Coastal aquaculture, mangrove deforestation and blue carbon emissions: Is REDD+ a solution?

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2016.01.011

Marine Policy

Volume 66, April 2016, Pages 58-66

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.01.011 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Coastal aquaculture has devastating effects on mangrove forests.
•
Mangroves are the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics.
•
Blue carbon emissions are being critically augmented through mangrove deforestation.
•
Different climatic variables have dramatic effects on coastal aquaculture.
•
The REDD+ program can help to restore mangrove forests.

Abstract

Globally, coastal aquaculture particularly shrimp farming has been under huge criticism because of its environmental impacts including devastating effects on mangrove forests. However, mangroves are ecologically and economically important forests, and the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics that provide a wide range of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. Carbon emissions are likely to have been the dominant cause of climate change and blue carbon emissions are being critically augmented through mangrove deforestation. Because of mangrove deforestation, different climatic variables including coastal flooding, cyclone, drought, rainfall, salinity, sea-level rise, and sea surface temperature have dramatic effects on coastal aquaculture. Mangrove forests have been instrumental in augmenting resilience to climate change. The “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD)” program can help to restore mangroves which in turn increases options for adaptation to climate change. However, technical and financial assistance with institutional support are needed to implement REDD+.

Introduction

Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production systems in the world as the sector has expanded at an average annual rate of 8.6% over the last three decades. Global fish production reached 66.6 million tons in 2012, of which Asia accounted for 88.4%. About 41.9 million tons (63%) and 24.7 million tons (37%) of fish production were obtained from inland aquaculture and mariculture, respectively [1]. Coastal aquaculture, a part of mariculture, is the onshore and near-shore culture of brackish and saltwater fish including shellfish [2], [3]. Globally, coastal aquaculture expanded rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s. Over the last decades, coastal aquaculture including shrimp farming has undergone a revolutionary development [4], [5].

There have been considerable debate and argument on the impacts of coastal aquaculture on the environment, biodiversity, and society [3], [5]. Globally, shrimp farming has been strongly criticized because of its socioeconomic and environmental impacts [4], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. Rapid loss of mangroves has accelerated over the last decades, and coastal aquaculture including shrimp farming is one of the key reasons [11], [12], [13], [14]. Driven by high economic return associated with growing demand in the international market, unplanned and unregulated shrimp farming caused widespread destruction of mangroves in a number of countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam [12], [15].

Mangroves are the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics [16], [17], [18], [19], [20]. On average, mangroves store 3–4 times more carbon than tropical forests [17]. At the same time, mangrove deforestation rates are significantly higher than average rates of global forest loss [12]. Mangrove deforestation causes carbon emission and reduces carbon sequestration¹ [20]. Carbon emissions with other greenhouse gases (CH₄, N₂O) are likely to have been the dominant cause of climate change [21]. To tackle climate change, it is therefore crucial to stop carbon emissions from the deforestation and degradation² of mangroves [16], [17], [20], [22].

The conservation of mangrove forests can help to reduce carbon emissions [18], [23]. It is argued that the “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD)” program can help to sequester carbon in mangroves [17], [19], [24], [25], [26]. This review paper highlights key issues in reducing carbon emissions from mangroves through REDD+. The impacts of climate change on coastal aquaculture that occur with the deforestation of mangroves are also discussed. Finally, this paper offers some preliminary conclusions about the implementation of REDD+ for the restoration of mangrove forests.

Section snippets

From RED to REDD+

Although greenhouse gas emissions increase with deforestation, controversies arose over the inclusion of forest conservation under the Kyoto Protocol that was adopted at the 3rd Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1997 [27]. In 2005, the concept of “Reduced Emissions from Deforestation (RED)” in developing countries was first emerged at the 11th COP of the UNFCCC agenda in Montreal [28]. In 2006, at the 12th COP of the UNFCCC in

Mangrove deforestation through coastal aquaculture

Total global forest area is just over 4 billion ha, about 31% of land area. Globally, the total mangrove area is 15.6 million ha⁴, just 0.39% of forest area. Mangroves occur in 112 countries worldwide, mainly in the tropics and sub-tropics. However, 47% of the global mangrove area is found in 5

