The mangrove ecosystem can not only store a large amount of carbon, but store it for thousands of years, Planning and Evaluation Deputy at the Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) Satyawan Pudyatmoko has said.
Thus, the benefit of the mangrove ecosystem not only lies in how much carbon it can store, but also how long the ecosystem can store it, he noted during the “Climate Corner” virtual discussion on Wednesday.
The mangrove ecosystem has the capability to store four to five times more carbon compared to other ecosystems. In addition, the latest study has shown that it can store carbon for more than thousands of years.
The mangrove ecosystem can store carbon for more than five thousand years, especially in the form of soil carbon or carbon stored in the soil, he noted.
However, mangroves’ capability to store a large amount of carbon for long periods of time can also have a negative impact when the ecosystem is destroyed, which could release a large amount of emissions, he highlighted.
“Avoiding this mangrove conversion will reduce up to 30 percent national emission from the land use sector,” he informed.
To this end, mangrove ecosystem protection and conservation action should also be continued, in addition to the rehabilitation undertaken by the government.
The agency is targeting to rehabilitate 600 thousand hectares of mangroves until 2024.
The rehabilitation will be carried out in nine provinces: Riau, North Sumatra, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung Islands, West Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Papua, and West Papua.
During the event, BRGM secretary Ayu Dewi Utari highlighted that in the period from 1980 to 2010, an estimated 800 hundred thousand hectares of mangroves were converted for various purposes.
Source: Antara News