Kategorie: News
Mangroves can sequester four times more carbon than rainforests can
Mangrove forests are almost unknown to many people. It is hard to imagine that within the equatorial belt hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of root networks are growing and the evergreen and leafy crowns make a huge contribution to keep our world climate stable.
Mangroves are, so to speak, a "secret weapon" against climate change. They permanently sequester a lot of CO2 and are more successful in doing so as the tropical rainforests. Most of this carbon is stored in the soil beneath mangrove trees. They are also an important habitat for marine and coastal life and protect both the coasts, e.g. from tsunamis, and the reefs off the coast from being destroyed by sand.
Mangrove forests are deforested worldwide. The rapid clear-cutting is favored by the fact that mangrove roots can be carbonized to produce charcoal and the mangrove trunks provide the best construction timber. The wood is protected against all kinds of insects by the high salt content in the pores. Ideal building material for pile houses, for example.
The consequences of the radical deforestation are now clearly noticeable for coastal inhabitants in deforested mangroves. Waves are ‘eating’ more and more land, reefs are suffocating due to the sand that is released. Many mangrove forests are now so thinned out that they can no longer regenerate themselves. Fortunately, mangroves are now protected in many countries.
The Mama Earth Foundation has been permanently reforesting mangroves for almost two decades. Due to the unstable situation of the world climate, it was decided to massively promote the reforestation of mangroves, because our 'Salty Friends' absorb three to four times more carbon dioxide than deciduous trees!
The Mama Earth Foundation has already planted 1.45 million mangroves in the past. In order to plant even more mangroves, the foundation has different offers in its program: Mangrove details (pdf)
Whoever takes a closer look at the mangroves will recognize that it is worthwhile to push the reforestation. Not only to help the local people, to give nature a chance for renewal, but also to stabilize the world climate.
Further details
Mangroves - Mama Earth Foundation (pdf download)
Project Malizia Mangrove Park