India accounts for over 50 per cent of the total mangrove cover in South Asia. It has now joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) at COP27, which aims to raise awarness about the role of mangroves in climate change. AFP
India is leading from the front when it comes to climate action. At the United Nations climate summit – the 27th Session of Conference of Parties (COP27) – held at the Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, the delegation led by Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav is hitting headlines for all the correct reasons. On Tuesday, India was among the first countries to join the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC), keeping its promise to increase carbon sink.
Attending the MAC launch on the sidelines of the summit, Yadav said that to “sustain the blue economy, it is imperative to ensure the sustainability of coastal habitats, particularly mangroves for tropical nations, at the local, regional, and international levels”.
What is the Mangrove Alliance for Climate?
Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) is an initiative spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in partnership with Indonesia to strengthen efforts on conserving and restoring mangrove forests. Launched at the ongoing COP27, it aims to raise awareness about the role of mangroves as a “nature-based” solution to climate change.
India is among the first countries to join the alliance; the others include Australia, Japan, Spain, and Sri Lanka.
Launching MAC, UAE’s Minister of Climate Change and the Environment Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri said, the initiative will go a long way in “a long way in driving collective climate action and rehabilitating blue carbon ecosystems”.
“Increasing reliance on nature-based solutions is an integral element of the UAE’s climate action on the domestic as well as international level, therefore, we seek to expand our mangrove cover,” she added, according to a report in Al Arabiya, an Arabic news channel.
Almheiri said that the UAE would launch three million mangroves in the next two months, keeping in mind its COP26 pledge of planting 100 million mangroves by 2030.
The intergovernmental alliance will work on a voluntary basis and countries will set their deadlines for mangrove conservation. It will be difficult to hold members accountable, reports The Indian Express. However, member nations will share expertise and back each other in the endeavour to protect coastal areas.
Explained: Why India is a key player at COP27
What is India’s commitment to MAC?
MAC aligns with India’s goal to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent by adding more forest and tree cover by 2030.
Calling mangrove forests the most productive ecosystems in the world, Yadav, who was speaking at the launch of MAC said, “This tidal forest serves as a nursery ground for several organisms, protects the coastal erosion, sequestering the carbon and providing a livelihood for millions of people besides harbouring an array of faunal elements in its habitat.”
According to a report in Business Standard, the minister said that creating new carbon sinks from mangrove afforestation and reducing emissions from mangrove deforestation are two feasible ways for countries to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions targets and achieve carbon neutrality.
He called for members to collectively conserve “one of the most precious assets of tropical coasts”, adding that India could contribute to global knowledge because of its “extensive experience in mangrove restoration, studies on ecosystem valuation, and carbon sequestration”, the report says.
Odisha saw the highest increase in mangrove cover from 2019 to 2021. Image courtesy: Puru150/Wikimedia Commons
Why are mangroves important?
Mangroves are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, said Yadav. They are the economic foundations of many tropical coastal regions.
“To sustain the blue economy, it is imperative to ensure the sustainability of coastal habitats, particularly mangroves for tropical nations, at the local, regional, and international levels,” he added.
He further said that mangroves are among the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics. They account for three per cent of carbon sequestered by the world’s tropical forests.
Carbon dioxide capturing and sequestration is a system of man-made processes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from utilities which use coal and gas. Mangroves can do this as natural carbon capture and sequestration agents for mankind, according to a research paper titled “The Role of Mangroves Forests in Decarbonizing the Atmosphere”.
Mangroves are powerhouses when it comes to carbon storage. Studies indicate that they can sequester four times more carbon than rainforests can. Most of this carbon is stored in the soil beneath mangrove trees, according to a report in Mongabay.
A 2018 study, published in Environmental Research Letters, found that mangrove soil held around 6.4 billion metric tons of carbon in 2000. This is dramatically higher than previous estimates that pegged the carbon content of mangroves (both soil and biomass) at around 4.19 billion metric tons.
Mangroves provide breeding and nursery grounds for several species of flora and fauna. They also act as natural barriers against storm surge, coastal flooding and rise in sea levels.
According to a 2022 report by Global Mangrove Alliance, between 2010 and 2020, around 600 sq km of mangroves were lost of which more than 62 per cent was due to direct human impacts.
How does India protect its mangroves?
The global mangrove extent in 2020 was 147,359 sq km. South Asia comprises 6.4 per cent of this cover and nearly half of that falls in India. It is home to one of the largest remaining areas of mangroves in the world, the Sundarbans.
According to the Forest Survey report 2021 released in January, mangroves cover in India is 4,992 square kilometres, which is 0.15 per cent of the country’s total geographical area. Since 2019, the cover has risen by 17 sq km, reports Business Standard.
The mangrove forest area in Odisha has increased by eight sq km from 2019 to 2021. The state’s growth rate is the highest in the country. Odisha was followed by Maharashtra (four sq km) and Karnataka (three sq km).
In India, mangrove ecosystems are legally protected by the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2011 under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
With inputs from agencies
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