Consequences of shrinking mangroves ecosystem Business December 20, 2020 HYDERABAD: Coastal community activists, who previously contributed in planting mangroves near their villages, have been very much concerned on the currently ongoing deforestation driven by commercial greed. Asif Bhatti, president of native indigenous fishermen association (Nifa), representing island communities in Karachi, called the destruction of mangrove trees a part of land grabbing. “Increasing urbanisation is eating away the coastal land, where forests used to exist long ago,” he said. “We have caught such outsiders several times near our island villages with the support of coastal agencies’ personnel, and seized boats carrying fuel wood.”