Southeast Asia’s peatlands and mangroves key to carbon reduction

Conserving and restoring Southeast Asia’s peatlands and mangroves could mitigate more than 50% of the region’s land-use carbon emissions, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.

Peatland and mangrove ecosystems make up just 5% of the land in Southeast Asia. But they play an enormous role in carbon emission reduction. They store more than 90% of their carbon in soils, rather than vegetation. This makes them among the most efficient natural carbon sinks globally.

Significant amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere when these ecosystems are disrupted or destroyed through land-use changes.

Dry periods, such as during an El Niño event, also result in massive carbon emissions from the peatlands and mangroves. In these periods, they also contribute to regional haze and lower air quality in the region.

“If we conserved and restored the carbon-dense peatlands and mangroves in Southeast Asia, we could mitigate approximately 770 megatonnes of CO₂ equivalent annually, or nearly double Malaysia’s national greenhouse gas emissions in 2023,” says senior author Massimo Lupascu from the National University of Singapore.

Southeast Asia is home to the world’s largest tropical peatlands and mangroves.

“Wetland soils may have little agronomic value, as it is generally not well-suited for traditional farming or crop cultivation, but they are unmatched in their ability to store and preserve carbon,” says Piere Taillardat from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

“By investing in the conservation of peatlands and mangroves, Southeast Asia can lead the world in deploying cost-effective, nature-based solutions that deliver enduring climate and biodiversity benefits,” adds first author Sigit Sasmito from the James Cook University in Australia.

“These ecosystems pack a climate mitigation punch far beyond their size, offering one of the most scalable and impactful natural solutions to combat the planet’s climate crisis.”