Mangrove deforestation and blue carbon emissions

Mangroves play a significant role as blue carbon⁵ sinks. Blue carbon is the organic carbon stored, sequestered, and released from coastal and marine ecosystems, including mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses [18], [20], [23], [25], [53], [54]. Global coverage of blue carbon ecosystems are approximately 51 million ha [55], of which 15.6 million ha (31%) is mangroves

Mangrove deforestation, climate change and coastal aquaculture

Anthropogenic climate change with loss of mangroves has devastating effects on coastal aquaculture. The impacts of climate change on coastal aquaculture have been assessed with different climatic variables, including: (1) coastal flooding, (2) cyclone, (4) drought, (3) rainfall, (5) salinity, (6) sea-level rise, and (7) sea surface temperature [58], [59]. Changes in these climatic variables have severe effects on the ecosystem of fish farms (Fig. 2). Fish are highly sensitive to ecological

REDD+: mangrove restoration for adaptation to climate change

Considering extreme vulnerability to the effects of climate change on coastal aquaculture and wider coastal economies and societies, adaptation strategies are needed. Mangrove restoration can be part of a broader approach to facilitating adaptation to climate change [61]. REDD+ can address the increased risks from coastal flooding, cyclones, and sea-level rise [25], [28]. Mangrove reforestation and aforestation⁷

Conclusions

Globally, coastal aquaculture including shrimp farming has devastating effects on mangrove forests. At the same time, mangroves are the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics, and thus, ecologically and economically significant at the planetary level. The loss of mangroves through coastal aquaculture causes carbon emission and reduces carbon sequestration. Blue carbon emissions are being significantly enhanced due to devastating effects of shrimp culture on mangroves. The loss of mangroves by

Acknowledgments

The study was supported through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. The study was a part of the first author's research work under the Georg Forster Research Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Bremen, Germany within the research group led by the second author. Earlier draft of this paper was presented at the ZMT seminar in April 2015. We thank audience for their positive encouragement. The views and opinions

References (119)

J.H. Primavera
Overcoming the impacts of aquaculture on the coastal zone
Ocean Coast. Manag.
(2006)
A.K. Deb
Fake blue revolution: environmental and socio-economic impacts of shrimp culture in the coastal areas of Bangladesh
Ocean Coast. Manag.
(1998)
E. Kristensen et al.
Organic carbon dynamics in mangrove ecosystems: a review
Aquat. Bot.
(2008)
R.A. Houghton
Carbon emissions and the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics
Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain.
(2012)
L.P. Olander et al.
Operationalizing REDD+: scope of reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain.
(2012)
J. Ghazoul et al.
REDD: a reckoning of environment and development implications
Trends Ecol. Evol.
(2010)
K.P. Overmars et al.
Estimating the opportunity costs of reducing carbon dioxide emissions via avoided deforestation, using integrated assessment modelling
Land Use Policy
(2014)
G.K. Rosendal et al.
How may REDD+ affect the practical, legal and institutional framework for ‘payment for ecosystem services’ in Costa Rica?
Ecosyst. Serv.
(2014)
S. Holmgren
REDD+ in the making: orders of knowledge in the climate-deforestation nexus
Environ. Sci. Policy
(2013)
D.M. Alongi
Mangrove forests: resilience, protection from tsunamis, and responses to global climate change
Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci.
(2008)

B.B. Walters et al.

Ethnobiology, socio-economics and management of mangrove forests: a review

Aquat. Bot.

(2008)

N. Ahmed et al.

Threatening “white gold”: impacts of climate change on shrimp farming in coastal Bangladesh

Ocean Coast. Manag.

(2015)

N. Ahmed et al.

Coastal to inland: expansion of prawn farming for adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh

Aquac. Rep.

(2015)

E.L. Gilman et al.

Threats to mangroves from climate change and adaptation options: a review

Aquat. Bot.

(2008)

K. Kathiresan et al.

Coastal mangrove forests mitigated tsunami

Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci.

(2005)

S. Quartel et al.

Wave attenuation in coastal mangroves in the Red River Delta, Vietnam

J. Asian Earth Sci.

(2007)

J. Pethick et al.

Rapid rise in effective sea-level in southwest Bangladesh: its causes and contemporary rates

Glob. Planet. Chang.

