch, R. 1995. A Regional Wetlands Action Plan for the Pacific Islands. (Draft prepared for SPREP)

The "Year" is the publication year.

Trends in mangrove area extent over time

The estimates for 1980, 1990 have been calculated applying the FRA 2000 (FAO, 2001) annual forest cover change rate 1980-1990 (-0.14 percent) to the most recent, reliable figure. The projection for 2000 is based on expert estimate.


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