permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

1 August 2012 Last updated at 10:45 ET  Mangrove conservation is 'economic'
CO2 Fix By Nick Crumpton BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19050796

   Conserving mangroves could be an economic way of mitigating greenhouse
gases
 Continue reading the main
story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19050796#story_continues_1>
Related
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 Protecting mangroves to lock carbon away in trees may be an economic way
to curb climate change, research suggests.

Carbon credit schemes already exist for rainforests; the new work suggests
mangroves could be included too.

But other researchers say the economics depend on the global carbon price.

Presenting their results in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(PNAS) <http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1200519109>, the US-based
team emphasises that protecting mangroves has important benefits for
wildlife as well.
 Continue reading the main
story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19050796#story_continues_2>
“Start Quote

We can preserve important habitats critical to coastal fisheries, rich in
biodiversity, and home to hundreds of species of plants and animals”

Dr Juha Siikamaki Resources for the Future

Mangrove habitats <http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/habitats/Mangrove> comprise
less than 1% of all forest areas across the world.

But for the biodiversity they support, and the benefits they bring to
communities in the form of fishing habitats and storm protection barriers,
they are extremely important.

They are also being lost at a greater rate than tropical rainforests.

Similar to rainforests, they store carbon within their "biomass", which is
released when the habitat is destroyed.

Their ability to capture carbon may be on average five times that of
tropical 
rainforests<http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v4/n5/full/ngeo1123.html>,
so they have become of interest to carbon-focused conservation strategists.

Now, Dr Juha 
Siikamaki<http://www.rff.org/Researchers/Pages/ResearchersBio.aspx?ResearcherID=64>of
the think tank Resources
for the Future <http://www.rff.org/Pages/default.aspx> and his US
colleagues have shown that protecting mangroves and thereby reducing the
amount of CO2 released may be an affordable way for countries to mitigate
their carbon emissions.
 Mangroves are being re-planted in some places, for shore protection and
nature

"We make the surprising finding that in most places, preserving mangroves
is justified solely based on the avoided emissions, without any regard for
the many other ecological and economic benefits mangroves are particularly
well known for," Dr Siikamaki told BBC News.

The research, which used new high resolution surveys of global mangrove
biomass, suggests that protecting these habitats could be a viable means
for reducing emissions in comparison to other "carbon offset"
methods<http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/emissions/emissions.aspx>.


"The bonus is that in doing so, we can preserve important habitats critical
to coastal fisheries, rich in biodiversity, and home to hundreds of species
of plants and animals, many of them endangered," co-author Professor James
Sanchirico <http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/Sanchirico/Index.htm>, also
of Resources for the Future, said in a press statement.

But Freya Roberts, a researcher at fact-checking service The Carbon
Brief<http://www.carbonbrief.org>,
told BBC News that the price of carbon quoted - on which this research is
based - might be out-dated.

"Since [the research was conducted], carbon prices have dropped due to an
over-supply of permits," she said.

"With too many permits available, and poor economic conditions meaning big
businesses are emitting less carbon dioxide, competition isn't forcing the
carbon price up."

Other incentive programs are available, such as the EU's Emission Trading
Scheme (ETS). The authors report that the preservation of mangroves is
cheaper than these other schemes; but Ms Roberts remained cautious.

"Carbon permits now cost roughly $8-10, which is at the lower end of the
price range where the majority of emissions from mangroves could be
avoided."
Financial incentives

The recommendations of the researchers to protect mangroves in order to
store "blue" carbon as part of climate policy frameworks resembles current
REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation)
strategies.
Continue reading the main
story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19050796#story_continues_3>
 Climate change glossary
 Select a term to learn more:
 Adaptation
 Adaptation
Action that helps cope with the effects of climate change - for example
construction of barriers to protect against rising sea levels, or
conversion to crops capable of surviving high temperatures and drought.
 Glossary in full <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11833685>

REDD <http://www.un-redd.org/Home/tabid/565/Default.aspx> enables nations
to receive financial incentives for reducing deforestation, leading to
decreases in carbon emissions.

"Projects that involve and respect local people and that use the market for
carbon offsets to fund development and conservation are beginning to
emerge," Professor Mark Huxham of Edinburgh Napier
University<http://www.napier.ac.uk/fhlss/SLSSS/Staff/Pages/Mark_Huxham.aspx>,
who was not involved with the study, told BBC News.

"This paper is further encouragement for them to succeed," he said.

Dr. Siikamaki said that "institutional" barriers, although still remaining,
should not hinder mangrove conservation.

"Developing programmes to compensate for the CO2 benefits of mangrove
conservation could provide an important step towards this goal," he said.
 More on This Story
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