(2013)

Y. Avnimelech et al.

Shrimp and fish pond soils: processes and management

Aquaculture

(2003)

N. Ahmed et al.

The impact of climate change on prawn postlarvae fishing in coastal Bangladesh: socioeconomic and ecological perspectives

Mar. Policy

(2013)

N. Kautsky et al.

Ecosystem perspectives on management of disease in shrimp pond farming

Aquaculture

(2000)

FAO

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture: Opportunities and Challenges

(2014)

B.A. Costa-Pierce

An ecosystem approach to marine aquaculture: a global review

S.J. Hall et al.

Blue Frontiers: Managing the Environmental Costs of Aquaculture

(2011)

J.H. Primavera

Socio-economic impacts of shrimp culture

Aquac. Res.

(1997)

R.L. Naylor et al.

Nature's subsidies to shrimp and salmon farming

Science

(1998)

F. Pàez-Osuna

The environmental impact of shrimp aquaculture: causes, effects, and mitigating alternatives

Environ. Manag.

(2001)

L. Lebel et al.

Industrial transformation and shrimp aquaculture in Thailand and Vietnam: pathways to ecological, social, and economic sustainability?

Ambio

(2002)

S.R. Bush et al.

Scenarios for resilient shrimp aquaculture in tropical coastal areas

Ecol. Soc.

(2010)

F. Dahdouh-Guebas et al.

Recent changes in land-use in the Pambala-Chilaw lagoon complex (Sri Lanka) investigated using remote sensing and GIS: conservation of mangroves vs. development of shrimp farming

(2002)

FAO

The World's Mangroves 1980–2005

(2007)

H. Le

Economic reforms and mangrove forests in central Vietnam

Soc. Nat. Resour.

(2008)

O.M. Joffre et al.

Community livelihood and patterns of natural resources uses in the shrimp-farm impacted Mekong Delta

Aquac. Res.

(2010)

UNEP

The Importance of Mangroves to People: a Call to Action

(2014)

D.C. Donato et al.

Mangroves among the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics

Nat. Geosci.

(2011)

L. Pendleton et al.

Estimating global “blue carbon” emissions from conversion and degradation of vegetated coastal ecosystems

PLoS ONE

(2012)

J. Siikamäki et al.

Global economic potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from mangrove loss

PNAS

(2012)

D.M. Alongi

Carbon cycling and storage in mangrove forests

Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci.

(2014)

IPCC

Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report – Summary for Policymakers

(2014)

E. Mcleod et al.

A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO₂

Front. Ecol. Environ.

(2011)

D. Gordon et al.

Financing Options for Blue Carbon: Opportunities and Lessons from the REDD+ Experience

(2011)

C.M. Duarte et al.

The role of coastal plant communities for climate change mitigation and adaptation

Nat. Clim. Change

(2013)

J. Hutchison et al.

Predicting global patterns in mangrove forest biomass

Conserv. Lett.

(2013)

D. Humphreys

The politics of avoided deforestation: historical context and contemporary issues

Int. For. Rev.

(2008)

C. Okereke et al.

Assessment of Key Negotiating Issues at Nairobi Climate COP/MOP and What it Means for the Future of the Climate Regime

(2007)

R. Munroe et al.

UN-REDD Programme – Info Brief. REDD+ and Adaptation: Identifying Complementary Responses to Climate Change

(2014)

UNFCCC

Key Decisions Relevant for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+)

(2014)

P.A. Lopes

Is REDD accounting myopic? Why reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation programs should recognize and include other ecosystems and services beyond CO₂ sequestration

Sustain. Dev. Law Policy

(2011)

C.A. Harvey et al.

Opportunities for achieving biodiversity conservation through REDD

Conserv. Lett.

(2010)

I.D. Thompson et al.

Biodiversity and ecosystem services: lessons from nature to improve management of planted forests for REDD-plus

Biodivers. Conserv.

