Solution Use high-resolution, insurance industry catastrophe flood-and-loss modeling to quantify how mangrove extent changes storm-surge flood depths and resulting property losses by comparing “With Mangroves” vs “No Mangroves” scenarios. Key challenge Mangrove impacts on storm-surge losses are spatially variable and storm-severity dependent, with mixed effects for properties inside or seaward of mangrove forests and limited fine-scale evidence for decision-making. Context The study analyzes Florida, a coastline with high hurricane storm-surge exposure, valuable coastal properties, and extensive mangrove forests. Using kilometer-scale flood and loss modeling (∼100 m in the coastal floodplain), it estimates how mangroves modify storm surge and resulting damages, both as average annual loss (AAL) in Collier County using representative synthetic storms drawn from a 100,000-year catalog, and for historical events Hurricane Irma (2017) and Hurricane Ian (2022) across southern Florida. Reported results include annual avoided losses of US$67 million in Collier County and event-scale reductions of US$725 million (14%) for Irma and about US$4.1 billion (≈30%) for Ian from storm surge damages. Solution in practice The authors apply an insurance industry-standard catastrophe risk modeling workflow that couples a physics-based storm surge/overland flooding model with an economic loss model to estimate property-level storm-surge losses under two land-cover scenarios: present-day mangroves (“With Mangroves”) and a counterfactual where mangroves are absent (“No Mangroves,” represented by lower-friction land cover such as developed open space/open water). The approach quantifies avoided losses by comparing damages between scenarios, and maps spatial patterns showing that mangroves always reduce losses for landward properties, with significant benefits extending roughly 11–14 km inland depending on the event, while effects for properties inside and seaward of mangroves are net positive but mixed and can sometimes increase damages. Impact / outcome USD 67m a year in avoided losses in Collier County; USD 725m (14%) for Irma and about USD 4.1bn (~30%) for Ian. Next steps Use the quantified, high-resolution evidence on avoided losses and spatial variability to inform targeted conservation/restoration and adaptive management of mangroves as “natural infrastructure,” prioritize investments where landward property protection benefits are highest, and incorporate up-to-date mangrove extent (and ideally health/density) data into storm-surge risk assessments to support incentives such as premium reductions or resilience investments; further studies are also indicated to better capture waves, dynamic vegetation drag, and more realistic counterfactual land-use scenarios. Organizations involved Authoring: Cell Reports Sustainability - peer-reviewed study Implementation partners Data Providers; Insurers; Civil Society Organizations; Regulators & Policymakers