Can Blue Carbon Initiatives Help Conserve Mangroves in Developing Countries?

Mangrove forests are important global carbon sinks, and offer other, local ecosystem services such as fish nurseries and sources of firewood and building materials. Most mangroves are located in developing countries, where — despite widespread legal protection — they are in severe decline mainly due to human pressure. We investigate whether and how blue carbon initiatives can help conserve and restore mangroves in developing countries. We focus on financing and stakeholder involvement through the lens of scalability, and discuss which designs are likely to be successful for the rapid, large-scale projects needed to face the current climate change emergency. We make three suggestions: First, in the design phase, large-scale projects should combine the use of qualitative, participatory methods, which have proved effective for stakeholder involvement in small projects, with more quantitative, survey, and experimental methods for faster, evidence-based solutions. Second, the financial product chosen for a blue carbon project must be supported by local communities if it is to be successful in the long term. And, third, bundling ecosystem services together is more likely to achieve financial returns that are high enough to facilitate the crucial stakeholder support at community and higher levels.