(2014)

Cited by (109)

CO<inf>2</inf> fluxes contrast between aquaculture ponds and mangrove forests and its implications for coastal wetland rehabilitation in Leizhou Peninsula, China
2024, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
Coastal wetlands have great potential to mitigate climate change. However, in recent decades, the construction of aquaculture ponds has degraded coastal habitats, especially mangroves. Meanwhile, the lack of synchronized monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes in coastal ponds and mangroves hinders the promotion of carbon neutrality target through the implementation of coastal wetland rehabilitation. To address this issue, we deployed two eddy-covariance systems in the ponds and nearby mangroves to measure the net ecosystem CO₂ exchange between atmosphere and ecosystems for two years. The results indicated that both the ponds and mangroves were CO₂ sinks at the annual scale, with mean net ecosystem production (NEP) of 123 ± 39 and 1296 ± 32 g C m⁻² year⁻¹, respectively. During the 2-year period, the ponds acted as CO₂ sources in certain seasons, while the mangroves displayed consistently high seasonal NEP. The construction of ponds by clearing mangroves would reduce NEP along the coasts of the Leizhou Peninsula by about 91% (96% for China), while abandoning all ponds for mangrove rehabilitation could have a significant CO₂ mitigation benefit (i.e., 214.7 Gg year⁻¹). Moreover, we compared how CO₂ fluxes responded to global solar radiation and temperature by analyzing relevant parameters in the two ecosystems. Overall, the ponds showed lower light-saturated net CO₂ exchange and Q₁₀ values compared to the mangroves. Finally, we applied an advanced machine learning local interpretation algorithm to investigate the crucial drivers and their main effects on NEP. This analysis highlighted global solar radiation as the predominant driver for NEP in both ecosystems. High temperature and vapor pressure deficit inhibited mangrove NEP, particularly during summer, whereas pond NEP exhibited greater volatility in response to meteorological conditions such as temperature. Our findings provide insights for further proceeding with mangrove restoration and management to enhance the carbon sequestration capacity of coastal wetlands.
Impact of climate change on coastal ecosystem: A comparative analysis among four largest coastline covering countries
2024, Environmental Research
Climate change and coastal ecosystems have become challenging subjects for world sustainability. Humans, animals, and other ocean habitats are primarily affected by the harmful changes in climate. Coastal ecosystems support biodiversity and a wide range of species that serve as habitats for many commercially important fish species and enhance human activities in coastal areas. By engaging in coastal outdoor activities, individuals can experience numerous physical and mental health benefits, foster environmental awareness. This study provided valuable insights into the importance of coastal outdoor activities and their potential to improve our quality of life. This study undertook a challenging subject where we graphically and econometrically analyze the relationship and linkages among coastal indicators with other climate-concerning factors. The study comprises the ordinary regression and comparative analysis among the four largest coastline countries in the world. The study took a sample from Canada, Indonesia, Norway, and the Russian Federation from 1990 to 2022. The data is selected on a convenient basis. Results declared that each country has its unique challenges and opportunities in mitigating adverse climate change and retaining a sustainable coastal ecosystem. The study surprisingly revealed that climate change insignificantly affects the coastal ecosystem in Indonesia and the Russian Federation while it inversely affects the coastal ecosystem in Canada and Norway, showed that climate change on average declines coastal production by 0.0041922 and 0.0261104 in Canada and Norway respectively. The detailed review is given in the results section; however, the pooling analysis proved that at the aggregate level, a one percent increase in climate change caused a 0.02266-tonne decline in coastal ecosystems in the four largest coastline nations. There is a need for policies tend to increase CAP activities by implementing practical marine protected areas. Furthermore, scientific research and monitoring will be beneficial in restoring coastal sustainability.
Climate-smart fisheries: CO<inf>2</inf> emissions reduction and food security are complementary
2024, Marine Policy
In the global north, climate-smart fisheries (CSF) policies prioritise steps to combat CO₂ emissions from SSF, in a response to the fact that globally, CO₂ emissions from small-scale fisheries (SSFs) increased by over 5.8 times between 1950 and 2016. However, in the global south, CSF policies on SSF prioritise food and income security over CO₂ emission reduction. In this paper, we examine this apparently contrasting interpretation of CSF as a conceptual framework to interpret the case study of Sierra Leone, one of Africa’s poorest countries where we found that small-scale coastal fishers are preoccupied with mitigating the impact of climate change on their food and income security rather than with lowering their CO₂ emissions. The self-image of SSF in Sierra Leone is that of being victims of climate change rather than perpetrators of it, and they justify this stance by claiming their livelihoods are being threatened by climate change. However, it could be argued that the best way to keep Sierra Leonean SSF CO₂ emissions low is to prioritise their food and income security: in other words, that food security and CO₂ reductions are complementary not contradictory. This, at any rate, is the argument of the current paper. The fieldwork for this study entailed co-created research in Sierra Leone and it involved 103 stakeholders who met face-to-face and online between January and March 2022 and through village meetings. The results of this fieldwork showed that food and income security and not CO₂ emissions are the priorities in the stakeholders’ interpretation of CSF. However, if food and income security are not