Carbon Storage Potential Of Mangroves–Are we Missing the Boat?

Increasing soil carbon stocks and protecting carbon-rich soils are crucial for achieving the Paris climate targets. Mangrove forests are the potential carbon sinks for mitigating the growing greenhouse gas emissions due to their highest carbon storage capacity per unit area compared to terrestrial forests. Furthermore, restricted global distribution of mangroves testifies their role in climate change mitigation as most effective at the national level rather than on a global scale. Nevertheless, lack of reliable estimates, insufficient data, discrepancy in the available data, increasing degradation rates and failure of conservation endeavours signify that we are missing the carbon storage potential of mangrove soil. So, here we emphasize the imperative need of country-wise site-specific precise estimates and an understanding of the spatial distribution of mangrove soil carbon stocks to recognize the actual climate mitigation potential of the mangroves as well as strengthen the conservation measures for the sustainability of mangroves.