The Guiding Principles for Delivering Coastal Wetland Carbon Projects finds that the potential economic, social and environmental gains from conserving mangroves - 90 per cent of which are found in developing countries and many of which are under threat - including from mangrove inclusion in Reducing Emissions from Deforestations and forest Degradation (REDD+) strategies and protecting and enhancing mangrove stores of carbon, still remain largely under-exploited.
UNEP estimates the economic cost of the destruction of carbon-rich mangroves, which are being cleared 3 - 5 times faster than terrestrial forests, at $42 billion in economic damages annually.
The report argues that while policymakers and financial markets are beginning to take action, more needs to be done to develop new methodologies for carbon accounting for mangroves and other coastal wetland ecosystems, to conserve mangroves, and to increase the profile of mangroves in REDD+ and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Read more about The Guiding Principles UNEP Report at their News Centre (click here). Two other UNEP reports were launched at the UNFCCC in Lima, that speak about carbon incentives and monitoring the restoration of mangroves from space (see reports at the UN News Centre, or see the Related Links on this page).
The Guiding Principles for Delivering Coastal Wetland Carbon ... , Bangkok, Thailand © UNEP, 2014