prioritised, communities are likely to adopt maladaptive strategies which undermine marine protected areas (MPAs) and exacerbate overfishing, thereby increasing CO₂ emissions. Moreover, investment in aquaculture as a supplementary or alternative livelihood can directly increase food security and incomes and at the same time indirectly serve as a CO₂ mitigation measure. In addition, weather information communication is an important CSF measure which both protects fishers from the impact of climate change and reduces their CO₂ emissions. Accordingly, we argue that the contrast between reducing CO₂ emissions and protecting food security from climate change may be more apparent than real in Sierra Leone coastal fisheries, since both policies may work in tandem together. This study therefore contributes a new interpretation of CSF in the global south: instead of seeing it as posing a conflict between CO₂ emissions reductions and food security, we have shown the two objectives can be complementary. The wider implication of this paper is that CSF strategies for SSFs do not have to be polarised between the global north’s focus on the reduction of CO₂ emissions from fishing vessels and the global south’s focus on the mitigation of the impact of global warming on SSFs. There are circumstances when the two objectives may be in harmony.
Mangrove resource utilization and impacts in the Pra and Kakum estuaries of Ghana
2023, Regional Studies in Marine Science
Mangrove forests provide a wide range of valuable uses or benefits that contribute to the wellbeing of inhabitants in coastal communities. This study evaluated the economic and ecological contribution of mangrove resources to coastal livelihoods in communities that depend on the Kakum and Pra River estuaries and the impact of the uses on the structural development of the mangrove species. Information on the utilization of mangrove resources was obtained from 136 respondents in ten communities, using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Structural parameters of the mangrove species were estimated and the data analysed using descriptive statistics and regression. The study revealed that coastal inhabitants harvested fuelwood, timber (poles), crabs and periwinkles from both mangrove forests, while tilapia was collected from only the Pra mangrove forest. About 34 % of the respondents depended solely on mangrove resource harvesting as their main occupation. The mean net annual incomes derived from fuelwood and periwinkles were about US $ 1,000 – 1,730 and US $ 660 – 2,000 respectively, whereas that from tilapia was about US $ 2,310, per respondent. The observation suggested that mangroves income contributed substantially (about 65%) to the overall income of the mangrove resource users. All the mangrove species had low structural developments in terms of size and height. Given that widespread harvesting of mangrove trees affects their structural development, this study therefore makes a compelling case to strengthen conservation strategies at the local level to ensure sustainable utilization of these mangrove forests.
Coastal aquaculture in Bangladesh: Sundarbans's role against climate change
2023, Marine Pollution Bulletin
The Sundarbans, a natural shield on earth, is one and only place that has many noteworthy environmental and geographical values with breathtaking natural beauties. Near the Sundarbans area, proliferation of aquaculture in this delta contributes appreciably to the national economy. Although aquaculture has become a means of daily livelihood, this sector is nevertheless threatened by a complex of climate change impacts. Cyclones, rising temperatures, rising sea levels, coastal flooding, and erosion make coastal farming difficult. As a panacea, the Sundarbans can play a critical role in preserving coastal aquaculture. As noticed, forests have high potential to recover from unusual consequences of climate change. Practicing safe aquaculture should be opted to refrain from endangering the Sundarbans. This review addressed various climate change impacts on coastal farming and identified the capabilities of the Sundarbans to protect coastal aquaculture from calamitous impacts. Findings show clues for researchers to analyze problems, consequences, and mitigations.
Environmental innovations, energy innovations, governance, and environmental sustainability: Evidence from South and Southeast Asian countries
2023, Resources Policy
At the 26^th Conference of Parties (COP26), the world economies have re-pledged to collectively attain the global objective of ensuring environmental sustainability, especially by adopting credible initiatives that can address the environmental problems experienced worldwide. Accordingly, this study aims to assess how environment- and energy-related technological innovations contribute to the establishment of this objective across South and Southeast Asia, Notably, this study proposes a new composite environmental sustainability index using environmental data from different dimensions. Further, considering data from 1996 to 2019, the results derived from the econometric analyses confirm that environmental innovation is effective in facilitating environmental sustainability only in the context of Southeast Asian countries while energy innovation is effective in doing the same for both South and Southeast Asian countries. Besides, for both cases, good governance is evidenced to directly promote environmental sustainability and also indirectly facilitate it by jointly reducing the environmental problems along with environmental and energy-related technological innovations. Moreover, greater urbanization and more involvement in economic globalization-related activities are observed to inhibit the prospects of establishing environmental sustainability in the concerned South and Southeast Asian nations. Furthermore, the results certify that compared with the South Asia the prospects of achieving environmental sustainability are relatively higher across Southeast Asia. Based on these critically important findings, a couple of policy-level suggestions are provided.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Coastal aquaculture, mangrove deforestation and blue carbon emissions: Is REDD+ a solution?

