In Indonesia, a small fishing village is watching its landscape change as shrimp ponds—once abundant—shrink each year due to coastal erosion. This decline is linked to a long-term trend in which countries in the tropics have removed mangroves to create shrimp farms. Mangroves, which grow in coastal areas and are adapted to saltwater, serve as a natural barrier against storms by absorbing wave energy and stabilizing the shoreline. Their removal has left these shrimp ponds more vulnerable to the very forces they were meant to protect against. The loss of mangroves has been driven largely by coastal development and aquaculture, which together account for over 75 percent of mangrove loss globally. In Indonesia, the shift toward shrimp farming was encouraged by government policies, growing market demand, and a ban on destructive fishing practices like trawling. However, this development has come at a cost. In the Mahakam River delta on the island of Borneo, about half of the mangrove forests had disappeared by 2020 due to weak regulation. This loss has made the area more prone to flooding and climate-related damage. A local shrimp farmer recalls an unusual event in April when his stilt house was flooded—a first in his lifetime. His shrimp pond, once covering ten hectares in the 1990s, now spans only four hectares, with a nearby cemetery now submerged under rising waters. Similar patterns are visible across the region. In Thailand, mangrove deforestation linked to shrimp farming has reduced the country’s mangrove cover by half since the 1960s. This has led to increased coastal erosion and a significant drop in the fishing industry, with flood risks doubling in some areas. Governments have launched reforestation initiatives, but many have struggled to meet their goals. A major mangrove restoration project in Indonesia, launched in 2000, failed to deliver expected results due to poor planning and lack of support for local communities. However, new approaches are showing promise. In Indonesia and Ecuador, the NGO Conservation International is working with shrimp farmers to restore mangroves while maintaining shrimp production. By dividing land—allocating 50 to 80 percent for mangrove restoration and the rest for shrimp farming—farmers can support natural regeneration without sacrificing their income. Studies suggest that restoring mangroves within a 100-meter radius of shrimp ponds could increase overall shrimp yields by nearly 19 percent, demonstrating that environmental protection and economic livelihoods can coexist.