Total Ecosystem Carbon Stocks of Mangroves in Lamu, Kenya; and Their Potential Contributions to the Climate Change Agenda in the Country

Abstract

Mangroves are carbon-rich ecosystems found in tropical and subtropical areas around the world. However, they are threatened by a combination of natural and human-induced factors. When mangroves are lost or degraded, their co-benefits to human society are greatly diminished along with the ecosystem’s ability to sequester carbon. The current study assessed mangrove cover and cover change, as well as measuring carbon stocks and their emissions levels from the mangroves of Lamu County, Kenya. We sampled above-and below-ground carbon pools, including soil organic carbon (SOC), in 191 plots distributed throughout the study area. Lastly, we evaluated the economics of avoiding mangrove deforestation based on the carbon-offset market. The total carbon stock of mangroves in Lamu was estimated at 20 million Mg C, with an average density of 560.22 ± 79.79 Mg C ha–1. Southern swamps recorded significantly higher carbon densities (p < 0.05) than other mangrove management blocks in Lamu. At least 1,739 ha of mangroves in Lamu were lost between 1990 and 2019 due to anthropogenic activities, representing a decline of 60 ha yr–1. Total emissions from loss and degradation of mangroves in Lamu is estimated at 140.1 Mg C ha–1; which translates to 30,840.1 Mg CO2e yr–1. Assuming an offset price of US$10/Mg CO2e, the estimated costs of avoided emissions in Lamu is US$308,401 yr–1 plus other co-benefits such as fishery functions and shoreline protection. Mainstreaming mangroves and associated blue carbon ecosystems into national development and climate change agenda could accelerate Kenya’s achievements of both Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.

Species Diversity, Biomass and Carbon Stock Assessment of Kanhlyashay Natural Mangrove Forest

“…As shown in Table 1, the overall mean biomass of the mangrove stand in LetKhutKon Village was found to be 335.55 ± 181.41 Mg ha −1 (the average aboveground biomass = 241.37 ± 132.73 Mg ha −1 and the average belowground biomass = 94.17 ± 48.73 Mg ha −1 ) wherein the total biomass produced was 8388.62 Mg ha −1 . The reported AGB of mangroves in LetKhutKon Village (241.37 ± 132.73 Mg ha −1 ) was comparable to other mangroves, with the values of 255.7 Mg ha −1 reported in Lamu, Kenya [50], 246.90 Mg ha −1 at Guarás Island located in the state of Para [51] and 80.23 ± 15.95 t ha −1 at the Kerala state, the southwest corner of India [52]. There were considerable variations in the biomass between different species as shown in Tables 3 and 4.…”

A Systematic Review and Global Trends on Blue Carbon and Sustainable Development: A Bibliometric Study from 2012 to 2023

“…In many international organizations and countries such as Fiji, blue carbon as a carbon mitigation strategy is incorporated into National Development Contributions (NDCs), national management plans, etc. [11,107,167,168]. Community participation is essential in the implementation process as the blue carbon ecosystem is deeply woven into the need for NDCs [169].…”

“…Of course, human activities like human-made structures can also enhance the biogeochemical sink capacity [185]. Consequently, it is necessary to conduct qualitative and quantitative assessments of the blue carbon ecosystem's components, carbon storage, carbon cycling, carbon sequestration, monitoring, and potential risks under different conditions [10,72,100,110,112,114,[116][117][118][119]123,141,145,146,149,151,160,164,167,172,174,175,.…”

Low-Cost Non-Contact Forest Inventory: A Case Study of Kieni Forest in Kenya

“…These studies also show disconcerting planetary health challenges, such as a decline in forest cover and biodiversity loss across various regions [27][28][29][30][31][32], mainly due to increasing population pressure and demand for agricultural land that has led to deforestation [29,30,33,34]. The decreasing forest cover has decimated the amount of AGB and carbon stocks in the country [25,26,35]. Therefore, finding the best strategies for enhancing forest conservation and monitoring is imperative.…”