Mangroves, Mental Health, and Cognition

Amanda Guimbeau, James Ji, Nidhiya Menon () and Firman Witoelar
Additional contact information
Amanda Guimbeau: University of Sherbrooke
James Ji: University of Guelph
Nidhiya Menon: Brandeis University
Firman Witoelar: Australian National University

No 18818, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Mangroves provide vital ecosystem services, including fisheries support, carbon sequestration, and natural protection against coastal erosion, but their health consequences are less well understood. We study their impacts on mental health and cognitive functioning in Indonesia, which has the most extensive and biodiverse mangroves in the world. Decades of deforestation, fueled by climate pressures, oil palm expansion, and aquaculture, have led to widespread mangrove loss in the country, disproportionately affecting vulnerable coastal communities. By merging high-resolution satellite data on coastal land use change with individual-level panel data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS), we find that a one-standard-deviation increase in local mangrove cover reduces the likelihood of clinical depression by 4.5 percentage points. These effects operate through reduced flood exposure, higher household income, and improved food consumption. We also find that restoration potential matters more than blue carbon potential, cash transfers, or social capital in shaping the mangrove-mental health relationship. Our results show that mangrove conservation and restoration can generate important local human capital and welfare benefits.

Keywords: Mangroves; mental health; depression; CESD-10; cognitive ability; ecosystem; aquaculture; restoration; conservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O1 O13 Q50 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp18818.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18818

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mark Fallak ().