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

From RED to REDD+

Mangrove deforestation through coastal aquaculture

Mangrove deforestation and blue carbon emissions

Mangrove deforestation, climate change and coastal aquaculture

REDD+: mangrove restoration for adaptation to climate change

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Ocean Coast. Manag.

Ocean Coast. Manag.

Aquat. Bot.

Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain.

Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain.

Trends Ecol. Evol.

Land Use Policy

Ecosyst. Serv.

Environ. Sci. Policy

Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci.

Aquat. Bot.

Ocean Coast. Manag.

Aquac. Rep.

Aquat. Bot.

Estuarine Coast. Shelf Sci.

J. Asian Earth Sci.

Glob. Planet. Chang.

Aquaculture

Mar. Policy

Aquaculture

The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture: Opportunities and Challenges

An ecosystem approach to marine aquaculture: a global review

Blue Frontiers: Managing the Environmental Costs of Aquaculture

Socio-economic impacts of shrimp culture

Aquac. Res.

Nature's subsidies to shrimp and salmon farming

Science

The environmental impact of shrimp aquaculture: causes, effects, and mitigating alternatives

Environ. Manag.

Industrial transformation and shrimp aquaculture in Thailand and Vietnam: pathways to ecological, social, and economic sustainability?

Ambio

Scenarios for resilient shrimp aquaculture in tropical coastal areas

Ecol. Soc.

Recent changes in land-use in the Pambala-Chilaw lagoon complex (Sri Lanka) investigated using remote sensing and GIS: conservation of mangroves vs. development of shrimp farming

The World's Mangroves 1980–2005

Economic reforms and mangrove forests in central Vietnam

Soc. Nat. Resour.

Community livelihood and patterns of natural resources uses in the shrimp-farm impacted Mekong Delta

Aquac. Res.

The Importance of Mangroves to People: a Call to Action

Mangroves among the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics

Nat. Geosci.

Estimating global “blue carbon” emissions from conversion and degradation of vegetated coastal ecosystems

PLoS ONE

Global economic potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from mangrove loss

PNAS

Carbon cycling and storage in mangrove forests

Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci.

Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report – Summary for Policymakers

A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO2

Front. Ecol. Environ.

Financing Options for Blue Carbon: Opportunities and Lessons from the REDD+ Experience

The role of coastal plant communities for climate change mitigation and adaptation

Nat. Clim. Change

Predicting global patterns in mangrove forest biomass

Conserv. Lett.

The politics of avoided deforestation: historical context and contemporary issues

Int. For. Rev.

Assessment of Key Negotiating Issues at Nairobi Climate COP/MOP and What it Means for the Future of the Climate Regime

UN-REDD Programme – Info Brief. REDD+ and Adaptation: Identifying Complementary Responses to Climate Change

Key Decisions Relevant for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+)

Is REDD accounting myopic? Why reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation programs should recognize and include other ecosystems and services beyond CO2 sequestration

Sustain. Dev. Law Policy

Opportunities for achieving biodiversity conservation through REDD

Conserv. Lett.

Biodiversity and ecosystem services: lessons from nature to improve management of planted forests for REDD-plus

Biodivers. Conserv.

A blueprint for blue carbon: toward an improved understanding of the role of vegetated coastal habitats in sequestering CO₂

Is REDD accounting myopic? Why reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation programs should recognize and include other ecosystems and services beyond CO₂ sequestration