Background
Mangroves are recognized as one of the prominent nature-based solutions to climate change due to their capacity to store high levels of carbon and for enhancing resilience of ecosystems and living organisms to increased vulnerability. Global extent of mangroves is estimated to be ~ 150,000 square kilometers, distributed across more than 100 tropical countries. The mangroves have reduced by ~40% from their historical extent due to direct pressures caused by anthropogenic demands on mangrove resources and indirectly by the destruction of conditions suitable for mangrove survival.
Some causes of mangrove decline include deforestation for expanding aquaculture, agriculture, and infrastructure development, habitat fragmentation, reduced freshwater flows, and altered salinity regimes. Impacts due to global climate change and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events also create adverse conditions for mangrove sustenance. This loss is more acute in the Asia-Pacific region due to greater demand for resources and relatively higher rates of sea-level rise (3.14 mm/yr) compared to the global average (2.5 mm/yr).
In India, mangroves have helped with flood mitigation and protection against storm surges during cyclones’ impacts in coastal areas, and they also provide fishery and other resources for the sustenance of local communities. Mangrove ecosystems have high biodiversity, and they provide significant ecological, economic, and social benefits. These can also be instrumental in meeting India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and become an important part of the country’s ‘blue economy’ policies.
Understanding the delicate and dynamic relationship of mangroves to coastal sustainability may be important in advancing our knowledge about these complex ecosystems. Such understanding, based on local (site-specific) information on changes experienced by these ecosystems due to natural and anthropogenic stressors, can be crucial for forging effective and relevant long-term integrated coastal management strategies.
Such an approach will be useful for planning adaptive interventions that remain relevant even as climate change impacts push boundaries with greater extremes. High-quality localized measurements could provide baseline information on mangrove conditions, including the health of ecosystems, to enable an adequate response to the increased vulnerability of these areas.
Therefore, CIFOR-ICRAF, along with its collaborators and with the support of local government and research institutions, is setting up a long-term ecological monitoring network at select mangrove sites within India. These sites will allow studies on sedimentation dynamics, salinity and tidal fluctuations, vegetation characteristics, and carbon stocks of mangroves.
This pan-India monitoring of mangroves using scientific methodology and standardized protocols will lead to robust datasets and an
enhanced understanding of mangrove ecosystems, which underpins coastal sustainability.
- Andaman Islands (13%)
- East Coast (60%)
- West Coast (27%)
Aim
The project aims to establish ecological monitoring sites to help understand future climate change vulnerability of mangrove ecosystems across India and the region.
Long term ecological monitoring
By establishing long-term monitoring sites, trends in biophysical changes in these ecosystems along the Indian coast can be determined. This program provides the information needed for management decision-making, planning interventions for mangrove conservation, and identifying restoration priorities. This information can help India enhance its climate ambition, report reductions in its forest carbon emissions, and more accurately account for carbon sequestration in its coastal forests, under national greenhouse gases inventory.
In the first phase of this project, monitoring sites will be established along the East and West coasts of mainland India and the Andaman Islands. Initial efforts include characterization of vegetation structure, soil profiles, salinity and hydrology measurements, and sediment dynamics at the selected sites.
Once these instruments are set up, scientific data collection will continue for subsequent years until a robust and meaningful database is created.
Objectives
Some overarching goals of this project include:
- Determination of total mangrove carbon stocks (forest inventory) using standardized scientific protocols.
- Assessment of soil erosion & accretion rates by installing rSETs at select locations & following a regular data collection scheme.
- Measurement of inundation frequency & salinity using automated sensors.
- Analysis of soil and vegetation data to determine biomass & soil carbon from sites.
- Provision of training opportunities for mangrove monitoring & best practices in mangrove management and restoration aimed at forest department staff, researchers in local institutions, & other stakeholders.
- Identification, development, & offering of guidance through best practices in mangrove management & restoration to all stakeholders.
