TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A new article published in Nature establishes Indonesian mangroves as a carbon-storage powerhouse par excellence
"Conservation of carbon-rich mangroves in the Indonesian archipelago should be a high-priority component of strategies to mitigate climate change," authors wrote in the report, noting that over the last three decades, 40 percent of Indonesia's mangroves have been lost due to the expansion of aquaculture.
Better regulating of the US$1.5 billion a year shrimp farming industry and improving coordination between relevant ministries will be a major challenge to conserving Indonesia's mangroves, which account for 20 percent of Indonesia's land-based emissions, a summary of the study by Bogor, West Java-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) noted.
But with mangrove-clearing responsible for 20 percent of Indonesia's land-use emissions, saving them will be key to attaining Indonesia'a emissions-reductions target of between 26 and 41 percent by the year 2020.
"Especially with climate change negotiations starting to wind up to Paris, this is a good time to bring forward mangroves' potential for mitigation," said Murdiyarso, lead researcher on the study.
CORY RODGERS
