SINGAPORE, Feb. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A groundbreaking international study published in Nature Communications reveals that conserving and restoring Southeast Asia’s carbon-rich peatlands and mangroves could offset more than 50% of the region’s land-use carbon emissions.
Small Footprint, Big Impact
Despite occupying just 5% of Southeast Asia’s terrestrial land, these ecosystems play a disproportionately large role in reducing emissions. Their conservation and restoration are crucial for meeting climate targets across ASEAN countries, offering a pragmatic solution to combating global warming.
Global Impact Study
The research, conducted by an international team of scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore), and James Cook University in Australia, highlights the significant climate benefits of preserving these vital ecosystems.
Carbon Storage Efficiency
Together, peatlands and mangroves store more than 90% of their carbon in soils rather than vegetation, making them some of the most efficient natural carbon sinks globally. This efficiency underscores their critical importance in mitigating climate change.
Conservation Challenges
However, when these ecosystems are disrupted or destroyed through land-use changes, they release significant carbon into the atmosphere, posing a challenge to achieving emission reduction targets. Peatland degradation during dry periods, like El Niño events, not only leads to major carbon emissions but also contributes to regional haze affecting countries such as Singapore.
Quantifying Carbon Mitigation
Associate Professor Massimo Lupascu, the study’s principal investigator, explained that conserving and restoring Southeast Asia’s peatlands and mangroves could mitigate approximately 770 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent annually, nearly double Malaysia’s national greenhouse gas emissions in 2023.
“Our research underscores the immense climate benefits of protecting these ecosystems, making them a pragmatic and effective natural climate solution for ASEAN countries,” Lupascu said.
Investment in Conservation
Professor David Taylor, head of the NUS Department of Geography, emphasized the importance of including peatlands and mangroves in the updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 3.0) under the Paris Agreement.
“This would involve substantial investment in effective conservation and restoration, contributing to increasing ambition across the region through higher emissions reduction targets,” Taylor said.
Unique Ecosystems
Southeast Asia houses some of the world’s largest tropical peatlands and mangroves, which share water-saturated, oxygen-limited soils that prevent organic matter from decomposing, enabling them to act as natural carbon sinks.
However, the soil-stored carbon is “irrecoverable,” meaning it cannot easily be replaced once lost to human activities like agriculture or urban development.
Economic Benefits
Assistant Professor Pierre Taillardat from NTU Singapore’s Wetland Carbon Lab highlighted the transformative potential of wetland conservation, which can also yield economic benefits through schemes like carbon credits.
“Wetland soils may have little agronomic value, but they excel in storing and preserving carbon. If valued as critical commodities, akin to being traded on the carbon credits market, it could unlock vast opportunities for conservation and restoration,” Taillardat stated.
“This will enable local communities to lead carbon management efforts, achieving a win-win scenario where sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems thrive together.”
Policy Implications
The study provides up-to-date emissions estimates from disturbed peatlands and mangroves across Southeast Asia from 2001 to 2022, broken down by land-use type and country. This data offers policymakers critical information to prioritize conservation hotspots.
The researchers call for ASEAN governments to integrate peatland and mangrove conservation into national climate strategies. Given their high carbon storage capacity and ability to mitigate land-use emissions, these ecosystems represent a cost-effective approach to achieving net-zero targets.
Research Lead
Dr. Sigit Sasmito from TropWATER at James Cook University, the study’s first author, remarked on the potential of Southeast Asia to lead the world in deploying cost-effective natural solutions that deliver lasting climate and biodiversity benefits.
“Investing in peatland and mangrove conservation can offer one of the most scalable and impactful natural solutions to combat the planet’s climate crisis,” Sasmito said.
Open-Access Paper
The open-access paper titled “Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration” is available online at Nature Communications.
Call to Action
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