The word mangrove is considered to have been derived from the Portuguese word ‘mangue’ which means tree and an English word ‘grove’ that means a group of trees. ​ Mangrove as name, is also believed to have originated from the Malaysian word, “manggi-manggi” meaning “above the soil”. A ‘mangrove’ is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water along the creeks and estuaries near the coast or the river mouth, bays, lagoons and backwaters. They grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate.​ They have more affinity for brackish habitat and can survive salinity, tidal regime, strong wind velocity, high temperature and muddy anaerobic soil, that most timber cannot tolerate.