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The potential of Indonesian mangrove forests for global climate change mitigation

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/2r36v043t

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  • Mangroves provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including nutrient cycling, soil formation, wood production, fish spawning grounds, ecotourism and carbon (C) storage¹. High rates of tree and plant growth, coupled with anaerobic, water-logged soils that slow decomposition, result in large long-term C storage. Given their global significance as large sinks of C, preventing mangrove loss would be an effective climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy. It has been reported that C stocks in the Indo-Pacific region contain on average 1,023 MgC ha⁻¹ (ref. 2). Here, we estimate that Indonesian mangrove C stocks are 1,083 ± 378 MgC ha⁻¹. Scaled up to the country-level mangrove extent of 2.9 Mha (ref. 3), Indonesia’s mangroves contained on average 3.14 PgC. In three decades Indonesia has lost 40% of its mangroves⁴, mainly as a result of aquaculture development⁵. This has resulted in annual emissions of 0.07–0.21 Pg CO₂e. Annual mangrove deforestation in Indonesia is only 6% of its total forest loss⁶; however, if this were halted, total emissions would be reduced by an amount equal to 10–31% of estimated annual emissions from land-use sectors at present. Conservation of carbon-rich mangroves in the Indonesian archipelago should be a high-priority component of strategies to mitigate climate change.
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  • Murdiyarso, D., Purbopuspito, J., Kauffman, J. B., Warren, M. W., Sasmito, S. D., Donato, D. C., ... & Kurnianto, S. (2015). The potential of Indonesian mangrove forests for global climate change mitigation. Nature Climate Change, 5(12), 1089-1092. doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE2734
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  • 5
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  • 12
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  • This work is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
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