Mangroves to receive huge boost from new carbon credit rules

Dear CEPA list members,

Coastal mangroves have recently become increasingly recognized as playing a major role in mitigating climate change through trapping and storing large amounts of carbon, both above and below the ground, yet mangroves continue to be destroyed around the world. But there is some good news.

A new methodology for calculating mangrove carbon storage, prepared through the “Danone Fund for Nature (DFN)” partnership between the Danone Group, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Ramsar Convention, has now been adopted under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Kyoto Protocol.

This will encourage large-scale restoration of degraded mangrove systems, which in addition to storing carbon provide a hugely valuable range of other benefits to people and nature. “It is very encouraging indeed to see this new methodology come into place, as part of better understanding that many wetlands, and not just forests, are vital carbon stores”, says Nick Davidson, Ramsar’s Deputy Secretary General. For further information see http://iucn.org/?7595/Mangroves-to-receive-huge-boost-from-new-carbon-credit-rules.

With best wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat
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Sandra HAILS
CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland
hails@ramsar.org
Tel: +41 22 9990176
Fax: +41 22 9990169
www.ramsar.org/CEPA-Programme/