A recent study has shown that conserving and restoring peatlands and mangroves in Southeast Asia could mitigate more than half of the region’s land-use carbon emissions. This breakthrough could play a vital role in achieving climate targets across ASEAN countries.
A new international study has revealed that conserving and restoring Southeast Asia’s carbon-rich peatlands and mangroves could mitigate more than 50% of the region’s land-use carbon emissions.
The study, published in Nature Communications, highlights how these ecosystems, which occupy just 5% of the region’s terrestrial land, are vital for climate goals across ASEAN countries.
The research, led by scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with contributions from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and James Cook University in Australia, underscores the significant climate benefits of protecting these critical ecosystems.
Peatlands and mangroves together store more than 90% of their carbon in soils.
However, disruption or destruction from land-use changes can release significant carbon amounts into the atmosphere, posing challenges to emission reduction targets. Peatland degradation, particularly during dry periods like El Niño events, contributes to regional haze, affecting the air quality in countries such as Singapore.
“If we conserved and restored the carbon-dense peatlands and mangroves in Southeast Asia, we could mitigate approximately 770 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e) annually, or nearly double Malaysia’s national greenhouse gas emissions in 2023,” senior author Massimo Lupascu, an associate professor at the NUS Department of Geography, said in a news release.
Global Carbon Sinks With Local Impact
Southeast Asia is home to some of the world’s largest tropical peatlands and mangroves. These unique ecosystems share water-saturated, oxygen-limited soils that slow the decomposition of organic matter, enabling them to act as natural carbon sinks when undisturbed.
This soil-stored carbon is considered “irrecoverable” as it can’t easily be replaced once lost to activities like agriculture or urban development.
“Wetland soils … are unmatched in their ability to store and preserve carbon,” added co-author Pierre Taillardat, an assistant professor at NTU Singapore. “If carbon were valued like other critical commodities, such as being traded on the carbon credits market, it could unlock vast opportunities for conservation and restoration projects. This will enable local communities to lead carbon management efforts with a win-win scenario where livelihoods and sustainable ecosystems thrive together.”
Economic and Policy Implications
The study not only highlights the environmental impact but also provides up-to-date emissions estimates from disturbed peatlands and mangroves across Southeast Asia from 2001 to 2022.
This data, broken down by land-use type and country, offers policymakers critical insights to identify intervention hotspots and prioritize conservation efforts.
Co-author David Taylor, the head of the NUS Department of Geography, pointed out the policy implications of the research. He noted that incorporating both peatlands and mangroves in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement could boost the ambition for higher emission reduction targets, though substantial investment in conservation and restoration is needed.
A Call to Action
First author Sigit Sasmito, who led the study as a research fellow in the NUS Department of Geography and is now a wetlands ecologist at James Cook University’s Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), remarked on the global significance of this local undertaking.
“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,” he said in the news release. “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.”
With this research, Southeast Asia stands at a pivotal moment. By integrating peatland and mangrove conservation into national climate strategies, countries in the region can not only meet their net-zero targets but also support local communities and bolster climate resilience.