Mangrove forests are a unique ecosystem generally found along sheltered coasts where they grow abundantly in saline soil and brackish water subject to periodic fresh-water and salt-water inundation.

Mangrove trees have specific characteristics to help them survive, such as

• tough root systems,

• special bark and leaf structures,

• aerial or prop roots (known as pneumatophores), and

• buttressed trunks

The habitat is soft, silty and shallow, coupled with the endless ebb and flow of water providing very little support for most mangrove plants.