Landward zones of mangroves are sinks for both land and water borne anthropogenic debris.

The hotspots for mangrove diversity and plastic emissions from rivers overlap in Asia, however very few studies have investigated anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) pollution in these threatened coastal ecosystems. Despite Hong Kong's position at the mouth of the Pearl River, a major source of mismanaged waste in Asia, the mangroves in Hong Kong have never been extensively surveyed for AMD. Here we assessed the patterns of AMD abundance within 18 mangrove forests across Hong Kong surveying both their landward and seaward zones.

Mangroves as unique but understudied traps for anthropogenic marine debris: A review of present information and the way forward.

Marine debris and plastic pollution affect all coastal habitats, however coastal debris studies are predominantly performed on sandy beaches. Other coastal habitats, such as mangroves, remain understudied. Eighteen of the top twenty rivers that contribute the most plastic to the ocean are associated with mangroves, but very few of those forests were investigated in terms of plastic debris pollution.