Ecowatch: Looking beyond the mud of Malaysia's mangrove forests

Mangrove roots serve as an important nursery for juvenile fish, with local fisheries dependent on this service for their continuing survival. — MATT CURNOCK/Ocean Image Bank

FOR years, mangrove forests had an image problem. They are muddy, smelly, and thought to be teeming with disease-carrying mosquitoes and parasites, as well as slithering with snakes.

They certainly aren’t the Instagrammable archetype of, say, Cameron Highland’s moss forest with its wisps of lichen, or Japan’s serene Arashiyama Bamboo Forest.