Mangroves and other coastal ecosystems offer significant opportunities for climate change adaptation and mitigation, including livelihood support, food security and storm/flood protection. Several countries in the region are now investing in mangrove rehabilitation, and there are opportunities to introduce co-management, payment for environmental services (PES) or other benefit-sharing schemes as tangible incentives for those who protect mangroves. However there appears to be high opportunity costs associated with conserving mangroves because other uses of mangrove areas (notably aquaculture) are often more profitable in the short-term. The session highlighted examples of local efforts in ecosystem-based approaches to manage mangrove areas in changing landscapes, and discussed a way of upscaling the model/demonstration practices to national and regional scales. The session addressed the key institutional, technical and socioeconomic issues that need to be considered for effective and long-term management of mangrove forests for climate change.
Presentations from the session:
Generating income from mangroves through climate change mitigation
Sustainable Wetlands Adaptation and Mitigation Program
Certified Organic Shrimp: A New Approach to Mangrove PES?
Key questions addressed in the session:
- What are institutional and policy challenges and options for sustainable mangrove management?
- Can organic certification of silvo-fisheries products provide a viable approach for developing PES opportunities in general, and REDD in particular, and be scaled up to make a difference at a landscape level? What are the potential issues of demand and supply that would need to be considered?
- How can ecosystem-based management efforts like silvo-fisheries/mangrove poly-culture bring climate change adaptation and mitigation benefits?
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