Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration
Abstract Southeast Asia (SEA) contributes approximately one-third of global land-use change carbon emissions, a substantial yet highly uncertain part of which is from anthropogenically-modified peat swamp forests (PSFs) and mangroves. Here, we report that between 2001–2022 land-use change impacting...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55892-0 |
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| author | Sigit D. Sasmito Pierre Taillardat Wahyu C. Adinugroho Haruni Krisnawati Nisa Novita Lola Fatoyinbo Daniel A. Friess Susan E. Page Catherine E. Lovelock Daniel Murdiyarso David Taylor Massimo Lupascu |
| author_facet | Sigit D. Sasmito Pierre Taillardat Wahyu C. Adinugroho Haruni Krisnawati Nisa Novita Lola Fatoyinbo Daniel A. Friess Susan E. Page Catherine E. Lovelock Daniel Murdiyarso David Taylor Massimo Lupascu |
| author_sort | Sigit D. Sasmito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Southeast Asia (SEA) contributes approximately one-third of global land-use change carbon emissions, a substantial yet highly uncertain part of which is from anthropogenically-modified peat swamp forests (PSFs) and mangroves. Here, we report that between 2001–2022 land-use change impacting PSFs and mangroves in SEA generate approximately 691.8±97.2 teragrams of CO2 equivalent emissions annually (TgCO2eyr−1) or 48% of region’s land-use change emissions, and carbon removal through secondary regrowth of −16.3 ± 2.0 TgCO2eyr−1. Indonesia (73%), Malaysia (14%), Myanmar (7%), and Vietnam (2%) combined accounted for over 90% of regional emissions from these sources. Consequently, great potential exists for emissions reduction through PSFs and mangroves conservation. Moreover, restoring degraded PSFs and mangroves could provide an additional annual mitigation potential of 94.4 ± 7.4 TgCO2eyr−1. Although peatlands and mangroves occupy only 5.4% of SEA land area, restoring and protecting these carbon-dense ecosystems can contribute substantially to climate change mitigation, while maintaining valuable ecosystem services, livelihoods and biodiversity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b72aee58c4cb4352abd8a02f4b9ff48a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-b72aee58c4cb4352abd8a02f4b9ff48a2025-02-02T12:33:17ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-55892-0Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restorationSigit D. Sasmito0Pierre Taillardat1Wahyu C. Adinugroho2Haruni Krisnawati3Nisa Novita4Lola Fatoyinbo5Daniel A. Friess6Susan E. Page7Catherine E. Lovelock8Daniel Murdiyarso9David Taylor10Massimo Lupascu11NUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of SingaporeNUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of SingaporeResearch Center for Ecology and Ethnobiology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN)Ministry of ForestryYayasan Konservasi Alam NusantaraNASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Biospheric Sciences LaboratoryDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane UniversitySchool of Geography, Geology & the Environment, University of LeicesterSchool of Environment, The University of QueenslandCIFOR-ICRAFDepartment of Geography, National University of SingaporeNUS Environmental Research Institute, National University of SingaporeAbstract Southeast Asia (SEA) contributes approximately one-third of global land-use change carbon emissions, a substantial yet highly uncertain part of which is from anthropogenically-modified peat swamp forests (PSFs) and mangroves. Here, we report that between 2001–2022 land-use change impacting PSFs and mangroves in SEA generate approximately 691.8±97.2 teragrams of CO2 equivalent emissions annually (TgCO2eyr−1) or 48% of region’s land-use change emissions, and carbon removal through secondary regrowth of −16.3 ± 2.0 TgCO2eyr−1. Indonesia (73%), Malaysia (14%), Myanmar (7%), and Vietnam (2%) combined accounted for over 90% of regional emissions from these sources. Consequently, great potential exists for emissions reduction through PSFs and mangroves conservation. Moreover, restoring degraded PSFs and mangroves could provide an additional annual mitigation potential of 94.4 ± 7.4 TgCO2eyr−1. Although peatlands and mangroves occupy only 5.4% of SEA land area, restoring and protecting these carbon-dense ecosystems can contribute substantially to climate change mitigation, while maintaining valuable ecosystem services, livelihoods and biodiversity.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55892-0 |
| spellingShingle | Sigit D. Sasmito Pierre Taillardat Wahyu C. Adinugroho Haruni Krisnawati Nisa Novita Lola Fatoyinbo Daniel A. Friess Susan E. Page Catherine E. Lovelock Daniel Murdiyarso David Taylor Massimo Lupascu Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration Nature Communications |
| title | Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration |
| title_full | Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration |
| title_fullStr | Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration |
| title_short | Half of land use carbon emissions in Southeast Asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration |
| title_sort | half of land use carbon emissions in southeast asia can be mitigated through peat swamp forest and mangrove conservation and restoration |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55892-0 |
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