Soon, a study to gauge carbon sequestration potential of Maharashtra's mangroves

Maharashtra’s Forest Department plans to commission a study on the potential of mangroves on Maharashtra’s coast for storing greenhouse gases. The study will also help estimate the economic value of ecological benefits provided by these habitats.

To be funded by the Maharashtra Mangrove and Marine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, it will assess the potential of mangroves across the coast for capturing and storing carbon dioxide. The Mangrove Cell of the department is in the process of identifying strategic partners for the study.

“The carbon capturing potential of mangroves is different from the terrestrial environment. Mangroves occupy places where sediments are very deep. This makes them greater reservoirs of carbon and can bury a lot more carbon in the soil due to deep, complex root architecture. Part of the carbon captured by mangroves is stored in the sediments and the remaining is stored in the roots and leaves,” N Vasudevan, Chief Conservator of Forests, Mangrove Cell, told DNA.

The project, officials hope, will give them a scientific estimate of the carbon sequestration potential of mangroves in the region. It can help ascertain an economic value of these green lungs, which can aid in securing funding support from global agencies and in discussions on climate change.

Vasudevan said this will be a first such comprehensive study on the potential of mangrove ecosystems in Maharashtra.

In 2015, the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, had conducted a similar study on the economic valuation of tiger reserves in India. Economic benefits from six tiger reserves — Corbett, Kanha, Kaziranga, Periyar, Ranthambore and Sunderbans — were assessed.

The findings pegged the monetary value of the ecosystem in the range of Rs 8.3 to Rs 17.6 billion annually. Referring to the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, the study also revealed the average rate of carbon sequestration in tropical mangrove forests was four to five times greater than the corresponding rate in tropical forests.”

MAHA MANGROVE BASE

Seven coastal districts have 15,088 hectare of mangroves, declared as protected forests. In Mumbai, 5,471 hectare is in the possession of the forest department.