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Review
. 2014 Dec;43(8):981-95.
doi: 10.1007/s13280-014-0530-y. Epub 2014 May 10.

Turning the tide: how blue carbon and payments for ecosystem services (PES) might help save mangrove forests

Tommaso Locatelli  1 , Thomas Binet, James Gitundu Kairo, Lesley King, Sarah Madden, Genevieve Patenaude, Caroline Upton, Mark Huxham
Affiliations
Review

Turning the tide: how blue carbon and payments for ecosystem services (PES) might help save mangrove forests

Tommaso Locatelli et al. Ambio. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

In this review paper, we aim to describe the potential for, and the key challenges to, applying PES projects to mangroves. By adopting a "carbocentric approach," we show that mangrove forests are strong candidates for PES projects. They are particularly well suited to the generation of carbon credits because of their unrivaled potential as carbon sinks, their resistance and resilience to natural hazards, and their extensive provision of Ecosystem Services other than carbon sequestration, primarily nursery areas for fish, water purification and coastal protection, to the benefit of local communities as well as to the global population. The voluntary carbon market provides opportunities for the development of appropriate protocols and good practice case studies for mangroves at a small scale, and these may influence larger compliance schemes in the future. Mangrove habitats are mostly located in developing countries on communally or state-owned land. This means that issues of national and local governance, land ownership and management, and environmental justice are the main challenges that require careful planning at the early stages of mangrove PES projects to ensure successful outcomes and equitable benefit sharing within local communities.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mangroves are home for unique biodiversity and support local fisheries. This picture shows Parasesarma leptosoma, a crab adapted to an arboreal life grazing leaves. Crab activity in mangrove forests is an essential part of the soil carbon cycle. Photo by Davidas Valaitis in the mangrove forests of Gazi Bay, Southern Kenya (June 2006)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mangroves traditionally provide fuelwood for local people. PES projects could complement local incomes but would need to replace any resources, such as fuelwood, that they render unavailable. Photo by Mark Huxham in Gazi Village, Southern Kenya (June 2008)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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